Saglyk Yoly - The Path of Health - Part 3

Publiziert von detlefpalm

, 17. Januar 2015 um 12:18.

Region:	Welt » Turkmenistan
Tour Datum:	8 November 2014
Wandern Schwierigkeit:	T2 - Bergwandern
Wegpunkte:	Aşgabat - Aşma ýoly 1457 m (1)
Geo-Tags:	TM
Abstieg:	300 m
Strecke:	about 7.7 kilometer
Zufahrt zum Ausgangspunkt:	Make sure you get a taxi with a driver who knows where he is going - to the bottom station of the Ashgabat cable car. It is not signposted.

On a typical misty November day an excursion up to the plateau of the Kopet-Dag Mountains is a rewarding thing to do. Hiking is not permitted in the vicinity of the border to Iran, but there is a cable car that was installed in 2006. We had originally planned to hike from the bottom station to the top station, but were not allowed to do so. So we took the ride instead. It costs the equivalent of 50 cents for citizens and foreigners alike: clearly people are supposed to make use of the cable car like they ride the bus.

About ten minutes takes the steep uphill ride of 3,5 km and brings the visitor to an altitude of 1293 m. On a clear day the view over Ashgabat must be spectacular, but even on a cloudy day there are moments of sunshine and partial views along the border range. No hiking is allowed from here, but visitors have to stay in the perimeter of the restaurant facility, which was closed due to the off-season.

There may be a delay in descent though, when the top station’s water supply is being replenished. This happens by way of large containers taking all space of a the cable car. Filling and de-watering takes place as the cabins move along the platform.

There was a reward for the delay: The spectacular sighting of two herds of grazing Marco Polo sheep. Having seen many kind of sheep in different countries such majestic horns were a novelty to us.

We did our stretch of hiking that day, although this part of the Saglyk Yoly health trail is not well trodden and may need some weeding. Starting in fog at the basis station we had an easy walk down to the edge of the city, from where we caught a conveniently arriving scheduled bus back to the hotel.

Tourengänger: