The Five Stans Adventure exploring Turkmenistan 🇹🇲 Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 Tajikistan 🇹🇯 Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 and Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬
Hos Geldiniz! Welcome to Turkmenistan. Your adventure begins in the country’s capital, Ashgabat. Here, you’ll find manicured parklands, marble lined streets and huge, modern monuments – a vast contrast to the rest of the ancient country. You’ll have a welcome meeting this evening at 6 pm. If you arrive early, feel free to explore the area near your hotel. After you meet your local leader and small group of fellow travellers, you’ll head out for dinner and your first taste of Turkmenistan cuisine.
~ Intrepid Travel ~ Five Stans Day 1
Hello Turkmenistan 🇹🇲
Turkmenistan is located at the centre of the Eurasian continent and has been classified as an upper middle income country since 2012. It borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea, which offers natural resources of gas and oil deposits. Known as a neutral country, Turkmenistan’s declaration of “permanent neutrality” was formally recognized by the United Nations in 1995.
The Internet is regulated, information is censored and visitors may be placed under surveillance. Many apps and websites are blocked including:
- Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp and X
- Access to email (eg. gmail and hotmail) is often difficult
- Most foreign websites (eg. airline websites, news agencies)
- Netflix
The hotel did have WIFI and I was able to access some sites sporadically.
Turkmenistan is one of the world’s least visited countries, mainly due to its strict visa policy. Tourists may only travel to Turkmenistan as part of a guided tour. About 10,000 to 20,000 people visit annually.
You must present a letter of invitation in support of your visa application. Obtain this letter from the person you intend to visit, from the company for which you will be working or from an authorized travel agency in Turkmenistan. The person/organization inviting you must submit a request to the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan (SMS).
~ Government of Canada
Ashgabat
The capital of Turkmenistan is Ashgabat and the official language is Turkmen. Ashgabat is known as the Pearl of Central Asia. The great Turkmenbashi founded new Ashgabat in the early 2000s. It was he who decreed “We shall only build with white marble.”
A few interesting laws and customs are:
- Cars must be white and clean
- Ashgabat buildings are only built with white marble
- All dogs are banned from Ashgabat
Travel to Turkmenistan
I left Mongolia to travel to Turkmenistan to begin my Five Stans tour. There aren’t a lot of airlines flying to Turkmenistan and I went with Turkish Airlines.
- Ulaanbaatar to Istanbul, Turkey, Business Class, Airbus A330-300, 9 h 10 min
- Istanbul to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Business Class, Airbus A321neo, 3 h 45 min
I had a 12 hour layover in Istanbul but I picked this on purpose. I can sleep on the plane and arrive in the morning. The other option had a shorter layover but I’d be arriving in the middle of the night. Plus I really like Istanbul Airport. Istanbul Airport was honoured as the “World’s Best Airport” by Condé Nast Traveler and “World’s Best Airport” by Travel and Leisure. The Business Class lounge is quite nice and I relaxed, walked the airport, had many Chai Tea Lattes from Starbucks and hung out in the lounge. I’m not going to see another Starbucks for a few weeks.
Arrival & Immigration
My flight arrived at 6:55 am and from the air, Ashgabat looks like a white city and the airport terminal is shaped like a falcon.
Rejep from Intrepid Travel met me at Immigration and walked me through the process. I presented my Letter of Invitation (LOI) at the Visa desk and got my Visa added to my passport. I paid 130 USD for the visa, migration fees and a COVID test (which I did not have). All in all, a smooth process.
Everything is white and green in the airport.
Sport Hotel
The Sport Hotel was home for 2 nights and I was exhausted when I arrived. I got into my room right away and slept all day until 3 o’clock!
Welcome Dinner & Fellow Travellers
I am not an organized tour traveller ~ sometimes if I absolutely have to, I book a day trip because there’s something I want to see or do and I don’t have much time to travel outside of town and it’s difficult to get to. Booking this 24-day tour is outside of my comfort zone, but the only way I could enter Turkmenistan. With a lot of trepidition, I headed to the welcome dinner to meet my fellow travellers. My assumption was it would be travellers and not tourists that would book this type of adventure.
I was pleasantly surprised and yes we are all “travellers”. We’re a group of 8: Jackie (Canada), Michelle and her son Patrick (Canada), Jonathan (UK), Jodie (Australia), Tom (Canada/Australia), Graham (Australia) and Suzanne (USA). Rejep is our guide and group leader for our time in Turkmenistan.
We went for dinner at Soltan Restaurant and it was fabulous!
This book is a great read and I highly recommend it for those who have gone or want to go to the Five Stans and for anyone wanting a good laugh!
Book Review: Stans By Me ~ Ged Gillmore
Happy Travels!
The Five Stans
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Jackie is “Mom” to one amazing son, an IT professional and an obsessed traveller. She spends her time reading, golfing at Ladies League and implementing software projects. Jackie has travelled to 7 continents, 5 oceans and 103 countries and she is always planning the next destination and adventure!