http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Turkmenistan en-us Tue, 01 Dec 09 08:54:56 +0000 Tue, 01 Dec 09 08:54:56 +0000 When designing a keyboard or keyset for a game like World of Warcraft there are a number of setbacks. The most immediate of these is the need for players to be able to type normally. Because of this the manufacturers have compressed the keys on the keyboard and eliminated the numeric keypad. The latter has been replaced with a set of one touch hotkeys for a number of gaming functions.If asked http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/The-Silk-Road-of-Asia/blog-447672.html 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 cro http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-445549.html Prior to researching our visit to the ldquoStansrdquo we saw this part of world as little more than a homogenous mass sandwiched between Russia and China. In general one of the highlights of this trip has been watching places change from a name on a map to a plan to living breathing experiences and finally memories this has especially been the case while travelling through a region about http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-428258.html 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 isnrsquot 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-410464.html Turkmenistan may have to be seen to be believed on one hand the ancient sites conjure up images of caravans of traders making their way across Central Asia on the other hand the capital's skyline makes you think that you are in some kind of strange fairytale wonderland.Merv was once known as The Queen of the World and was a bustling city along the Silk Road. Then Genghis Khan's son came along http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-397124.html 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 c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-397122.html The Choice Not TakenTwo roads dived in a brown woodI stood there looking at both and I could travel but one Because I had to be back home at 600So I looked down one and then the other I traveled neither down the first nor the secondNo I would not be wandering down the paths of uncertaintyI would make a booth and charge to pass those that would fallow in my foot steps So now looking back as I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-383148.html Underused but stately buildings older soviet era apartment blocks Ladas with shiny 'racing' tire rims cafes that don't serve beer Ashgabat is different http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-332629.html I am a bit behind with this journal as Turkmenistan was pretty tight with internet access. I couldn't get phone access as well. After Bukhara we went to Khiva wandered around more amazing buildings and bazaars. From there we travelled across the border into Turkmenistan. The Border towns had not seen many tourists so we had a lot of attention as we were changing money and shopping in the bazaar. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-330748.html Hello Below 305s my exper305ence w305th the Turkmen305stan Tour and stantours. I hope you make up your own m305nd and dec305de on whats best for youBr305efly.. I appl305ed for a Turkme305stan tour Uzbek and Iran LOI w305th Stantours. After a 32 day wa305t I had my Iran LOI den305ed w305th only a day before my Turkmen305stan was due to commence. I was of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-312489.html STANTOURS THE TURKMENISTAN TOUR Most people would agree that Turkmen305stan 305s not a huge tour305st dest305nat305on and enter305ng 305ts borders 305s primarily to pass through. However should you apply for a Turkmen305stan trans305t v305sa or a tour305st v305sa ... the tour 305s expens305ve but the trans305t v305sa 305nvolves a 1014 day http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-312162.html 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 goldplated statues or former president and local madman Niazov Turkmenbashi in town. There are no taxis in Ashgabat you just flag down a car going http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-297321.html I need to figure out how to book hotel in Ashgabat Turkmenistan short of using the telephone. I can not find any internet site...ie. Kayak Orbitz Travelocity etc. that will do it. thanks. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-271830.html The 11th October started out like any other day except we were leaving Uzbekistan and crossing into Turkmenistan. Things seemed a bit dire when I told everyone to make sure they had their Uzbekistan Customs Declaration forms ready to present at the border and found out that 2 people didn't even have a form both copies were mistakenly taken off them at Tashkent Airport. There was nothing we cou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/The-Silk-Road-of-Asia/blog-214530.html After 6 weeks in Iran I headed for the IranianTurkmen boarder at BajgiranGaudan 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 it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-174539.html 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 agentguide arrived Oleg and dealt with the endless paperwork. That night we stayed in a good hotel to the north of Turkmenb http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-157586.html 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 impressi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Dashoguz/blog-153046.html 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 h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-152579.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/blog-68963.html 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 AH24 turboprop. At least the commotion helps ensuring that I don't doze off and sleep through the flight missing out http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Mary/blog-24784.html