We had long wanted to visit the Gates of Hell (Burning Fire Crater) in Turkmenistan. Our issue had been that it's a long way to go just for that and if we are being honest
there are not loads of accessible tourist sites in Turkmenistan. On top of this the price of getting there and sorting visas and using tours is quite high. We had thought
about how we could extend our trip with neighbouring or countries in the region, but flights are really limited into and out of Turkmenistan. The land border with Afghanistan
is pretty much a no go and we didn't fancy a ferry across to Azerbaijan. Eventually we managed to find a route to visit a few more places to make the trip more interesting
overall. This would however make the trip require a lot more flights than ideal and a lot of these flights were going to badly timed. It was looking like this was going to
be a tiring trip.
The places we settled on were Turkmenistan, Istanbul as we transferred with a long layover, Armenia and Cyprus. Weather wise we knew this wouldn't be the best time for some
of these countries, but that would mean lower season and slightly cheaper prices. Theres also not many great times to visit Turkmenistan. It's either too hot, too cold or
in Ramadan. So given we had some annual leave to use up before the end of the 2024 we took the bullet and set about a November trip.
We weren't sure we were going to get our letter of invitation back from Turkmenistan in time and were ready for a 48 hour go/no-go decision with a last minute scurry to book
flights and pack. However we were very happy to see our LOI come back in only 9 working days rather than the 15 we had been quoted.
NOTES: No flight to Turkmenistan is good. They all arrive when you should be asleep. The timezone differences largely mean no sleep will be had on the flights. Really
if you want to see Turkmenistan you'll have to suck it up.
You can do Turkmenistan without a tour, but it is very difficult and you'll likely be limited to Ashgabat. Turkmenistan is one of the most difficult visas in the world to
obtain. Rejections come with no reason and many tourists have been widely disappointed by being unable to visit here despite applying at different points four times or more.
With a tour you can get a Letter of Invitation which grants you access to visa on arrival. This process, although still with risks and rejections is more likely to succeed.
NOTES: We had a 10 hour transfer here and had to change between the Istanbul's IST airport to Istanbul's SAW airport on the other side of Istanbul. We had contemplated going into Istanbul centre, but we had checked baggage we'd need to store and we had already been to and seen everything we wanted to in Istanbul in 2015 on our way back from Kyrgyzstan. Also the traffic into and out of Istanbul can be atrocious. In the end we decided despite it being colder it'd be a better plan to rent a car and drive ourselves between the airports via the black sea coast and stop off at a few beaches and a nice restaurant for food before our night flight to Armenia.
There are many factors to consider here with the budget. Turkmenistan is difficult to fly too for most of Europe with only two real options
direct with Turkmenistan Airways or indirect with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul. Both options are pricey and the former is hard to book without a Turkmenistan phone
number. Top tip here they have a US version of their site where you might have more luck booking. There appears to be a less brand affiliated (potential third party)
EU website and finally kiwi.com. These seem like the only way to book with this airline. Given the limited options the flight prices are high, if you follow the above
itinerary there are five flights so the cost does really rack up. Additionally visa and tour costs in Turkmenistan are going to set you back about $600 per person.
Armenia can be cheap if you avoid big European brand hotels and you can still find somewhere nice to stay at with breakfast included. In country costs and flights in
and out are fairly affordable. Cyprus a typically expensive destination comes in a lot cheaper in this shoulder season. Just bear in mind you probably won't be able to
sit on a beach all day because of the weather. But Cyprus does have some fantastic history and other sites to see.
You can see how our actual trip went along with photos here: Turkmenistan 2024