Turkmenistan Travel Guide

has one of the most restrictive visa policies in the world. In practice, the only visa available for independent travelers is the transit visa, usually granted for 3 to 7 days. Tourist visas are only possible by joining a guided tour lasting the entire duration of your time in the country. Journalists are not allowed to visit Turkmenistan on a tourist visa, and need to obtain special permission in order to visit.

The official currency in Turkmenistan is the new manat, sometimes denoted by the symbol "m" (ISO code: TMT). It is divided into 100 tenge. Coins in Turkmenistan come in denominations of 1-, 2-, 5-, 10-, 20 and 50 tenge and 1 and 2 manat. Banknotes in Turkmenistan come in denominations of 1-, 5-, 10-, 20-, 50-, 100 and 200 manat.

By plane

Internal flights are possible on Turkmenistan Airlines which flies daily between Ashgabat, Mary, Turkmenbashi, Dashoguz and a couple of other destinations. Flights are subsidised, and due to fuel costs, extremely cheap. Prices are around USD5 for a flight from Ashgabat to Mary or Dashoguz. Turkmenistan Airlines operates with a fleet of Boeing 717s, purchased in 2001. You might not be able to photograph freely in and around the airport, though this is not unheard of elsewhere.

The official language of the country is Turkmen. Turkmen is closely related to Azerbaijani and Turkish, sharing varying degrees of mutual intelligibility with each of those languages. If you're a native speaker of one of those languages or know enough to communicate in either, picking up Turkmen should be easy.

Turkmenistan is a very safe country, largely because the government severely punishes crime. Turkmenistan is an authoritarian dictatorship and has one of the worst human rights records in the world. You need to watch what you say and do, always. As the saying goes, "If you have nothing good to say, don't say anything at all."

Medical supplies do not correspond to American or European standards. Bring the medicines you need for your personal use with you, as they will be unavailable outside of Ashgabat. A travel insurance covering hospital care and an emergency flight to your home country is strictly recommended.

Turkmenistan is, by design, one of the most expensive and difficult places in which to communicate.

By phone

Turkmenistan has only one mobile phone provider: TM Cell.

Internet

Internet services are heavily monitored and censored in Turkmenistan. In addition, the internet is characterised by a few other features: it is very expensive (normally $5/hour), slow and unreliable. Major hotels have access to Wi-Fi. Other places do not.

Apart from the police, Turkmens in general are friendly and hospitable, sometimes even to a fault. Saving face is an important cornerstone of Turkmen culture, so try to be prudent and careful with what you say; Turkmens are sensitive to being beckoned directly.