Turkmenbashy Gifts Museum, Ashgabat

Turkmenbashy Gifts Museum - darkometer rating : 3 (but full marks on the kitsch and weirdness scale) - A museum whose exhibits are primarily gifts that the late Turkmenbashy received during his reign as President of Turkmenistan . It's a kitsch fest of the highest order. Totally unmissable for anyone with a taste for such weird extremes of tackiness. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info : see under Turkmenbashy , Turkmenistan , Turkmenbashy Mausoleum and Ashgabat . What there is to see: An amassed jumble of crazy kitsch, exotic items made of gold, tapestries depicting scenes from the life of the Turkmenbashy , models of past monuments, and much more. It makes your senses reel from the word go. Even the outside is over the top. You enter past rows of columns, bronze lions and two other buildings of a similar style, approaching the grand front facade of the museum with yet more columns and gold domes. A marble plaque by the entrance bears words from the "sacred Ruhnama" modestly wishing the Turkmen state eternity. More accurately: it wishes for the Turkmen people and Turkmenistan to last as long as the world will last, but for the independence and impartiality of the state he tops this and actually uses the word "forever". Don't ask for logic. Inside the museum, a huge central hall forms the centrepiece, architecturally at least – and impresses with its dimensions. It's the rooms that branch off to the sides, though, that contain all the marvels this place has to offer. These are arranged on two floors, the ground floor and the seventh floor (yes, you read right, two floors numbered just so).