The best animal parks and aquariums Route de la soie

This is the place to go if you're craving chlorophyll: 21 hectares of nature and tranquillity, right in the heart of the city. It's the place to be for lovers, who spend long moments hand in hand. But be warned: the zoo is poorly maintained, and the many exotic species that live there inevitably suffer as a result. If you go, you can enjoy a drink in the cafeteria next to the large monkey pit. For the curious, you can still see a bridge built by Eiffel.

Passionate about horses, which are an integral part of Turkmen culture, Khemra Gulmedov bought a former state pigsty that he had converted into Akhal-Teke horse stables in 1997. His stud started with four redeemed horses to the local kolkhoz: it now accounts for 42 of the 2 000 that the country currently counts (the presidential stables have 300, and it is estimated that there are only 4 000 Chevaux-Teke horses in the world). Khemra visits his breeding with passion, and organizes small demonstrations of dressage conducted by a Turkmen in Traditional clothes. The stables also have a small guesthouse, where you can stay for $ 30 per night in full board. And for those who know how to climb, Khemra organizes several days trekking in the desert: most travel agencies in Ashgabat can help organise the expedition.

To finance his livestock, which costs him more than he does, Khemra has embarked on the production of artisan carpets, his second passion. He has brought the best tisseuses in the country, which designs beautiful carpets sold around the world. Its carpets have a degree of thoroughness that gives them astronomical prices: up to $ 1000 m ² for a carpet with a million knots per square metre! You can visit the weaving workshops.