On 29th August we crossed into our last 'stan and were eventually stamped in on our three day transit visa. We had 500 km to cover in Turkmenistan from the Uzbek border near Turkmenabat to the border with Iran at Sarakhs. Thanks to a generally helpful tailwind, a 50 km police escort on our first night riding through the desert, the prospect of a 200 US dollar overstaying fine and deportment, and chocolate spread - we did it.
We rode for 26 hours out of the total 52 we had in the country and arrived at the Iranian border with one hour to spare. Ellie set a new daily record for distance covered on the first day (178 km), again on the second (184 km) and after a dawn start on the final day we covered the remaining 146 km by 3:30 pm.
Apart from one generic shot of the desert road there is no photographic evidence of our time in Turkmenistan.
