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Turkmenistan Travel Blogs

Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes in order to break Russia's pipeline monopoly. To be updated

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By Hiasi
June 24th 2007

Turkmenistan - An illusion in the desert Asia » Turkmenistan

Ashgabat - an illusion in the desert

After 6 weeks in Iran I headed for the Iranian/Turkmen boarder at Bajgiran/Gaudan, prepared for a totally new experience in the state of Turkmenbashy. But it turned out that my imagination was far too little for the reality in his realm. Neverthelsee, my first impression at the boarder wasn't that good, as I ran into a relict of the Soviet Union, the customs...time stealing and unnecessary in its extend, one has to pay an additional 12$ just for entering the country (not to mention the visa I purcha [View Full Entry]

By neil lockwood
May 12th 2007

Central Asia. Asia » Turkmenistan

Ashgabat

Thursday April 12. We arrived in Turkmenbashi at 4.30 am. It was to be 8 hours before I competed all the procedures; welcome to Turkmenistan the wierdest country in Asia. In the guide book it is called a Stalinist Dysneyland but I felt it had a large dose of Hollywood. My agent/guide arrived, Oleg, and dealt with the endless paperwork. That night we stayed in a good hotel to the north of Turkmenbashi. Friday April 13. Oleg took me and the bike in his Toyota Surf back to the city and over the mountains behind before I began cycling. As [View Full Entry]

By Viajerong Pinoy
April 22nd 2007

DARVASA GAS CRATERS Asia » Turkmenistan » Dashoguz

DARVASA GAS CRATER

From Tolkuchka Bazaar we drove for hours and camped somewhere in the desert, pitched our tents and we started cooking our meal, come night time Ata came back with this big tractor thing that transported us that night to the Darvasa gas sraters, it is better to view it at night as it would seem more dramatic, the trip to get there is very uncomfortable, bumpy ride, got there and was really impressive sight, after about more than half an hour we try to get back to the camp but got lost many times, the truck plowing through everything in sight, [View Full Entry]

By Viajerong Pinoy
April 19th 2007

WEIRD MODERN ASHGABAT Asia » Turkmenistan » Ashgabat

LUNCH STOP

After the hellish border crossing experience we drove almost all day then finally getting to our bush camp near the Kow Ata underground thermal pools. i noticed there are many checkpoints everywhere we got stopped so many times I lost count, when we stopped at a market to shop for dinner, I was surprised to find out there are pork sashylik here, and our guide Ata said they are not really strict here, they are a secular country. It was very windy at the camp and took lots of effort to set up our tents. The next morning we went [View Full Entry]

By Tweedledeedums
July 24th 2006

Halk, Watan, Beyik, Turkmenbashi! Asia » Turkmenistan

3-5000 year old pottery, Gonur Depe

A quick search of this website reveals that, aside from an American chap working in Turkmenistan posting his contact details, the last tourist entry for this country was September 2001. So it's hardly surprising then that of all the places we'd planned to visit on this trip the one that aroused the most curiosity amongst our friends prior to departure was undoubtedly Turkmenistan. Those who had heard of it (and they were by no means the majority) had heard of it only in the context of some outrage enacted by the eccentric (some would say insane) president - the ice hotel [View Full Entry]

By StephenWSmith
October 1st 2005

New Blog Asia » Turkmenistan

Please see my newblog at mlungu.civiblog.org it's a blog dedicated to civil society and international understanding. Please send everyone who may be interested in reading about my peace corps experience the following link. mlungu.civiblog.org mlungu.civiblog.org mlungu.civiblog.org mlungu.civiblog.org mlungu.civiblog.org mlungu.civiblog.org mlungu.civiblog.org [View Full Entry]

By StephenWSmith
September 1st 2005

Turkmenistan Address Asia » Turkmenistan

My address in Turkmenistan for the FIRST THREE MONTHS OF SERVICE is as follows: ___________________________________ PCT Stephen W. Smith U.S. Peace Corps/Turkmenistan PO Box 258, Krugozor Central Post Office Ashgabat, 744000 Turkmenistan VIA ISTANBUL ______________________________________ Via Istanbul should be written somewhere on the envelope. This prevents it from going to Moscow, which they say delays everything. Mail is rumored to take up to a month or more to arrive in Ashgabat. Since I leave in a month, and you ever planned on communicating, please start writing to m [View Full Entry]

By StephenWSmith
August 16th 2005

Peace Corps Assignment Asia » Turkmenistan

I have received word this week about my Peace Corps assignment. I will be heading to Turkmenistan on September 29. Due to a complete police state and US government policy towards employees keeping blogs it might be difficult for me to keep this blog up (something I haven't done since January anyway!). If you are interested in receiving emails from my about my work as a public health volunteer in Turkmenistan please drop me an email and I will include you in either this blog, or more realistically a mass email which seems to be the only way to go about [View Full Entry]

By grantcorp
September 26th 2001

Eloquence is silver, presidential statue is gold Asia » Turkmenistan » Mary

Breakdown!

Early morning rise and checkout, and then a quick transfer to the airport. The flight is at 6.40, the check in procedure is chaotic and after the worst security inspection on this side of the new millennium we yet again carry our own bags to have them loaded on the waiting AHTOHOB AH-24 turboprop. At least the commotion helps ensuring that I don't doze off and sleep through the flight missing out on the fun. We are headed to the eastern city of Mary where we will do some sightseeing before boarding a bus and drive towards the Uzbek border and [View Full Entry]

By grantcorp
September 25th 2001

Halk Watan Türkmenbasy! Asia » Turkmenistan » Ashgabat

The Arch of Neutrality

We spend the entire day in and around the City of Love, doing its sights, smells and sounds. Our guide for the day is Gholuya, an old Russian woman from Ashgabat. We start with a tour to the newly constructed gigantic Azadi mosque which is more or less a copy of the Haga Sofia in Istanbul. Unfortunately it is not that popular with the locals, since the construction work was marred by some accidents costing some workers their lives. The big hall under the gigantic dome is covered in red carpets and gives a very peaceful impression at this hour. We [View Full Entry]

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