World's Strangest City (ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN)

gosh this city is completely over-the-top and bizarre it reminds me of my time spent in Pyongyang North Korea in every single way possible [Music] the beautiful evening here in Ashgabat Turkmenistan 178 country if you like weird off-the-beaten-path destinations then this might be my most exciting video yet get ready to hear about life in this bizarre post-soviet Central Asian country with less than 10,000 visitors a year check medicine ranks as a seventh least visited country in the world why because it's extremely difficult and pricey to get in much like North Korea every tourist must be on an organized trip to get the visa and myford a private tour is costing me just over a thousand dollars believe it or not Turkmenistan is one of the wealthiest countries in the region because they have the fourth biggest natural gas reserve on earth and what comes as a result a perfectly constructed capital city called ash Java that's completely decorated in the widest marbled you've ever seen you know it's about 80% buildings yeah I want them humble it feels like Disneyland in a desert this is the biggest found within 12 square miles there are nearly a thousand buildings glistening in over five million cubic meters of imported white marble in fact so much marble was used in Ashgabat that it was awarded at Guinness World Record this is the Ministry of the agriculture the next one this is a parliament they're not able to think of each other from the card yeah because they're large Ministry of Education open roof and as the minister or the Foreign Affairs you see them the top blow the rest of the city is beautiful from the outside perfectly manicured gardens huge boulevards elegant fountains and amazingly detailed statues these statues are kind of freaky they're all looking at the monument when you turn on the TV a propaganda commercial shows off the country in the best way possible [Music] but the funny thing is the streets are shockingly empty during the day almost like a ghost town so I'm walking around the middle of downtown ashgabat and it is just so weird you got all these white buildings everywhere and these like monuments staring you the only people around here are construction workers and soldiers this wedding hall is obnoxiously big and it just doesn't make sense like how could that many people be getting married you get the feeling that someone is watching over your shoulder 24/7 and it's always nerve-racking to take any photos or videos but I did find the people to be very friendly and quite curious and most of them do love the camera spasiba on one occasion I was lucky enough to see people out in the streets ok so here's some drum beats over here and apparently it's a chicken wedding we're gonna crash it [Music] putting the flashiness of the city aside the people really live a simple life here less than 1% of Turkmenistan 6 million residents have internet access and over 90 percent of all workers are employed by the government so when I hear that Turkmenistan is constantly ranked rock bottom in terms of corruption I can't be that surprised the former dictator SAP ammonia solve this guy liked to do things his own way he renamed all the months based on the names of his family members he banned Opera Ballet and circuses because he thought that they were too noisy he only allowed white cars on the roads and made it illegal to have pet dogs because he didn't like the smell all of his weird laws have influenced Society in the strangest of ways that will leave you scratching your head what a strange place it gets even stranger with the new dictator Global News right now is filled with articles that he has gone missing since June but I figured out pretty quickly that he's certainly around when I drive to the hotel from the airport police officer came to us on the street and was I pull over now the president's coming through so we had to pull over like hide behind a tree and the president came yeah let's see the police law and all these cop cars are the lights on and he passed and it's very suspicious that a president is driving by at 4 a.m. a Shabbat is without question one of the most fascinating and puzzling cities I've ever seen it really feels unbelievably staged here I cannot wrap my head around what is real or not and it blows my mind how the government spends dozens of billions of US dollars to make these white marble buildings behind me that are completely empty stay tuned for more stories from this really awesome fantastically strange country called Turkmenistan [Music] are you from German no joking us your name true shake your hand nice to meet you nice to meet you nice to meet you sure like the dr eww Oh Justin Bieber I definitely know that you love me I do know her name yeah Justin Drew Bieber oh you like Justin Bieber yeah yeah Mad Dog so can I cash yourself yes but let me take one of you first okay ready I'm drew pinsky and if you like my travel videos please click Subscribe and join me as I plan to visit every country in the world

Channel: Drew Binsky

Views: 6,030,780

Rating: 4.8845692 out of 5

Keywords: ashgabat, turkmenistan, ashgabat turkmenistan, north korea, drew binsky turkmenistan, drew binsky ashgabat, turkmenistan north korea, what is turkmenistan, travel to turkmenistan, turkmenistan john oliver, worlds strangest city, wierd cities, strange cities, pyongyang, pyongyang ashgabat, tips for turkmenistan, how to visit turkmenistan, central asia, worlds most bizarre countries, bizarre cities, turkmenistan culture, ashgabat city, ashgabat buildings, merv, mary, drew binsky

Id: hmIa2SGpm6s

Length: 5min 42sec (342 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 17 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/XXHyenaPseudopenis]

Why are the buildings and the city empty?