- Important points
- Choosing wings
- Where to stay?
- Transport subtleties
- Civilization and shopping
- Tourist safety
- The most interesting routes
- Useful details
- Perfect travel to Turkmenistan
The most closed country in the entire post-Soviet space, the former Turkmenistan attracts sophisticated travelers like a magnet. Legends of white marble palaces, golden statues turning to follow the sun, and wide avenues of cities built in the middle of the endless desert are passed from mouth to mouth. And while traveling to Turkmenistan, adventure seekers dream of trying real Central Asian pilaf, enjoying the spectacle of endless Karakum dunes and touching the gray stones of ancient Muslim shrines - some on pilgrimage matters, and some simply out of love for world history.
Important points
- Unlike other former neighbors in communal life in the USSR, Turkmenistan requires Russian citizens to have a visa in their foreign passport. The procedure for obtaining it is quite strict, and one of the important points in the list of documents is an invitation or a tourist voucher with a clearly defined program of stay. A potential visitor must have all the attendance passwords-addresses of a future trip to Turkmenistan. The issue price is $ 35.
- Visa at the border is much more expensive. For $ 155, you must attach perfectly executed documents to avoid instant deportation.
- The export of even a few Turkmen manats from the country as souvenirs is strictly prohibited.
- All foreign tourists arriving in Turkmenistan are required to pay a $ 14 registration fee. The received green card should be kept until the moment of departure from the country.
Choosing wings
You can get from the Russian capital to the Turkmen one only by air. Turkmen Airlines, Russian carriers, and their European counterparts are willing to help potential tourists in this:
- Turks can offer an ideal and inexpensive option with a docking in Istanbul. The cost of a flight on the wings of Turkish Airlines is from $ 280. Travel time without connecting is about 7 hours.
- The Russian airline S7 operates direct flights from Moscow to Ashgabat several times a week. You will have to spend about 4 hours in the sky, paying $ 300 for a round-trip ticket.
Where to stay?
In Ashgabat, in the past few years, hotels have been opened that fully meet the world standards of star classification. The republic also has old hotels inherited from Soviet times. Most of those in the capital have already undergone reconstruction and renovation, and in the provinces, tourists of a respectable age can fully indulge in nostalgia for the departed youth of business trips.
If you are not flying to Turkmenistan at the invitation of a private person, then organizing an independent trip will not be easy due to the lack of local hotels on specialized sites on the Internet.
After checking into a hotel for three days or more, make sure that the administration registers you with the migration service. For the procedure, you will need two passport-sized photographs and a receipt for payment of the registration fee.
Transport subtleties
Renting a taxi for the whole day and making trips on it within the city and beyond is the best option. The price of the issue is from $ 50, but, unlike renting a car, you will not have problems with navigation and safety. The prices for moving around the city are not at all high - no more than a dollar for a half-hour trip around Ashgabat.
Public transport includes buses and planes, trains and fixed-route taxis. It is convenient to travel long distances on the wings of local aviation, since ticket prices rarely exceed ten or two American currency units. The only drawback is the fast selling out of tickets, which means that it is advisable to book them 2 weeks before departure, as soon as they go on sale, according to local laws.
Intercity buses or fixed-route taxis are also very inexpensive, and for travel between the capital and Turkmenbashi, for example, it will not cost more than $ 6-7.
Civilization and shopping
The largest shopping center in Turkmenistan, Yimpash, is located in Ashgabat on Turkmenbashi Avenue. In the department store you can buy clothes and food, souvenirs with a national flavor, carpets, pottery and jewelry. The mall features cinemas, beauty salons and restaurants serving authentic local cuisine.
Tourist safety
In order not to raise unnecessary questions from the police, it is not customary in the country to photograph monuments and monuments, the presidential palace and other government institutions.
In conversations, you should not touch on political and economic topics. In order to avoid misunderstandings, it is important to carry with you a color photocopy of your passport and visa, leaving the documents themselves in storage in the hotel safe.
After 23 hours in Turkmenistan it is not accepted and not supposed to be on the streets, unless you are taking a taxi to the airport.
In most public places in large cities, smoking is strictly prohibited and foreigners should also strictly adhere to this rule.
The World Health Organization strongly recommends vaccinating against hepatitis A and B, diphtheria, tetanus, rubella and typhoid fever before traveling to Turkmenistan.
The most interesting routes
The underground lake Kov Ata, famous for its medicinal waters from mineral thermal springs, is located an hour's drive from the capital. The reservoir is located in a 200-meter long cave, and the water in it has a constant temperature of about 35 ° C.
In Ashgabat, the National Museum of Turkmenistan is popular among tourists. The entrance ticket will cost $ 30, but taking a photo even for that kind of money in the museum is strictly prohibited. By default, each visitor is "attached" to an accompanying person who strictly monitors the implementation of the rules for staying on the territory of the attraction. The exposition presents rarities of archaeological excavations, photos of old Ashgabat, achievements of modern science and many photographs of the country's president and, concurrently, the father of all Turkmens.
On the territory of the ancient state of Merv in the southeast of the republic, there is a complex of antiquities, among which is the mausoleum of Khoja Yusup Baba, the propagandist of the ideas of Islam of the 12th century. Muslims believe that a pilgrimage to the grave of a Turkmen faithful is tantamount to performing a hajj to Mecca.
Useful details
- Do not purchase famous Turkmen carpets from sellers who cannot provide supporting documents. On departure, the customs office may require a check and a certificate from the expert commission at the Carpet Museum in Ashgabat, even for the smallest and not of artistic value. Experts are available Monday through Friday afternoon.
- Do not neglect bottled water even during your morning wash. Ice in drinks is also worth looking out for.
- The most favorable exchange rate in the banks of Turkmenistan is in dollars. Be sure to stock up on cash when traveling to the province. Credit cards are also not accepted everywhere in the capital.
Perfect travel to Turkmenistan
The Central Asian state is located in the continental climate zone and the vast majority of its territory is covered with deserts and semi-deserts. These factors ensure a long and very hot summer, during which the thermometers freeze above + 40 ° C for many months. In winter, it is rarely colder than + 4 ° С, although in the northern regions in the deserts at night in January there are frosts down to –15 ° С.
The optimal time for walking in Turkmenistan is the second half of spring and the first months of autumn, although in the regions located near the Caspian Sea it is quite comfortable in summer.
