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There had been a prolonged cold snap across Turkmenistan in January, and as I arrived on the last day of the month the snow was suddenly melting. The icicles hanging from the corrugated roof over the balcony had fallen by next day, and a day later no trace of snow remained. The weather quickly settled into something more resembling an English May. Cobalt blue overhead, perpetual sun that seemed to stretch the lengthening days and slow time down altogether. This run of clear days brought a whiff of eternity, if that means stillness.
Ten days later, however, the sky filled with brown indistinct clouds, like a heavy, smudged watercolour. It was strangely warm for the first half of February, reaching some 25C on one day. A night or so later came the answer: a strong night wind got up from the south, from over the mountains, of warm air from what could have been the Persian Gulf or even India. At 11pm the temperature was 21C, a distinctly warm feeling on the skin as the wind blasted it through the city, bringing sand and dust with it and causing havoc with water and electricity – one district after another losing its power, the lights reeling under sudden overload, then cutting out, to be reinstated half an hour later only to fail again. Ashgabat inhabitants have a kerosene lamp handy for such occasions and know where to find matches in the dark.
Luckily the outside cloud cover was not thick and the moon gave a background light, making it easy to find my way home. Lying in bed, the wind whipped the sagging satellite cables and threatened to tear the dishes from their mounts; the night was filled with the banging of sheet and bar metal not properly fixed, of unfinished or insecure structures.
For the Flag Day celebrations, and the simultaneous President’s Birthday, it was bright again but rather cold; not good to be standing around for hours out of doors waiting to parade or watching the festivities. We can expect increasing rain now as spring approaches, followed by a brief but glorious blooming in the desert in April, before the heat sets in.
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