Turkmenistan was a place we'd been wanting to come for a few years. While we knew there wasn't a huge
amount to see here we kept hearing about the Darvaza gas crater and we'd wanted to see it. The question more for us was how
to see it. Also it is not that easy to tag on other sights and countries with it. As luck would have it I would have left
over annual leave that I couldn't carry and had no real use for in 2024. This alongside the news that they were finally close
to a new initiative to seal the craters gas leak for good meant we just bite the bullet and went for it. We planned our trip only
three weeks in advance and were not sure if our visas would come through in time given they are one of the most difficult in the
world to come by, and for good reason. Thankfully our local fixer, it being lower season and possibly are extremely common names
meant we got a response back in record time of just ten days which even surprised our local contact.
If you do want to visit Turkmenistan I'd thoroughly recommend booking through a tour agency as almost all self applied visas are
refused. Some people have tried four or more times and still not been lucky enough to be granted permission to visit. Often
rejection reasons aren't given either. In fact as we checked in for our flight we were told by the check in desk just a week before
some Americans had been trying for eight months to get a visa before finally being approved. If you use an agency that is familiar
with the process it is more likely any visa application will succeed. Speaking of visas I was worried because both my passport and
passport photos had a beard. I had considered shaving my beard but all my identity documents have a beard on them and I read it
could cause more issues if I don't look my passport. Although I had no issues I'd made sure to match my passports look. I would suggest
anyone trying to visit Turkmenistan to either shave if clean shaven on their passport or not shave if they have a beard on their passport.
We ended up flying out on the twice weekly direct flight from London Gatwick with Turkmenistan Airways. The whole journey was a frankly
very strange one. It was a Wednesday in November but Gatwick's South Terminal was very quiet and this only got more extreme as we approached
our gate on a satellite bridge. At times it felt like we were the only passengers in the airport. While we were checking in we kept asking
for certain seats (there's no online check in with Turkmenistan Airlines) until the check in assistant informed us we could sit anywhere as
there was only 24 passengers on the entire flight which could have held 200 people. In fact the flight was so empty that they closed off
the entire rear 50% of the aircraft by turning the lights off and drawing the curtains. Despite this they still served two meals and multiple
drink services on our only 6 hour flight. The bathrooms on the plane were fitted with quilted toilet paper similar to something like Cushelle's.
On a plane, we'd never seen this anywhere in the world with any other airline. All in the flight, service and comfort was far above an airline
like British Airways and I'd have no issue recommending them. That being said coming this way on route to say China or somewhere else wouldn't
make a lot of sense for most people.
We really didn't know what to expect of Turkmenistan. We knew it was a closed society and as our trip approached we learnt more about some of
the strange rules like women being banned from wearing makeup or having fake eyelashes. We also knew that we'd have no access to internet or
roaming while we were in the country and that even if we had had it all common western services like WhatsApp, BBC, CNN, Facebook and VPNs would
be blocked. In order for locals to get internet access there is a long wait of 18 months and once they finally get granted access they are made
to swear on the Quran that they won't use any VPNs to bypass restrictions.
During our time in Turkmenistan we had many strange, unusual and sometimes confusing situations where we learnt about local restrictions and their
general way of life. While it would be too long to list them all some of our favourites were: Every single car registered in Ashgabat (the capital)
must be white in colour. Other colours were permitted for certain government services or embassies but for the most part every single car is white
in order to match the colour scheme of the city. This does have the side effect of making it very hard to find your car in a sea of similar white
Toyotas. The president had clad every old Russian tower block with white marble to pull off his dream of a white looking city. Women must wear
headscarves of a certain colour which stipulates if they are married or available for marriage. Vast forests were planted in the desert and watered
year round to make them grow to help counter the harsh dry summers that the country experiences. There is an inane level of trust among the people,
so much so that we were told at a supermarket you simply hand over your debit/credit card and read out the pin to the customer service representative
and they will handle the entire payment and amount. We later saw this trust in other ways when a random stranger flagged down our transport car and
asked the driver to deliver some random car keys to another person about 40 kilometres down the road to yet another stranger. They have a national
dog breed which must be kept pure and so most other dogs are frowned upon. Finally president Turkmenbashi wrote a book about Turkmenistan's history to
inform people of the countries ways before the USSR had controlled them. In the huge mosque he built for himself to be placed upon his death he placed
his book on equal footing with the Quran something which did not go down well with the wider Muslim communities in neighbouring countries and the
wider world.
The climate in Turkmenistan is similar to most desert countries in that it is unbearably hot in summer and bitterly cold in winter. We knew we were
coming here late in the season and thus it was likely to be cold, but a weather front had also moved in bringing the temperature even lower. While
this wasn't too bad in Ashgabat it did mean that it got very cold in the more remote areas at night.
Ashgabat, the creme de la creme of Turkmenistan's weirdness. The best way I can describe it is as a ghost town version of Las
Vegas. It has a million and one lights and every single one is one every night, but there's very few people around. You won't see a single runner,
dog walker, homeless person and very rarely will you see people walking around the majority of the people you see will be waiting on a bus. In some
areas you will see some cars, but in reality there's almost no traffic at all. Our guide told us that most people do not go out to eat or socialise
but that instead people visit each other's homes and this might in part make up for the lack of people out and about. That being said it did always
have a slight feel of being a show, image or somehow controlled scenario. You do really have to question why there are five lane wide roads when you
are the only car on them. With the above being said it was a very clean and peaceful city really like so much so it's like nowhere else we've visited
in the world.
Our hotel here we had been warned although it was four star that Turkmen stars differed from international stars and this made us wonder exactly what
we were getting in for. In fact it wasn't too bad despite some dodgy electrics and broken toilet seats in places. We did end up in what seemed like
a rented flat though with a huge living quarter, kitchenette, 2 bathrooms and 2 double bedrooms. If you do go on a tour like we did then you are
never left alone to explore the city and this does lead to a more unusual experience. It is more like you have a personal guard or escort to make
sure you are well behaved and don't roam where you shouldn't.
During our time here we visited all the major sites to see. This included the Turkmenistan independence monument, Gypjak Mosque, monument arch of
neutrality, Ertugrul Gazi Mosque, the Wedding Palace, Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex, Turkmenbashi Golden Statue, Walk of Health, Kipchak Mosque
(Turkmenbashi's final resting place) and the statue of Lenin. We also saw the world's largest indoor ferris wheel, why, we've no idea since you
can't see anything at all. We asked the guide if he'd ever been on it to which he responded no. Almost everywhere you go in Ashgabat you'll find
something strange and unusual. Simply talking to our guide provided enough insight into the weird world here. As it turned out they never had any
COVID lockdown and life simply carried on as normal with the only real change being the usually tight borders were closed.
The drive out to the Darvaza gas crater is a long one on a mostly dull straight road through a desert.
To start with the road is good, but then it becomes a pothole ridden mess and can make the 4 hour drive out quite daunting
and uncomfortable. We were praised by our driver and guide for not moaning about the driving conditions at all, but having
come from a Southern Africa road trip a couple of months before we had gotten used to bad roads. There is only one main gas
station to stop at to break up the route. On the way out we stopped at the local Yerbent village which is the largest village
in the Karakum desert housing over two thousand people. Most the people that live here are cattle breeders and while we stopped
here we had some local green tea and sampled local food. For me it was fatty meat and onion and for Kat a pumpkin pie/wrap thing.
During the rest of our drive we also stopped at two of the smaller craters. The water and mud craters. The water crater has gas
bubbles escaping from it as if it is boiling. The mud crater has some small fires. Apparently local nomads know of thousands of
other craters across Turkmenistan with similar phenomenon although not on fire.
The Darvaza gas crater was a sight to behold. It is a huge crater and the heat coming off
of it is immense. Rather than one big fire it is made up of hundreds of small fires which break out and change in
location over time across the base and walls of the crater. Work is clearly going on here to attempt yet again to
find the source of this untapped gold mine of gas and extinguish it once and for all. Not many tourists come to
Turkmenistan and the potential revenue from the gas being burnt here far outweighs the gain from tourism.
While we were here we stayed in a yurt style camp and as no surprise to us we were the only people staying here at
this time of year. It was going to be a cold night. Minus 7°C wind chill in fact. In the yurt we had a solar charged
light and paraffin heater. The heater gave off so little heat you could place you hand on the steel. While we did
manage to steal extra blankets of the spare third bed in our yurt the fact the we slept on steel bed frames and I
was too tall meant it would be a toughs night sleep. Thankfully I had thought ahead and packed some instant hand
warmers which we were able to throw in our sleeping bags to take the worst off the edge of the cold. It was so cold
in fact that the water in the outside toilet froze solid in the system. There was also a resident cat here which
I poured some water out for which then immediately froze as well. It was an unpleasantly cold night and we were
pleased when we got on the way the next day so we could warm up in the car. For diner here we had a very nice local
barbecue with a whole platter of meats and vegetables cut up for us to enjoy. Food wise here as in the rest of
Turkmenistan neither of us could complain despite our dietary restrictions and one of us being vegetarian.
Despite the cold and limited accommodation facilities I'd thoroughly recommend staying overnight at the craters edge.
If you do you can visit the crater for sunset, at night and again in the early morning. The different perspectives
really do give an awesome view of the crater and due to the long drive here if you did drive out and back in the
same day it can be very hazardous. Our favourite was viewing the crater in the dark, despite the bitter cold the
crater puts off so much heat that you can pleasantly stand on the edge taking photos and enjoying the view without
issue. At this time the crater really pops against the dark backdrop and you can climb a nearby hill to get even better
views down into the crater.
After a night here we headed back to Ashgabat on the four hour drive back.
For some videos showing the impressive Gas Crater burning, please see below:
On the outskirts of Ashgabat lies the UNESCO World Heritage site of Nisa Fortress. This
is an ancient Parthian settlement. Nisa was one of the most important cities of the Parthian Empire. The site
was made up of a citadel, treasury and a temple. It was also an important site for Hellenistic people and their
fire rituals. The site was a nice visit and showed us something different as a part of Turkmenistan's deeper
history. It also allowed us more time to speak to our guide on his own and get a better understanding of actual
daily life in Turkmenistan.
As with everything in Turkmenistan there is something strange. The steps up to it were built specifically for
an Iranian ministers visit because he had one leg shorter than the other and thus the steps up are slightly
sloped to assist his visit.
Next we said goodbye to the unusual and strange and headed on a long leg back home via Istanbul, Turkey where we had a long lay over and airport change.
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