| Duration: | 5 Day(s) - 4 Night(s) |
| Tour Category: | Culture Tours |
Day 1: Arrival in Ashgabat.
Pick up at the Ashgabat International Airport. Accommodation in the hotel. Breakfast at the Hotel restaurant. Excursion to the National Museum of Turkmenistan and the Old Nisa. Visit Cable Car “Asma Yoly”. Lunch. Ashgabat sightseeing tour: Health Path “Saglyk Yoly”, Park and Monument of Independence, Ertogrul Gazy Mosque. Dinner.
Day 2: Breakfast. . Drive to Kypchak Village to Visit the Memorial Complex with Ruhy Mosque.
Tour of Saparmurat Hadji Mosque in Geokdepe. Drive to Kov-Ata underground lake. Visit the site. Lunch. Return to Ashgabat via Geokdere and Archabil mountain gorges. Dinner.
Day 3: Breakfast. Visit “The Altyn Asyr”
Oriental Bazaar. Lunch. Drive to Ichoguz (former Darvaza) via Yerbent village. Explore the “gas crater”. Set up the tent camp. Dinner. Overnight.
Day 4: Breakfast. Drive back to Ashgabat.
Accommodation in the hotel. Lunch. Tour to the Museum of Turkmen Carpet. Visit the shopping centers. Dinner.
Day 5: Departure
Breakfast. Transfer to the Ashgabat International Airport. Departure.
Know More About Ruhy Mosque near Ashgabat:
Eleven kilometers to the west of Ashgabat there stands the largest mosque in Central Asia and the main mosque of Turkmenistan – The Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque. Like all other buildings of the period of independence, it differs in its immensity and grandiosity.
The mosque was built in 2002-2004 on the initiative of Turkmenbashi and named after him. Its word-for-word translation means “the mosque of Turkmenbashi spirituality” or “the mosque of the spirit of Turkmenbashi”. By the way, the mosque is located in Gypjak – the Turkmenbashi native village.
The construction of the mosque cost Turkmenistan $100,000,000. The whole complex is built in white marble by the French company Bouygues. The total area occupied by the complex is 18,000,000 m2. The mosque itself is a one-domed building, surrounded by 4 minarets. The height of the mosque is 55 m, and that of the minarets is 91 m to symbolize the year 1991 – when Turkmenistan gained independence. The building is accessible through 9 entries with arches. Around the mosque, there are numerous fountains as though the mosque stands on the water and it makes the mosque look very good.
The mosque walls are traditionally decorated with suras from Koran and also phrases from Rukhnama – the book on spirituality and morality written by Turkmenbashi himself. Due to this fact, the mosque is not recognized by many Muslims.
Inside the mosque, there is a huge praying hall with white columns and a richly painted celestial blue dome. The heated floor is covered with a huge hand-made Turkmen carpet. The mosque can accommodate about 10,000 people, but visitors are usually few there. Under the mosque, there is an underground garage capable to park over 400 cars.
