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Now, a Turkmen folktale-themed park!
It begins with a map of Turkmenistan and its environs that displays miniature copies of architectural monuments of the predominantly Muslim state.
A theme park designed by Turkmenistan's eccentric dictator as a national version of Disneyland opened Thursday in the ex-Soviet nation's capital. The US$50 million (€40 million) recreation complex, based on Turkmen folk art and fairy tales, occupies 33 hectares (81 acres)and consists of 54 attractions.
It begins with a map of Turkmenistan and its environs that displays miniature copies of architectural monuments of the predominantly Muslim state.
The Ferris Wheel follows designs of Turkmen jewellery, the Magic Carpet copies acclaimed Turkmen rugs, and a roller coaster zigzags over a mini replica of the Caspian Sea, the source of the country's immense oil and gas reserves.
Visitors are greeted by characters of Turkmen folklore, some of which resemble Western magic creatures. Khudoiberdy repels an attack of evil spirits, and obese Bovendjik swallows everyone he sees. The theme park's opening was part of lavish celebrations of Turkmenistan's 15th independence anniversary that followed the 1991 Soviet collapse.
President Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan's former Communist boss, has ruled for 20 years with an iron fist, eliminating opposition and creating an elaborate cult of personality. He has ordered everyone to call him the Great Turkmenbashi, or Father of All Turkmen. He penned several poetry books and the Rukhnama, a code of moral guidelines in which world history is centered on Turkmenistan.
In recent years, Niyazov has tapped the country's vast energy wealth for outlandish projects - a huge, man-made lake in the Kara Kum desert, a vast cypress forest to change the desert climate, a ski resort and a 40-meter (130-foot) pyramid.
