Blogs from Turkmenistan, Asia - page 5

Boarder crossing was smooth. We walked across the no mans land, an abandoned cotton field from Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan. Even as an18yr old soldier with WWII issued AK47 stared at us full of curiosity, immigration and customs were relaxed. But I suspect without a tour group, getting visa would be difficult, especially given Turkmenistan governments extreme xenophobia. Momentarily after the crossing, we hopped onto a Boeing 717 to fly from the boarder city of Dashoguz to Turkmenbashy (eastern shore of the Caspian). The 1hr flight costs $27, alleviating much of my concern that it costs only $2, like the guidebook says. The flight itself was smooth. With the countrys deep petro dollar well, it can definitely keep a well oiled flag carrier. But the pestering flies inside the cabin made me think the cargo was full ... read more

Having left Esfahan behind, visiting mosques, wonderful bridges straddling a river with no water and having eaten some traditional Iranian food (apart from the ever present kebabs!) we headed south to Shiraz of grape fame - isn’t it odd that they are a nation of teetotallers. Although we were spending two nights there we only had one full day to explore and half of that was spent at the Iranian Department for Aliens (yes really) extending our visas as we discovered they were due to expire a few hours before we were due to leave the country - a hefty fine for breaking this law! It was another beautiful town and we spent the afternoon in the most brilliant bazaar which was heaving with locals buying very sparkly and exotic fabrics - one wonders what goes ... read more

If you ever consider crossing the border from Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan, bring a beer, you'll be in for a wait. Getting out of Uzbekistan is straight forward enough, and walking 2km to the next border control is relatively easy too, but Turkmenistan is a notoriously difficult country to enter, first getting all the right documents in advance and next physically getting in. You'll be in the good company of truckers from all over the region, ferrying goods from Turkey and Iran as far as Kazakhstan and China. You may then have the bad fortune of having two different letters of invitation, a potential source of much confusion for the local border guards. In their defence, most of them are doing their military service, very young, and seemingly more interested in practicing a few words of English ... read more

Underused but stately buildings, older soviet era apartment blocks, Ladas with shiny 'racing' tire rims, cafes that don't serve beer - Ashgabat is different!... read more

Straight to Ashgabat, the capital, and probably the strangest place on earth. Some interesting facts; Ashgabat has more hotel rooms that the average number of tourists for the whole country, ANUALLY. Petrol costs less than 4p a gallon. There are 17 gold-plated statues or former president (and local madman) Niazov Turkmenbashi in town. There are no taxis in Ashgabat, you just flag down a car going in the right direction. I wander the streets, amazed by the brand new and empty ofccie and residential buildings, but am unable to take any photos for fear of arrest. I can't wait to leave. The currency of Turkmenistan, the Manat, has been devalued so many times now that their smallest note is 10000 manat. I shared a bar-bill with two others on the first night. It came to 1.6 ... read more