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TURKMENISTAN- the neutral country. Sounds a bit funny considering it neighbors with Iran and Afghanistan which kind of like making wars at any opportunity they can get. But Turkmenistan declared its independence from the soviets in 1991 and then in 1995 it declared itself a Neutral country. Kind of the Switzerland of central Asia. Why? Because it can...or maybe because of the crazy megalomaniac neighbors?
Here are some myths and facts about visiting Turkmenistan
1) It's very difficult to go to. Not at all. You contact a tour company and ask for a letter of invitation and sorted. Simple as that.
2) The country is akin to North Korea. Not at all. One is free to roam about Ashgabat freely. To travel to the countryside you do need to be accompanied by a tour organizer.
3) It's all awkward and looks old and typical of the ex Soviet Republic. Actually you arrive at night and feel more in Las Vegas... Every building looks new and made with white marble and many buildings are decorated with neon lights.
4) In Ashgabat, walking around to explore the city it's probably not smart as the city is super spread out. This place gives Texas a run for its money in terms of size matters. Every building is huge. Every block is massive. While a map might look like a couple blocks.... It can be 1 or 2 kms. So the walkability of this city is pretty much non-existent.
If you plan to visit, hire a driver or a tour. It's worth it to go to every place.
Taxis are everywhere if you want to go that route.
5) Ashgabat isn't empty or a ghost town. In a city with just 500k people and being so massive obviously it looks a bit empty. The infrastructure of the city and size can probably cater for a couple million people.
6) All cars in Ashgabat can only be white, silver or gold. And mostly are white. Good luck finding your car.
Also you aren't allowed to drive a dirty car as you will get a fine and get your car impounded. So if you drive in from the countryside before entering city limits.....car wash time.
7) gas prices. What about 7 usd cents per liter. Damn.
And of course in good 3rd world style, the owner of the gas company is the president's nephew which apparently or allegedly also owns part of the railroad, airline and any key industry.
Now, a practical tip and why many foreigners think Turkmenistan is so expensive. The official Bank exchange rate was 3.5 manat to 1 USD. The real market rate on August 2024 is actually 19 to 1. So of course if you multiply prices by >5x because of this....you will think it's very expensive. But it's only so for dumb tourists.
Arriving at Ashgabat airport is what I would call the epitome of inefficiency. You land and you need to get the visa so you make a line for this. You leave your passport while they process it.
Then you go to another line to pay for the visa.
The. You go to a different line to pay for the COVID test after which you go to get the COVID test.
Only issue is that in each line there's only one person helping for a full flight so things take their sweet time.
And when you finally think you are done....not yet...time for immigration and another line.
This whole thing took around 2.5 hours which is exactly what one feels like doing when you land at 2am.
Welcome to to Turkmenistan!
Oh....and the airport is built in the shape of a falcon/eagle which is kind of cool.
So here are my impressions of my 1.5 days touring Ashgabat:
- Old nisa. 3rd BC city ruins. One of the ancient cities part of the silk route trade part of the partheons. The ruins themselves are not much to look at (better depiction in the national museum). The majority of ruins were destroyed in the 1948 earthquake.
Interesting to see as in many old structures around the world, their building techniques were impressive , using some sort of mixture between bricks which is stronger than concrete and this was over 2000+ years ago. Go figure.
The fun fact about visiting Old Nisa is that the entrance to the ruins was built for the visit of Francois Mitterrand (who liked researching the partheons and this time period) but because he had a limp, the long stairs are actually built with one step higher and one lower so when they filmed him walking it would look as if he walked normally and he wasn't limping...
If you are up for an adventure, you can do a 8km+ hike to go to the poet statue from next to the old Nisa ruins. Climb up a small mountain and then down towards the statue. It's super steep and I didn't feel like doing so in 35c weather. So can't comment if worth it or not
- All over Ashgabat there are monuments and monuments. Every roundabout has a pretty cool monument. Kind of whatever ministry or key building is around that area will also have their own monument.
But they are all quite impressive and have lots of photo opportunities.
One of my favorites was one with the map of Turkmenistan and some bicycles as well as camels in honor of the silk route. The reason for this monument is that June 3rd is the no private transport day. Nobody can use their cars. Either bicycle or public transport.
The second president was very keen on bicycles so he created the no private transport day.
- they also love their Guinness world records, so I had to visit the largest indoor ferris wheel. It looks even cooler at night to be honest. Because there's not much around the ferris wheel it's normally empty (for which the attendant is very happy about as he says he has a very easy job) so I got a private ride on the ferris wheel.
During my tour around the city I learned that my driver was a plane pilot for aeroflot and Turkmenistan airways for 40 years and retired in 2014. For someone used to flying places....he drives kind of slow. But a very cool guy with interesting stories.
- History/National museum. Worth it just because it helps you picture how all the old city and current ruins used to look back in the day. Also if you want to learn about all the details of the history of the region from prehistory to modern times. The guides inside the museum are super nice. You tell them how much time you want to spend and they will adapt a tour to suit what or how much you want to learn.
- Carpet museum. Pretty amazing collection of carpets. Still I couldn't find the flying carpet I was looking for. So I will have to keep looking.
Truly incredible artwork.
Each of the five regions of Turkmenistan have their own symbol or pattern which is clearly displayed in many of the carpets.
But let's not forget one more Guinness world record with the largest carpet which weighs 1200 kgs. It's impressive. No clue how they move it or hang it.
And I had to have the visit cut short because the museum was expecting a VIP delegation which turned out to be the Afghanistan government... A.k.a the taliban. And hell no....I don't want to be anywhere near those barbaric bastards as I wouldn't contain myself and not give them a mouthful. And probably Turkmenistan is not the best place to speak freely....one thing is being neutral. Another is neutral to free speech
- There's even a mini Blue mosque as turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Turkmenistan independence in 1995 and they built a copy of the blue mosque in 1999
- one of the most recent monuments or memorials is the newly built and recently inaugurated (May 2024) 60-meter monument to the Turkmen poet Magtymguly Fragi. It sits at the top of a mini mountain so it stands above the whole city. It's quite impressive.
Definitely go visit at night after sunset as the lighting makes it look way better than during the day.
Also it gives a pretty impressive view of the city
Ashgabat 2nd day
In one of the monuments (by now I'm a bit confused as to which is which) we saw a wedding procession.
Quite interesting that the way the bride dresses in traditional attire would have jewelry all over and the weight of this traditional dress with all the silver could weigh up to 46 kgs. I guess this is the wedding and workout day for the bride!
But here, even the cars get decorated for weddings.
The Russian bazar is a very small market with a few souvenir stalls and the everyday stuff. You can buy caviar there as well. For how markets go this is quite small and not the most picturesque.
The reason it's called the Russian market is because Turkmen people used to be nomadic and they tended to live in the villages around the city while the Caucasian people (a.k.a Russians) were who lived in the city. So it's the Russian bazaar.
Food wise. Typical central Asian cuisine made of meat skewers or meat dishes. Had good meals but nothing spectacular.
Ashgabat accommodation
The Yyldiz (star) hotel is the top hotel in the city. 5 star luxury and amazing rooms. The restaurant and bar at the top have amazing views.
And they have a 2000 sq mt spa with amazing facilities. Plus their massages are very affordable.
It's in a hill pretty much on its own and it's shape is iconic for Ashgabat
Mid range hotels -
Sport hotel - walking distance to one of the most popular malls
Great Turkemanbat - in city center so one can walk around the area
Cheaper options
AK- altyn - has seen better days and it's close to the city center
Wedding chapel Bagt Koshgi. It also has an hotel underneath but didn't hear good things. It's the weird square structure with a ball inside.
Mizan hotel - functional for a cheap option but needs transport to go anywhere.
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Time to venture to the countryside and to the famous Darvaza gas crater.
It doesn't take long after leaving Ashgabat to start missing the perfect roads as the roads in the countryside quickly deteriorate to bumpy roads.
But I'm quite impressed with the land cruiser we are driving with only 890,100 kms on the clock..and it drives perfectly fine. Toyota must be proud!
Not much to look at besides typical desert views with small shrubs here and there and a couple mini villages. Some camels and the occasional small oasis.
So after the 3+ hours of a massage ride a.k.a bumpy ride we finally arrive at the gas crater or gate to hell.
During the day is not as impressive as during the night but it's definitely something different. Being in the middle of the desert and nothing around.
So the story is that 50+ yrs ago they were drilling for natural gas and they found a lot of methane so the idea was just to light it on fire and the problem was solved.
Not exactly as the methane seems to be the gift that keeps on giving and it's still burning 50 years later. That's what I call Russian engineering!
Pretty cool spectacle at night.
Clearly the concept of tourism here is still not very developed. Besides having a couple yurt camps where one can stay there's pretty much nothing else. Plenty of wasted potential.
They could make a mini bar at the camp, offer camel rides in the desert, do nature walks in the desert but let's just say I'm happy there was a very basic yurt camp to stay the night as tomorrow was an early morning for another 5 hrs of massage ride towards the border.
Besides the not so pleasant road, for how borders go it was quite easy. Leaving Turkmenistan was a breeze, you take a bus across the border and then get your visa in Uzbekistan. The only thing they cared about was if I had a drone in my luggage.
