Ask GoMad Nomad: Turkmenistan Transit Visas This month’s ‘Ask GoMad Nomad’ advice column follows up closely on November’s topic of Solo Travel in Central Asia. Reader Lewis asks about getting a transit visa for Turkmenistan, to facilitate a short visit he plans to make soon. Visas in the Central Asia region are a complicated case, […]
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Ask GoMad Nomad: Solo Travel on the Silk Road? This month’s Ask GoMad Nomad column comes from longtime reader Heidi, whose question concerns a region near and dear to several of the writers behind GoMad Nomad: Central Asia and the Silk Road. I recently decided that I want to travel the Silk Road from China
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Photo of the Week: Turkmenistan’s Monumental Marble Capital The name ‘Turkmenistan’ for most people brings to mind fiery craters in the desert or maybe the cult of personality surrounding former president Turkmenbashi, if indeed it conjures up anything at all. Very few people have any conception of the capital city Ashgabat, an inexplicable city
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Central Asia Visas: A Beginner’s Guide Your bags are packed, your flights are booked, and you’ve been chugging vodka and horse milk for weeks to prepare. (Though, please, not both at the same time.) You’re all set for Central Asia! But, are you sure? Rules are much more complicated in this region than the visas for
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Experience the legacy of Turkmenbashi If most Westerners know only one thing about Turkmenistan, it is this: Turkmenbashi. This first President of Turkmenistan (born Saparmurat Niyazon) would go on to build massive monuments to himself, rename months in honor of his family members, and eventually have himself declared President for Life. Busts and statues still
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The Soviet fossils in Ashgabat are strewn over the surface of daily life here. One in particular is the bukhanka. This is the Russian word for “loaf”, as in “loaf of bread”. However, the word is used as a standard sort of measure of the state-subsidized and state-produced bread that fills a lot of
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Turkmenistan visas are not for the faint of heart. With the exception of a few intrepid overlanders who take advantage of an oddly liberal three-day transit visa, getting into the country is not easy. Either one comes in a very expensive tourist visa package or one comes sponsored by an international business or organization. As
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Photo of the Week: Ashgabat, Turkmenistan In all my travels, Turkmenistan has been, by far, the oddest place I’ve visited. Culturally, the Turkmens are “cousins” of the Uzbeks, and I found many similarities in the everyday lives and customs with their Central Asian neighbors. The languages are also similar, both routed in Turkish. These are
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