I arrived back in London yesterday after an amazing 10 and a bit days in Turkmenistan. Trip was arranged with Saada Tours, based in Ashgabat, who provided my LOI. I decided to apply for the visa in advance at the embassy in London rather than getting it on arrival. It was a bit tighter than I ideally would have liked but visa was granted a few days before travel and passport was collected in person from the embassy. All fairly straightforward. I arrived at 2am in Ashgabat but didn't end up in my hotel room until around 4am. Quick few hours sleep, changed my dollars on the black market, then had a tour of the city, before taking the overnight train to Daşoguz in order to explore the mausoleums and minaret of Koneurgench. The site was well worth the journey and we then stayed overnight in Daşoguz. It's not the most exciting city in the world, and it was around minus 7 Celsius, but the locals were friendly and I had a great time wondering around the bazaar and trying lots of free samples of the local produce. It was then back on the overnight train to Ashgabat. You can probably do Ashgabat in 1 day realistically but I was covering some pretty vast distances on my trip so was grateful for some of the downtime I had in the city. I found the Turkmen Carpet Museum and National Museum well worth visiting in addition to the monuments, squares and more unusual features Ashgabat is known for. There is also a nice hike, known as the 'walk of health', on the outskirts of the city that takes you up into the mountains and offers great views. I also went to Old Nisa and the Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque on the outskirts of the city. Next up was Darvaza Gas Crater, which was an interesting drive into the desert. It's been well documented that it's gradually dying out so I was really grateful to have got the opportunity to see it while it still burns. My guide thought it may only have another year. It's still breath taking seeing the red glow appear suddenly over a sand dune as you approach in darkness. Back to Ashgabat and the next trip was into Balkan province to see Yanygkala Canyon and stay overnight in Balkanabat. Darvaza gets the attention but this was the highlight of the trip. I'm prone to hyperbole and recency bias is a thing but I'm struggling to recall a more stunning location. Definitely worth the long drive, sand blizzards and all. Balkanabat is a nice city and the backdrop of the mountains is certainly dramatic. On the way back to Ashgabat we stopped off at Nohur, which is a traditional village in the mountains, and Kow Ata underground thermal lake. The last excursion was to Mary and the Ancient City of Merv. Another beautiful site, which I had to myself. In fact, I only encountered other tourists at the gas crater. It was then back to Ashgabat for the final time before flying home the next day. I had a great time and found the people incredibly friendly and hospitable. Tour costs aside, day to day expenses are incredibly low.
Photos: 1 - Pastries at the bazaar 2-3 Overnight train to Daşoguz 4-6 Turabek Khanum Mausoleum 7 Kutlug Timur Minaret 8 Sultan Tekesh Mausoleum 9-10 Daşoguz bazaar 11 Wedding Palace, Ashgabat 12 Students waiting for the bus, Ashgabat 13 Danger, camels 14 Women waiting for the bus in the desert 15 Darvaza Gas Crater 16-17 Yanygkala Canyon 18 Danger, sand blizzards 19 Kyz Kala, Merv 20 Sultan Sanjar Mausoleum, Merv