We expected some bumpy roads on our journey but nothing prepared us for the roads in Turkmenistan. We had faced potholes large enough to drop washing machines into in Romania so we didn’t think it could get much worse. We were so wrong.

So, the Turkmeni’s have tarmac which is a benefit. They also have ruts. Big, deep & long ruts which appear in multiples in a single stretch of road. We were now leaving Ashgabat to head towards Merv, the ancient city.

There aren’t many roads in Turkmenistan but we hadn’t yet driven on a smooth bit of tarmac. The roads were creating their own rally casualties. One team who had permission to drive a Porsche 944 had a lucky escape as their car burst into flames & another team who we travelled on the ferry with hit a rut & their engine fell out. When Minty kept hitting the unavoidable ruts we kept praying any damage done would be light & not terminal. Soon, we couldn’t avoid them & the ruts were pushing us sideways & it became impossible to drive on them. We hit one after another after another. Eventually a large bang was heard & Minty nose dived towards the tarmac. We immediately thought this was it. Was it our turn to be a beaten by a road?

It was now we were starting to regret lowing Minty’s suspension. We pulled over & got out of the car, half expecting the worst. John gingerly looked under Minty & believe it or not she was okay. Apart from a huge lump of tarmac stuck to the cross-member under the engine there was nothing to be seen. We had escaped the wrath of the Turkmenistan roads for now.

The roads outside the cities are generally quiet. There are cars but it is mainly trucks transporting melons across the country in their own crabbing style. Drivers we met on the road were amazing. Nearly everyone we met either on our side of the road or coming towards us waved frantically, beeped their horns shouting hello.

One of the strangest obstacles we encountered was camels. At times it would be just us on the road & couple of camels just wandering down the middle. It was quite surreal driving past these huge animals who would completely ignore us.