You ride the cable car into the Köpetdag foothills, and the city spreads out below in white marble, its avenues running north until they fade into the Karakum sand. Later, at the Altyn Asyr bazaar, you wander past stacks of red carpets while sheep and used cars change owners under a tall clock tower.
Away from the monuments, daily life runs through the Russian Bazaar and its fruit stalls, and the ruins of Parthian Nisa sit on a hill west of town. Summers are long and fiercely hot, winters short and cool. When your list of sights runs dry, a Local Friend knows which bazaar, park or mountain path should come next.
