Welcome to Ashgabat

Without a shadow of a doubt, Ashgabat is one of the strangest cities on the planet. Fashioned almost entirely of white marble it’s like Disneyland on steroids. A touch of roman style flair topped off with a healthy dose of communist architecture. In short it’s this mismatch of styles coupled with the genuine oddities that only exist in Turkmenistan that make this city what it is.

Getting into Turkmenistan

Getting into Turkmenistan is easy if you go with a tour, but its more expensive. The cheaper alternative is a transit visa which whilst being significantly cheaper has a rejection rate of around 60% (some sources suggest it’s even higher). We have more info on that here in our post on the Darvaza Crater in the middle of the Karakum Desert.

The vast majority come with a guided tour. This will include at least a day around Ashgabat where you will be taken to see all manner of palaces, monuments and mosques. When we were there, everything was spookily deserted including the mosque built for the now deceased president Niyazov.

Tourists are rare here. In fact we didn’t see any other tourists during our time in Ashgabat. In spite of this I have attracted more attention in huge cities in mainland China that we did here.

Ashgabat’s Weird and Wonderful Rules

There are a few quirky rules in Ashgabat. Firstly cars cannot be dirty or the drivers will receive a fine. We entered the city from the Darvaza Crater 3-4 hours north of Ashgabat. As we approached the outskirts we turned into a huge car wash where a few hundred people were scrubbing away. Upon entering the city, every car is in pristine sparkling condition. A very surreal image.

Secondly businesses are not allowed to display signs outside or on the walls outside their place of business. The exception to this rule is the huge Berkarar mall. Effectively many places looks like they could be someones house.

Thirdly there will always be reminders of where you are; a state ranked above only North Korea and Eritrea in the press freedom index. Whether it’s armed guards keeping a mindful eye on you or the fact the entire city shuts down whenever the current president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow has finished his working day and is heading home. We were “lucky” enough to experience this after getting to ride the worlds tallest indoor ferris wheel (yes really). As we tried to grab a taxi back to the city centre we were sternly and forcefully told to go back to the ferris wheel as the road was closed. Without any further elaboration. Our wonderful guide filled in the missing pieces of information.

Ashgabats Architecture

Ashgabat’s architectural wonders has made the city something of an internet legend with various documentaries (ones from vice and Channel 4 in the UK spring to mind) bringing the cities fascinating and bizarre architecture to the masses. Bizarre structures and monuments aside, the fact that the vast majority of buildings are built using white marble that is truly astounding. Even more so when you take into consideration that almost all of it was imported (figures differ depending on sources). The ostentatious end of the scale is very much dominated by the cities monuments and government offices.

Horse Racing

We were also lucky enough to experience Turkmenistan’s national sport – horse racing. We arrived at the stadium at 7:30am to find massive celebrations were underway for high school students who had just completed their university entrance exams. Cue plenty of traditional attire and dance routines.

Ashgabat’s Biggest Market

We were lucky enough to visit a sprawling market on the edge of Ashgabat selling all manner of cheap Chinese made goods and local produce. As interesting as this was the main event was most definitely the livestock section. As we got closer we saw sheep being put into the boots of cars or in the backs of small three wheeled trucks  to be ferried to their final resting places. Certainly not a place for the faint hearted.

Monuments to Turkmenistan’s Historical Heroes

There are numerous statues to famous historical Turkmen, as well the former president Niyazov. He lead the country from it’s independence in 1991 until his death in 2006, creating one of the most bizarre personality cults on the planet. There are a few reminders to the man the gave himself the title of Turkmenbashi – the leader of all Turkmen. 

Mosques

Sitting somewhere in the middle of the white marble, illustrious individuals and horses are two particularly stunning religious structures. The Ertugrul Gazi Mosque built by Turkey located in the city centre and the stunning Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque.

Located on the cities outskirts, this huge complex is the largest mosque in Central Asia and can hold up to 10,000 people. In addition to this it is also the final resting place of Niyazov and his family, the countries leader from the fall of the Soviet union until his death in 2006. However the day we went it was completely empty, except a couple of guards keeping a watchful eye. A truly bizarre experience, exploring a building of such national and spiritual importance with no one else around.

There really is nowhere else like this on planet earth.