For TM we chose Saada Travel as our agency. Communication before the trip started was great, very responsive. The LoI which is needed to get your visum on arrival was sent out asap.
Day 1: We took a TK-flight to Ashgabat and arrived at 03:00. Queue for the visa-counter was short, but the process was a lesson in patience. You are still required to get a Covid-test. Even though there is no sign which indicates that you need to take it its location makes it feel mandatory. We wrote our name down on a list (without passport number or anything), endured a half-hearted swab and never heard of it again. After that we proceeded to the visa counter on the right. There, the officer kept our passports and gave us a document which we took to the bank on the left. We paid 100 USD per person (as of March 2026, card or dollars are accepted) and returned to the visa counter to collect our passports. Be prepared for a wait as the process involves an almost comical amount of manual signing and stamping. Do not exchange money at the bank counter (the official rate is 1 USD to 3,5-4 TMT while the black-market rate sits at 1 USD to 17-18 TMT). After everything was done, we got picked up by our travel agency (driver and guide), exchanged a few dollars with them and were asleep at 05:00. We stayed at the Sport Hotel, which was clean, spacious and featured a great swimming pool. Surprisingly, the Wi-Fi here let us access Instagram, Whatsapp, etc. (newly implemented in 2026 according to our guide). For other hotels we needed a VPN like JumpJump (not all VPNs work). We spent our first day exploring on our own. Contrary to what you might have heard, you can walk around Ashgabat freely, but you are not permitted to use public transport or taxis (despite the taxi drivers in front of the hotel still offering rides). After a good rest, we went to the Berkarar mall for lunch (200-350 TMT for 2 persons), bought some snacks and water and then made our way to the Independence Park/Monument and Olympic city. At night we went out again to take some pictures of the Olympic stadium. While most public places are indeed deserted, there are plenty of people on the street going about their daily lives.
Independence monument with a Saparmurat Niyazov statue in the front
Olympic stadium by night with a distinctive giant horse head
Day 2: The breakfast buffet was better than expected, but unfortunately, lacked some fresh fruits. Our guided city tour covered Ashgabat’s remaining ‘must-sees’ (i.e. Wedding Palace, Neutrality monument, the world’s largest indoor ferris wheel, the newly erected statue of Magtymguly Pyragy, the impressive Turkmenbashi mosque, Gulistan bazaar,…). At the bazaar we exchanged some more money (DM me if you want to know the spot), tried some caviar, nuts, dried fruits, and had a coffee. As you might know, central Ashgabat consists of monumental, white marble buildings (some residential ones are just painted white though). Some ministries have distinctive shapes (Foreign Affairs is topped with a giant globe, Health looks like a Cobra, Education is shaped like an open book), and many governmental buildings have duplicates or even triplicates. Even though around 80-90% of the workforce is employed by the state, it is hard to believe that all this space is actually necessary. Nevertheless, the scale of it all was impressive. For lunch we headed to Hurma café (highly recommended, 200 TMT for 2 persons) and explored the surrounding area. This part of the city feels more authentic, and we saw lots of people, single-story buildings with greenish roofs connected by streets that are poorly paved or unpaved, yet remarkably clean.
Giant Magtymguly Pyragy statue
Day 3: The journey to Yangykala Canyon was an 8-hour grind across a mediocre road with little to see, culminating in a brief 30-min stop and a ‘sitting-on-a-cliff-edge’-photo opportunity. While the canyon is as colorful as it looks online, it is quite small and does not compare to its larger counterparts in the Americas or Africa. At least there was no entrance fee, and we had the spot to ourselves. We devoured a soggy and cold but much needed wrap which we picked up earlier at Uly Balkan Café in Balkanabat. Afterward, we drove another 2 hours back to Balkanabat to check into Nebitchi Hotel, a run-down, dome-shaped hotel with a little ‘oasis’ in the middle.
Day 4: Breakfast consisted of two eggs, two sausages and two cucumber slices. We then headed back to Ashgabat via Kow-Ata Underground Lake and Nokhur Village. Kow-Ata was not worth the visit, but Nokhur village is beautifully situated in the mountains bordering Iran and had a very authentic feel to it. The cemetery was particularly striking, with goat skulls attached to wooden posts marking every grave. This is a unique custom in this village. Unfortunately, our guide could not explain the story behind it. Before entering Ashgabat a trip to the car wash was necessary – only clean white/silver/gold cars are allowed in the city! Before we finished the day back at the Sport Hotel, we visited the National Museum of History in Ashgabat. The museum is divided into three wings: natural history, science/taxidermy and one dedicated to the Berdimuhamedows. Due to time constraints, we only explored the natural history wing which costs 70 TMT per person. If you are interested in all the weird world records and a Kim Jong-Un-sytle personality cult, the Berdimuhamedow wing is likely the highlight you would not want to miss.
Day 5: We hit the road again, this time enjoying a smooth drive on a new and comfortable highway toward Mary. This trip took around 3.5 hours. Upon arriving in Mary, we stopped for lunch. Regrettably, I did not write down the name of the restaurant and cannot find it again. Outside of Mary lies Merv Heritage Site which was once a major city along the silk road and may have been the world’s largest city in the 13^(th) century before the Mongols destroyed it. Nowadays, it is comprised of the Great Gyz Kala, two smaller Mausoleums and a bigger one. Entrance fee is 35 TMT per person with a 50 TMT surcharge if you want to take pictures. Because the site is so vast we had to be transferred by car from one attraction to the next, spending about 15-20 mins at each. After that, we stayed at Hotel Mary, another run-down spot, and opted for a walk through town rather than dining in. Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed already so we had to rely on snacks for dinner.
Mausoleums of Two Sahabi brothers, al-Aslamī and al-Ghifari
Mausoleum of the Seljuq sultan Ahmad Sanjar
Day 6: The day started with porridge, olives, dry bread and eggs. We drove back toward Ashgabat, swapped our driver and guide just outside the city and set off for Darvaza. The trip from Ashgabat to Darvaza took another 4 hours and was on one of the worst paved roads I have ever seen. On the way, we passed Yerbent, a desolate village in the middle of nowhere with half of the buildings swallowed up by sand dunes. But it also has a petrol station with a café which provides the opportunity to eat a Samsa (Samosa) for lunch (40 TMT for 2 persons). Just before reaching Darvaza Gas Crater, we visited the Water and Mud craters which are around 50 meters wide, were formed naturally as opposed to Darvaza and are filled with Water and (dried out) Mud respectively. Once at Darvaza, we had a delicious dinner which was provided by the tour company. We took a walk around the Yurt camps and caught the sunset before heading down to the crater. However, seeing the crater in the dark was a letdown compared to pictures online. Due to ongoing methane-capture-efforts only a few pockets of fire still exist. Paradoxically, while the fire in the crater is clearly fading, new yurt camps are still being built nearby. The night was equally disappointing and a struggle for comfort. The yurt was poorly equipped with a blanket which was far too thin for mid-March, no bet linens and no heating forcing us to sleep in multiple layers and our jackets to stay warm. Toilets were working though but we had no shower.
Day 7: On our final day in Turkmenistan, we headed further north to Konyeurgench to ultimately cross borders to Uzbekistan via Khodzhelyli. The road was equally bad as the day before, and by the time we arrived it felt like we ended up with a mild concussion. Konyeurgench stands on the site of the ancient town of Gurganj which was the capital of Khwarazm which was a region/civilization I have never heard of before (sorry!). The site features several mausoleums and a prominent Minarett. It is certainly worth a stop if you are en route to the border, otherwise it is not worth the strenuous trip. Entry is 35 TMT (+ a 50 TMT photo fee which nobody checks anyway). After a quick stop at Konyeurgench market to swap our remaining TMT for Uzbek Som, we reached the border as it reopened after a 2-hr-lunchbreak at 14:00. Despite the language barrier, the personnel were friendly and somehow, we managed to fill out the right forms in the right order to finally arrive in Uzbekistan.
Kutlug Timur Minaret with Turabek Khanum Mausoleum in the back in Konyeurgench
TLDR: Ashgabat is worth the trip, Yangykala is a bit of a ‘one-trick-pony’ (great for a photo, but maybe not worth the 16 hours of driving), Merv and Konyeurgench will certainly appeal to history buffs, Darvaza was really disappointing and I do not get why the government is phasing out Turkmenistans biggest tourist draw. As hotels and breakfast were included in our tour, we total amount of dollars we spent on food and souvenirs was around 150 USD for two persons.
