Flying camels of Ashgabat

Flying camels… yeah right – well sort of…  how do you get three camels into the back of a truck??

I was recently pointed at a guide on how to regain control of a spooked camel which reminded me of when I went to Ashgabat in Turkmenistan. On the itinerary was a line that read “Go and see the flying camels at Tolkuchka…” – this sounded like something not to be missed, the reality was quite different…

Tolkuchka bazaar is an extensive market sprawled across the desert suburbs a few kilometres from the centre of Ashgabat. It is said to be one of the largest open air markets in Central Asia. At the back of this wonderful market – which I’ll talk about in a later post – is the camel market, and it turned out that the ‘flying camels’ were a little less exotic than I’d thought.

Once you buy camels you need to transport them – this means getting them to do something they don’t like – get into the back of a truck. Some will walk in, but most won’t, so in Ashgabat they use a crane to hoist them into the trucks – hence ‘flying camels’!

So, here is how you get camels onto the back of your truck…