3rd November had been etched on my brain for a double flight, it brings me to the journey to the final Stan country of Turkmenistan.  This is the one place I wanted to travel more than anywhere else.  Getting a visa is far from easy or straightforward.  In fact, it’s one of the hardest in the world, even harder than North Korea, only around 10,000 tourists get approved for a tourist visa each year,

I waited two months but I was approved to come.  I am required to have a guide all the time, there is no such thing as a touring solo.  You need to respect the process.

Only certain airlines fly here, so it was a real challenge getting to Ashgabat.  I had to fly from Almaty-Istanbul to Ashgabat.  The two Turkish Airlines flights were brutal as I had a headache the whole way.  My two flights equal 4013 miles if I could have come direct from Almaty it would have been 1040 miles.

I got through the intimidating process of immigration on arrival, only to get into the airport and no guide!  Given that I’m supposed to be under guide supervision at all times, this was. a little bit scary.  No internet for foreigners at the airport here, Whatsapp doesn’t work, so there was no quick solution to be able to make contact with anyone

Despite feeling majorly fatigued I moved into traveller survival mode.  Got a taxi, I’m sure greatly overcharged, and booked myself into a hotel, any hotel.  With access to the internet, I was able to connect with Young Pioneer Tours, who could not have been more apologetic, and we have made plans for tomorrow to get me to the right hotel.

Huge sigh of relief, but a brutal day.  Bed.

The next day venturing into Ashbagat.

I can say nothing but good things about Turkmenistan.  Prior to coming here I read stories, watched videos, and tried to learn about here ahead of time.  I knew about the white buildings, cars, buses, and taxis, about how the white marble dominates the skyline, but I didn’t know how much time the Turkmenistan people take to keep it immaculate.  How the people dress so smartly, no matter where they are going,  how its required for school & college kids to dress to impress for a day at school or college  How I just think that I wished I lived in a place that cares this much.

Ashgabat ~ known as the city of love

Ashgabat is a little bit weird, with monuments to neutrality, the book Ruhana, and the Guinness Book of World Records.  Highest flag pole, the largest fountain, the biggest indoor Ferris wheel, and some off-the-wall things, but I like it. Be different, be special, be unique. All those things appeal.

Having a full-time guide, Elena, is great, and having a driver is good too, but after day one my brain was hurting with facts overload.  That said, the story of how Turkmenistan navigated the huge 1948 earthquake and the 1991 break up of the USSR, really are the history pieces that shape the present.  1991 continues to be fascinating for me in seeing how the 15 Republics separately adapted to the end of the USSR.

Visits to Parks, memorials, monuments, and the great book of Ruhana.  Turkmenistan is under authoritarian rule, and people reading this might question that, but everywhere I have been people seem content, Some things I as a tourist obviously don’t understand,  but what my eyes see tells the story of a country that is moving along.  There may be more below that, but as a tourist that is not something I am privy to and I was told to be mindful of asking these types of questions.

The Wedding Palace provides great views of the city during day time or night.
It’s a pretty cool building, white of course, but lit up at night other colors.

I went to the Russian Bazaar, and now I’ve been to the Bazars of Tashkent and Almaty and I disliked them with a passion, I found them grimy, unwelcoming, and probably maybe not safe.  Here in Turkmenistan, is very different.  I was with a guide, so local help, but even so, the ‘feel’ of the place was just different.  Kind is the best word I can use to describe it.  Pristinely clean, like everywhere.   Tasting caviar, sweet melon, and dried fruits grown locally or over the border in Iran.  It was a treat to spend time.

One other particularly fun interaction today I had was in ‘First Park’ when two young guys from a photography company were fascinated in my camera, it was kinda strange but totally amusing.  They insisted on taking my photo with one of them!  They were as nice as could be.  Not a word of English.  I find people are just nice in most places, particularly here.

Going to the bank you would get the standard exchange rate of 3.5 Manat to the US dollar. Getting Manat on the black market means you get 19 Manat to the dollar. Basically, the cost of buying things just reduced by 80%. It’s technically illegal, but I heard common place.

It was enjoyable and interesting first full day and rounded out so well when I chose the Tumar Bar for food and drinks.  Just across the road from my hotel and with a recommendation of my guide.  It was a big thumbs up on all fronts.  A delightful salad and a main course with local beer.

Day 2 in Turkmenistan was the day to Darvaza through the Karakum desert.  A journey I have earmarked for some time one that leads you into the desert towards the 160-mile journey to “The Gates of Hell”.

It is a journey for the ages. The first third is easy, on pristine roads as you leave and are on the outskirts of Ashgabat. Over coming miles the journey gets more and more treacherous. The road is wide enough for four lanes, though there are no lines or lanes. To navigate safe passage drivers need to weave and they can and do need to zig zag their way through, and just to make life more interesting you will often see locals on motorbikes, goats roaming free and camels making their way home.

My home town of Blackburn was written about by John Lennon as the place of 4000 holes. Well, this could be the land of 100,000 holes. It was a drivers nightmare, and I was so pleased Arasic was so good behind the wheel. As we arrived I thought, how the heck are we going to navigate those roads going back in the dark?

We arrived to the “Gates of Hell” just before sunset. The story goes that in 1971 some Russian drilling caused a gas crater, though more stories say it likely older than 1971. They decided that to avoid methane gas getting into the air they would set light to it to burn it off over a few days. Decades and decades later and that crater is still burning! It is amazing, so amazing to see, hard to explain.

This is a major tourist attraction in Turkmenistan, but given that Turkmenistan gets less than 10,000 tourists per year, it’s all relative. Today, I was the ONE tourist at the Gates of Hell. My guide and driver left me to enjoy it and I had the wonderful experience of having this wonder of the world all to myself. It was a wonderful, but surreal experience. If the Gates of Hell had started yesterday it would be an amazing site, but the fact that it has been here over 50 years, is beyond comprehension.

Day 3 we were back in Ashgabat at the indoor ferris wheel…. who has an INDOOR ferris wheel? Strange, but true, and of course it is a world record holder of the biggest there is. Once again I had a major attraction all to myself, indeed, they had to start it up so that I could ride the 360 degrees.
I went once in the morning and again for the night time experience, it was $2, fun and just for me, both times!

Also on day 3 was a trip I had. a trip to Seyit Jemaletdin Mosque, a spiritual place that many locals visit to worship and give thanks. Celebrations are held at this place frequently and often. It was a random Monday, but I was offered Shorsuw by a kind man who had been cooking it for hours at his family celebration. Shorsuw is Salty Soup, and didn’t look great on the eye, but it tasted delicious. I responded Kabul Bolsum, which I am reliably informed is the customary thank you.

Shortly afterwards, I met four older ladies and had a wonderful conversation via the interpretation from my guide. A wise old man passing by joked that I should take them home as my four new wives 🙂

Leaving Ashgabat..

The venture to have buildings to be white started in 1994, three years after separating from USSR. It might seem mad, might look a bit mad, but it really grows on you, and when I moved on to Dubai, it made me realize how much I liked the whiteness of Ashgabat.

To round out, it would be remiss of me not to mention that Turkmenistan does have significant restrictions on civil liberties, is not seen as free, and has a dictatorship government, but it was expressed to me that “we like to have a chief”, it goes back to ancient times.  

There are also some strange rules, young men cannot have beards, you can get fined for having a dirty car and the internet is blocked all over the place. 
Other strange things too ~ how people decorate their car when going to pick up a new born from the hospital, as seen below.

I checked the ‘Freedom in the World’ report, and yes, I didn’t know there was such a thing.  The United Kingdom scores 93 and the USA at 83, whilst Turkmenistan scores 2.

I didn’t ask the question in Turkmenistan, and I am not sure I would have gotten a wholly truthful answer, on what is it really like to live here, but from an outsider’s view this country does work, it’s different, but I like different.  Tourism may be a far cry from life here in Turkmenistan, but I saw so much good, that I find I have a slightly different view of the Democracy v Authoritarian debate.  Travel should make you think about differences and similarities, and it did. Turkmenistan, thank you!