I visited this WHS in June 2017. The inscribed areas include vast stretches of semi desert land stretching from a few kilometres away from modern Mary (the Archaelogical Site of Ancient Merv) to a very long day trip some 60km away from Merv on terrible roads to Togoluk and Gonur Tepe.

The Archaeological Site of Ancient Merv is made up of different sites (top photos) relatively close to each other and with roads and small parking areas near each site. On the other hand, the sites of Gonur Tepe and Togoluk contain the remains and impressive foundations of whole settlements on an area of around 55 hectares. Most remains in the Local History Museum of Mary and in the National Museum of Ashgabat came from the these two sites. Gonur Tepe is among the largest ruins in the Morghab delta region with over 150 ancient settlements dating to the early Bronze Age. Moreover, Buddhist remains were also found here (bottom left photo). If you have an extra day in Mary, go for this worthwhile day trip, otherwise just focus on the closer sites. Apparently the lead archaeologist has passed away and further excavations are at a standstill. It is a recurring theme in all Turkmenistan's WHS and you feel as if you're trespassing in an archaeological site which is still being excavated (hopefully!).

In the archaeological site of Ancient Merv, the main highlight for me was the 12th century Great Icehouse (bottom right photo) as I had never seen anything like it. Old photos in the National Museum of Ashgabat show that the remains of Ancient Merv were much higher before the earthquake and in a more preserved state. Some sort of ancient construction technique was used to deter insects and birds from destroying the mud constructions. Unfortunately, when these sites were restored this repellent effect was lost and now insects and mostly birds are damaging the remains.

All in all I felt that this site deserved its place on the list and even though it's hard to grasp its OUV without the remains in the museums, I enjoyed my visit.