Turkmenistan
The least explored country on the Silk Road, Turkmenistan is the most bizarre of the Central Asian republics.
We like to think of it as the last frontier, until recently the very outpost of the old Soviet Empire. With a gold statue of him available on every pedestal, several towns named after him and enough public portraits to fill several National Portrait Galleries, President Niyazov - otherwise known as Turkmenbasi (Head of all Turkmen) - has a personality cult that makes Lenin look shy and this appears to remain unabated following his death in December 2006.
Four fifths of the country is covered by the large, empty and very hot Kara Kum or Black Sands desert, which for centuries has been Turkmenistan's best defensive weapon, successfully repelling outsiders, adventurers and armies. The country is home to about 4 and a half million Turkomen, who trace their descent from nomadic tribes living in the Altai Mountains above Mongolia in the 5th century AD. By the 15th century the Turkomen had settled in the area that is now Turkmenistan.
A warm and friendly people, some of the most appealing in Central Asia, the Turkomen dress in their traditional clothes with huge sheepskin hats, long coats and boots and true to their nomadic traditions are excellent horsemen.
Turkmenistan is also known for its wonderful Akhal Teke horses, the ancestor of the Arabian racehorse. A visit to Turkmenistan will be a journey into a rich and colourful past, still totally untouched by tourism where no one is considered a stranger but a friend that has not yet been met.
Wild Frontiers offers unique Small Group Tours, Private Journeys and Tailor Made Holidays to Turkmenistan.
How to book a trip
What to do in Turkmenistan
Visit Asia's biggest bazaar
Ashgabat
You can spend hours exploring the amazing Tolkuchka Bazaar, the largest open air markets in Central Asia and the best place to shop for beautiful Turkmen carpets, handmade embroidery and other unique souvenirs. Spread over a vast area, the market attracts different Turkmen tribes offering their produce: carpets, embroidery, jewellery, utensils etc. The market is open a coupel of days a week, but thrives on a Sunday.
Camp at Davaza gas crater
Darvaza
Set amongst the most unforgiving and magically bleak desert environments imaginable, the Darvaza gas crater is like looking down into the bowels of hell. We camp in the shelter of the sand dunes by the edge of the crater and enjoy the experience not only at sunset and sunrise, but at night when it is one of nature's largest searchlights attracting any passing birdlife to circle around in its beams. On the way, we also visit two other craters filled with boiling black water and mud geysers: all in all a pretty surreal experience.
See ancient Gonur-Tepe
Mary
See the sights of Gonur-Tepe, the capital of the ancient Margoush State. Gonur Tepe was the largest of dozens of scattered Bronze Age sites established here in the early second millennium. Gonur appears to have served as an administrative and religious center for the region, and as a hub for long distance trade. Its sophisticated, monumental architecture, and elegant material remains in art and ornament indicate the high culture achieved before a variety of factors led to the movement of its peoples further south and east.
Explore ancient Merv
Merv
Begin to explore the splendid site, which covers an area of 125 square kilometres and contains the ruins of at least five ancient walled cities from different eras. Most of the glorious structures have all but vanished, lost to the vast desert landscape. Located at the crossroads of various trade routes and civilizations, Merv came under Persian, Greek, Sassanian and Moslem rule. Let your guide bring the ruins alive while you visit all the main sights including Sultan Sanjar's Mausoleum and Kys Kala, an unusual windowless castle nicknamed "The House of Maidens Tears".
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Where to stay in Turkmenistan
Uzboy Hotel
Dashoguz
Close the centre of Dashoguz, the Uzboy hotel has 26 clean rooms with air conditioning, TVs, telephones and hairdryers....
Ak Altyn Hotel
Ashgabat
Built in 1994, the Ak Altyn hotel enjoys a good location about 3 km from Carpet Museum & Independence Monument....
Grand Turkmen Hotel
Ashgabat
The Grand Turkmen Hotel - the hotel features 120 comfortable guest rooms, an outdoor pool with pool bar serving drinks...
Margush Hotel
Merv
Established in 2004, the Margush Hotel is a four-star hotel situated 1km from the heart of Mary and within walking...
President Hotel
Ashgabat
Established in 2004, this five star property is undoubtedly one of the finest hotels in Turkmenistan.Located on the...
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Suggested Itineraries
How to book a trip
Turkmenistan Travel Guide
Ashgabat
Situated between the Kara Kum Desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range, Ashgabat has a population of about 400,000. Its original founding fathers were Russian troops who landed in Krasnovodsk which is present-day Turkmenbashy in 1869 and who built a fortress on a high hill to accommodate their administration. In subsequent years this fortress, serving as a focal point, attracted a host of merchants and entrepreneurs who sought to expand their markets and enter new adventures. For their centre of activity, the newcomers built a number of buildings and factories on the other side of town around the Transcaspian Railway station.The Turkmens are warm and friendly and are very proud of their nomadic culture and their ancient ceremonies. The world knows Turkmenistan for its magnificent carpets, for its exquisite clothes and its wonderful Akhal Teke horses, the ancestor of the Arabian racehorse.
Darvaza
Its name translated as 'gates', Darvaza is a small Turkmen settlement located close to the border with Dashoguz Region, and the start of a special permit zone. Darvaza has 350 inhabitants, most of them Turkmens of the Teke tribe, and at the settlement many people continue their half-nomadic lifestyle by setting up yurts in front of their simple houses.
Turkmenbashi
Turkmenbashi, on the shore of the Caspian Sea, is Turkmenistan's only large port and ferries leave here for Baku in Azerbaijan. It was founded by Russian troops in 1717 and it still very russified today. It is a fairly quiet place, with a population of around 60,000. The town has a regional museum and there is a Russian Orthodox Church set back from the shore. Out of town the landscape quickly becomes very empty with barren open spaces and large mountain vistas.
Merv
Though not as colourful architecturally as its brother Silk Road cities in Uzbekistan, Merv is still a very impressive site. Covering a huge area, it has many astonishing buildings and because of its isolation – and lack of foreign visitors – carries a unique charm and interest. Situated at a major crossroads of the Great Silk Road – where caravans would head west to Khiva, north to Bukhara, east to Balkh and south to Herat – Merv dates back to the time of Alexander the Great and was a melting pot of religion and culture. Of course, like many other great settlements of the region, it was almost totally destroyed by Genghis and his henchmen – some say as many as a million people were put to the sword here – and from this it never really recovered. However, for anyone with an interest in the history of the Near East and the Silk Road, a visit to Merv is a must.
Dashoguz
This was another town on the Silk Road that today lies isolated in the desert in the far north of the country. Its name comes from the Turkmen language and means ‘stone well’. Situated at the northern end of the Karakum Desert in the oasis of Khiva, Dashoguz was founded at the beginning of 19th century as a fortress for the control of the region. The waters of the nearby river Amudarya and of some of its tributaries allow for intensive cultivation of cotton and of jute and the town itself is home to a thriving textile industry.
Mary
Mary is Turkmenistan's fourth largest city and is of historical and economic importance. It was developed by the soviets in to a centre for cotton production and natural gas reserves have been found nearby. However Mary's main claim on travellers is that it is a great place from which to visit the spectacular and ancient city of Merv. Listed as a Wold Heritage Site by UNESCO, this area is famous for the diverse cultures and political systems that once inhabited this strategically important city.
Konye Urgench
Located in the remote northern deserts of Turkmenistan, Konye Urgench was the capital of the ancient state of Khorezm. Part of the Persian Empire in the 6th century BC, Khorezm later flourished as Silk Road trade grew on the caravan routes. By the 10th century AD, Konye Urgench was a centre of learning and a cosmopolitan city. During the 13th and 14th centuries the city was destroyed and rebuilt but never really recovered its former glory. On the scorched desert plain, one can still enter into the ancient world of the Silk Road and see the remains of this once important city. Visit Central Asia's tallest minaret and the Turabeg Khanum Mausoleum. See the Tash Kala Caravanserai, the Ak Kala Fortess and the holy Forty Mullahs Hill.
Murghab
About 70km northeast of Merv lies one of the most amazing archaeological sites on earth. Discovered only 4 decades ago by the Russian-Greek archaeologist, Dr Viktor Sarianidi, it is believed that Gunor Depe – otherwise known as Murghab – could represent the capital of the fifth great civilisation of the ancient world and is the largest dig site in the near east. Although Sarianidi’s theory’s has yet to be agreed by westurn academics, it has been confirmed as the site of the oldest fire-worshiping civilisations and is thought to be the birthplace of the first monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism. Though the Murghab River has long since changed it cause, leaving this amazing city – complete with places, temples and necropolis – surrounded today by a sea of sand, 4,000 years ago it was a thriving agricultural community that traded with Mesopotamia, Afghanistan and Egypt.
Kugitag Nature Reserve
Situated on the borders of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, rising to an altitude of over 3,000m, this is the most beautiful and interesting of the regions parks. The name comes from Persian meaning ‘most impassable mountains’ and here you will find a unique ecosystem, a stunning landscape and the rare Markhor wild goat. But of course the real attractions are the lakes, the dinosaurs and surreal caves.
Koyten Dag Dinosaur Plateau
Discovered only recently, this is simply one of the most amazing sites you are ever likely to see. Perfectly displayed on what is thought to be the bottom of a shallow lake that dried up was sealed with volcanic lava and over millions of years forced upwards, are the perfect footprints of dinosaurs. Created over 40 million years ago, there are 438 prints in the area, many forming a perfect path up mountainside. To climb up here – a relatively easy 200m above the valley floor – not only allows you to truly walk with dinosaurs but also offers spectacular views over the surrounding countryside.
Karlyuk Caves
And that’s not all, or indeed even the most weird thing you’ll see here… the Karlyuk Caves – and in particular the Cave of the Forty Maidens – is like walking onto the set of an Indiana Jones movie. In order to avoid rape and murder by bandits, legend has it that forty local maidens retreated to the cave. Here they stayed, fed by a kind old woman, until she was followed to the hide out and the girls were discovered. Before the old woman was cut down, she managed to alert the maidens, allowing them time to pray to the gods, who showed them a route through the caves to the cliff top where upon they sprouted wings and flew to heaven. In the cave today lies the tomb of the old lady, which is considered a holy place, and above it are literally thousands of silk wishing tassels, attached to the roof of the cave with wet mud, that locals have thrown. Considered the most impressive cave complex in the former Soviet Union, most of the caves have been sealed but don’t let this put you off. Walking down an impressive canyon, where the cliff walls rise vertically 200m above you and up to the open cave at the end, it is easy to let your mind drift to a time of pagan gods, maidens and bandits.
How to book a trip
Turkmenistan Travel Information
UK Passport holders require a visa to visit Turkmenistan.
Your passport must be valid for at least six months after the end of your trip, and it must have at least one blank page for each visa required.
Please ensure the passport details we hold for you are correct.
Please note it is your responsibility to ensure you have the correct visa documentation when starting your trip. Country entry regulations can alter daily and it is always best to check with the relevant embassies for any changes.
You can use a visa company such as:
Travcour (UK)
Tempo House
15 Falcon Road Battersea
London
SW11 2PJ
Tel: 020 7223 5295
Fax: 020 7738 2617
Email: info@travcour.com
Website: www.travcour.com
Whether you are using a company or applying for the visa yourself you will require the following:
• An authorisation letter from Wild Frontiers, which we will apply for and forward on to you at least a month prior to departure.
• To inform us in the office which embassy you intend to apply for your visa from, as pertinent information needs to be forwarded there from us prior to your application.
NB: Turkmen embassies have a tendency to grant visas for 7 days only valid from the first date given on your application form, so please be careful not to request an earlier arrival date.
If you are travelling on a non-UK passport, please contact your nearest consulate/embassy for up to date visa information.
Insurance:
Insurance that provides cover for emergency repatriation in case of a medical emergency is compulsory for all tours.
You should be aware that many standard insurance policies may not cover you adequately for all aspects of a Wild Frontiers trip and so we strongly recommend that you purchase a suitably designed insurance policy.
One such policy is the "Wild Frontiers" policy underwritten by Ace European Group Limited (ACE " firm reference 202803), which is available to EU residents (which excludes Norway & Switzerland) through our website or via the insurance company direct on 0845 345 3456. Under this policy there are two different levels of cover available.
Standard policy: a comprehensive travel insurance policy that provides cover for all Wild Frontiers activities, including trekking up to 6,000m. This policy does not provide cover for travel to areas where the FCO is advising against all or all but essential travel.
Elite policy: provides the same comprehensive level of cover as the standard policy. In addition the Elite policy also provides cover for travel to areas where the FCO is advising against all or all but essential travel. The policy will not provide cover for any claims arising from or relating to the reasons why the FCO is advising against travel.
If purchasing the Elite policy you also have the option to extend the cover provided by the policy to include cover for claims arising from a terrorist act in an area where the FCO is advising against travel. You can add this cover to your policy when purchasing online or over the telephone.
These policies are only available to those travelling on a Wild Frontiers holiday.
For more information and to purchase your policy online please visit the Insurance section of our website.
The cover is underwritten by Ace European Group Limited (ACE), and is arranged by Travel & General Insurance Service Limited. Both companies are authorised and regulated by
Health and Vaccinations:
There are no mandatory immunisations for travellers to Turkmenistan, although you should be up-to-date with Typhoid, Tetanus, Polio and Hepatitis A. We recommend you seek advice from your local GP or travel centre as to the correct immunisations and preventative treatments.
We also recommend:
• A dental check-up prior to travelling.
• You inform us of any pre-existing medical conditions or medication.
To be on the safe side you can also check on www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk
