25.07 to 27.07.2009, 2 days, currency rate 1 € = 4 M (New Manat)
highlights – from the mountain pass we went down straight to the capital. Ashgabat (City of Love) is a controversial metropolis, but most importantly, make emotions. It was built from scratch after the last earthquake (6.10.1948) and now looks cosmically. Wide avenues, large squares and palaces, fancy fountains, green parks - all with a flourish, kept sterile clean and in symmetrical order. Selfish ex-president, called Turkmenbashi (real name is Saparmurat Niyazov), has stood many of his own monuments. One of them is extraordinary – 12-meter high, all shining in gold with both hands stretched towards the sun. Turkmenbashi statue is turning all the time following our star movement. It stands on the top of the tower called the Arch of Neutrality. We used a lift there (3 M for 4 people) to have a good view of the Independence Square and Turkmenbashi Palace. City Center is built from shining white marble. It's worth seeing soldiers changing their guard under the arch. To our surprise the commander did not have anything against pictures shooting (in other parts of the city sometimes we even couldn't photograph the monuments). Apart from the arc there is a museum dedicated to the earthquake that almost completely destroyed Ashgabat, killing at this time 2/3 of the population. Above the entrance is a huge bull statue with a globe on his head, where Niyazov sits as a child. As well he built the largest mosque in Central Asia, at the place where his mother and two brothers were killed during the earthquake. Additionally he renamed the month "April" in her honor. But in city center there are no people! I have an impression that civilians might have no access there or they have no reason to be there. 
We could not find any shop, no city buses nor taxis were running through the center. Such a developing cost a lot and the ordinary people are the one who pay the bills. The marble splendor and richness of the city (built on oil and gas) appears to be a propaganda, as the suburbs still require a lot of fundamental renovations.
Similar was in Berzengi, the new surrealist district of Ashgabat. There is a park with many fountains (including the largest fountain in the world - remember, Turkmenistan is a desert country), and white marble high tower blocks. Unfortunately it appears to be uninhabited, they are like dummy. All residents of Turkmenistan must know the poetry of Niyazov written in his book "Ruhnama" (Book of the Soul). Questions from this subjective vision of history, culture and traditions of the Turkmen are in all state examinations, for exp. schools exams or even driving license test. Book monument (huge size of course) we can see there, in the park next to the white block giants. Well, this book is 
even on the space orbit! The President announced that anyone who reads it 100 times, have guaranteed place in heaven. I will give a few more examples of egoistic, not to say sick imagination of the former president. He had many strange ideas - one of them is a Healthy Track, 8 or 37 kilometers stairs to the top of Kopet Dag Mountain. Once a year ministers, parliamentarians, and thousands of officials had to climb up it in suits and ties, promoting the strength and health of the nation. Niyazov watched the whole event from the helicopter, explaining himself with a weak heart. Now you can also climb the concrete stairways, or more conveniently take 3.5-km long cable car to the top of Kopet Dag to admire the city skyline. Other “necessary” projects which Turkmenbashi invented was building the largest artificial lake in Central Asia – he made it in the middle of the desert by cost of 8 billion dollars – fair enough. Currently Turkmenistan has the longest irrigation canal in the world (length of 1.370 kilometers), but the engineers "have forgotten” about the evaporation, so the project also proved to be a disaster. To keep his dictatorship, the country was not free from the opposition repressions - imprisonment, torture and deportation were in daily routine. In 2006 Turkmenbashi died and Berdymukhamedov took over the power (former dentist of ex-president). Unfortunately, democracy is still unknown concept here and Turkmenistan remained a country which is very closed to foreigner visitors.
Travel mates from minibus didn't want to let us go to Karakum Desert in the middle of the night. But we were stubborn and eventually we went with torches, slowly disappearing in the darkness. Flame of artificial volcano (Darvaza Gas Crater) burst brightly far ahead from us - this is burning natural gas, a remnant of the Soviet economy. We saw this glow from a distance, but it was too far to get there on foot in a few hours (according to Lonely Planet it's just 2 hours walk from the road – unfortunately it's impossible). However, it gave the strong impression even from the distance. I guess it would be easier to get there by stopping at one of the two roadside restaurants in Darvaza. There you can try to rent a jeep with the driver who knows the road. The only problem is that the officially Darvaza village doesn't exists anymore (half way between Ashgabat and the Konya-Urgench). It was razed and erased from the maps in the president order – he did not like the village when visiting it - he demolished the buildings and resettled the people.
After several kilometers of walking we stopped and admired the milky way in completely solitude, in the silence. Crater was shining from the east, adding something special to this unique atmosphere. Inside a tent had become too hot shortly after sunrise, that we had to leave it. We climbed the dunes (crater during the daylight is not visible), admired spiders, lizards and a snake. Finally the noon heat led us back to the road where we hitchhiked. Karakum is the warmest desert in Central Asia, landscape is similar to the Australian deserts, so I felt there a bit familiar.
It was nice to enjoy a cold beer after our stay in Iran. We looked at the pretty young Turkmen women wearing long dresses highlighting their shapes, so different from the Iranian shapeless black dresses. In Konya-Urgench there is not many tourists at all (as in whole country), so locals like to talk, they are helpful and curious. We were invited by one family for a meal and night, so now I can confirm the true that cooking stoves burns non-stop. 
This is because the gas is free of charge, while the matches belongs to the shortage products - so locals never turn off the gas stove (except gas Turkmen have free electricity, water and salt). Sights around the town do not belong to the “must see”, but if you have a time, it is worth to look around. Nejameddin Kubra Mausoleums are the twelfth-century tombs, whose leaning facades look as they soon will collapse. Pleasant 10 minute walk from the center will take you to the Southern Monuments, where the interesting buildings are Turabeg Khanym and 59-meter leaning Gutlug Timur Minaret. We were there in the evening and no one asked us for payment. We returned to our amiable hosts – unfortunately a neighbor called the immigration and they have forbidden us to sleep in a private home. There is a restriction which not allowed you staying in the unlicensed hotels or private homes on a tourist visa, but not on transit. However, we weren't asked what type of visa we hold. The hosting family felt sorry and apologized for inconvenience, but we knew they are good people. We pitched our tent in the middle of the bus station.
It's a pity that so friendly Turkmen have ridiculous government with dictators in power using their own nation.
| town | site | price in M | €/ per | duration | note | comments |
| Ashgabat | Arch of Neutrality | 3 M/ 4 per | €0.2 | 30' | ok | using the elevator |
| Konye-Urgench | Nejameddin Kubra Mausoleum | - | - | 15' | no good | from outside |
| Southern Monuments | - | - | 30' | no good | ||
| €0.2 |
accommodation – we didn't sleep in the capital, but we met two others Polish travellers who stayed in Ashgabat Hotel for 30 $ in double room (city center, 74 Magtymguly St). From outside the hotel looks incredibly, I fought that I never can afford to stay in it. Lobby was in marble as well, but when we come to the rooms they told us the true, as they are not in the best condition - peeling wallpaper, broken shower etc. However, the view from the balcony is good enough. Opposite the hotel is Sowda Merkazi shopping center where you can find money exchange office with decent rates (only US dollars and euros).
We spent nights in a tent for free - the first one in the Karakum Desert and the other night in the bus station in Konya-Urgench.
transport – from the Iran-Turkmenistan border is just 35 km to Ashgabat. Unfortunately you need a special taxi to get through the military zone to the Yablonovka checkpoint. Of course this ended up with quarrel with the taxi driver which raised the price for tourists. Ultimately we have won and paid 20 $ for four people for a ride straight to the hotel in the city center. During the course the driver changed his mind and wanted kick us out in the Yablonkova checkpoint, which is still about 15 km away from the capital. However, our stubbornness forced him to honor our verbal agreement and continue the driving.
The cheapest way to leave Ashgabat is by train. However, the ticket purchase on the railway station just one day before the departure is almost a mission impossible. If you going north you can go by bus from the "Old Airport", the last one leaves at 6pm (from the city you can get there by bus or minibus No. 1). We missed it, so we went instead to Dashogus Bazaar (called also Azatlyk). There are a lot of minibuses departing until the late hours (leaving when full). We wanted get just to Darvaza, but we paid a price almost like to the Dashogus, even though it is only a half way (18 M from 20 M).
To get from Konya-Urgench to the Uzbekistan border, you should take the minibus departing close to the bazaar.
| day | destination | transport | price in M | €/ per | duration | km |
| 18 | border (Iran) - Ashgabat | taxi in 4 persons | 20$/ 4 per | €3.6 | 45' | 35 |
| 18 | Ashgabat - Darvaza | minibus | 18 M | €4.5 | 4 h | 245 |
| 19 | Darvaza - Dashogus | bus | 15 M/ 2 per | €1.9 | 3 h | 240 |
| 19 | Dashogus - Konye-Urgench | bus | 2 M | €0.5 | 1.5 h | 94 |
| 20 | Konye-Urgench - Oktyabr (Uzbekistan border) | minibus | 1 M | €0.3 | 20' | 15 |
| city transport | taxi and buses | 4 M/ per | €1.0 | - | - | |
| €12 | 629 |
visa – it's a very closed country, comparable with North Korea. Tourists are allowed only under the government guide supervision. This is not a cheap option - the cost of more than 100 € per day per person. However, it is a way to move around the country independently - transit visa. It is difficult to obtain but when successfully usually is valid for 3 or 5 days (in extreme cases even 7 days). You can travel only between the entry and exit border crossing points. Unfortunately the exact dates of your proposed travel itinerary you must submit at time of application – so it's not valid from the date of entry, but has a fixed time frame. In addition, practically 3 days 
means much less than 72 hours - we entering the country on the first day in the morning, and on the third one we have to leave it before the border will be closed! Just as in our case - we had to run through Iran and have already arrived at the border on the 2nd day of Turkmen visa validity, and because it was Friday, the border was already closed at 2pm. In practice this meant that instead of staying there from Thursday to Monday, we had time only from Saturday to Monday :(
To obtain a transit visa, in addition to the standard application, you must attach documents explaining the reason of your visit and itinerary (in our case in Russian). At the time of application you must already have the visas to neighboring countries (in our case Iran and Uzbekistan). Note - the authorities often denied to issue a visa in the case of declaring leaving the country by ferry in the Azerbaijan direction - due to the irregular departures there is a danger of illegal over stay in the country. On transit visa there is not obligation to do registration in Turkmenistan.
We have heard about the possibility to apply for a visa in Tehran, but some travelers described a visit to the Turkmen embassy as a nightmare - 3 weeks waiting and a lot of bureaucracy (including even the letter of invitation). Many people use the services of Stan Tours agency (from London) - surely they know the procedures in the region. However we met Koreans which Stan Tours took unfair advantage on their naivete.
We applied for a visa through an agency, in our case it was probably the best option. We were free of hassle and even didn't have to receive the papers personally. The visa costs 55 € plus commission for the agency. Generally you are waiting for formalities at least 2 weeks.
When entering the country we had a surprise – arrival tax. Filling the application form costs 10 $ per person plus 2 $ for the entry card. You can share the card cost per group, even if you don't travel further with those people - a moment later an official will give to each person a separate card entry with written exit border. There is no departure tax at the land borders.
Turkmenistan has the embassies in most countries of the former USSR, as well in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain and Iran.