Turkmenistan: One of the world's most closed and strange countries with a dictatorship that has flourished since the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Most of the Central Asian country is covered by the Karakum desert with only a few oases. South of the border with Iran lies the capital Ashgabat with its abundance of monstrous monuments. The city is also called the White City because of its many marble buildings and a decree from the president that all cars should be white, silver or gold colored. Out west, the country borders the Caspian Sea with large oil and natural gas reserves and the Dubai-inspired holiday resort Awaza. In addition to dusty desert villages, Karakum also offers the stunning Yangykala Canyon with its pink, red and yellow colors, and a few hours drive north of the capital you will find the Door to Hell (Darvaza) - a 30-meter-deep gas crater that has burned since 1971, when it was set to fire by Soviet geologists. In the midst of all the absurdities, traces of a rich history can be found in the ruins of the Silk Road caravan towns, Merv and Dekhistan – and in the mountain village of Nokhur one's curiosity is piqued by goat-horn bedecked gravestones at the old cemetery.