Surreal and secretive, this Asian country is finally opening up

In light of the closure to tourism of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and travel warnings for Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the five Stans of Central Asia have more kudos than ever. Already renowned as key stops along the historic Silk Road – the ancient trade route linking China to Europe – these destinations are also prized for their dramatic landscapes of steppe, mountains and deserts, as well as their rich cultural heritage, blending regional Islamic traditions with post-Soviet architecture and revival.

The world’s tallest indoor ferris wheel is found in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.Credit: iStock

Of all the visitable Stans, Turkmenistan is considered the least Westernised, least visited (with just 15,000 foreign visitors annually) and most secretive. However, the recent announcement that the country will do away with the formalities of a letter of invitation, to be replaced with an e-visa (when and how has yet to be clarified), slightly reduces its quirkiness – but it will make arranging a visit less onerous, especially for independent travellers.

So what’s in store for those who hop on a couple of flights to get there?

The capital, Ashgabat (population: just over a million), has been rebuilt in the past two decades with profits from the country’s considerable gas reserves. Historic sites, canals and old trees have been removed to make space for kitsch-meets-bling mega-monuments, bombastic government palaces and sleek high-rise apartment blocks.

In 2013, Guinness, ever on the lookout for daft new records, declared Ashgabat to have the “highest density of white marble-clad buildings in the world”. The statistic claimed is 4,513,566 square metres; whoever measured it deserves a Guinness entry for dodging Turkmen security. The main drag, Bitarap Türkmenistan Şayoly, had 170 marble buildings at last count.

The futuristic Arch of Neutrality stands astride the Kopet Dag mountains, separating Turkmenistan from Iran.Credit: iStock

Some of the buildings and monuments are otherworldly in scale and conception. The Wedding Palace is a 38,000-square-metre registry office topped by a disco ball inside a frame of eight-point stars. The Arch of Neutrality is a rocket-like tripod with lifts up its splayed legs and awesome views of the city’s Brasilia-style roads and general whiteness.

The Gypjak Mosque can accommodate 10,000 worshippers and houses both the Koran and the Rhunama, or Book of the Soul, written by the first post-USSR president, Saparmurat Niyazov – nicknamed Turkmenbashi or “Head of the Turkmen” – who closed all libraries and hospitals outside the capital and proscribed ballet dancing, beards and the word for “bread”. A huge monument to the pink-edged, green-jacketed Rhunama is found inside Independence Park.

Ashgabat has the world’s largest indoor ferris wheel, its largest equestrian statue (Ahal-Teke horses, as once gifted to Queen Elizabeth by Nikita Kruschchev) and used to have the world’s highest unsupported flagpole (until Egypt unveiled an even bigger erection). It’s also reported that as many as 90 per cent of the cars on its roads are white – owing (depending on which source you choose to believe) to a rumoured crackdown on all cars of other colours in 2018, to former-president Berdymukhammedov’s alleged personal preference for white vehicles, or to the fact that the colour is considered to be lucky.

The Tolkuchka bazaar (also known as Altyn Asyr Bazaar), a 20-minute drive from downtown Ashgabat, affords visitors a glimpse of older Turkmen ways. Its shape is meant to resemble a Turkmen carpet, and while it’s only the fifth largest in Central Asia, it covers 100 hectares. Stalls sell spices, fake Rolexes, livestock, carpets, souvenirs, vegetables and fruit. Melons are a specialism; Turkmenistan has a crossbreed muskmelon called the Turkmenbashi melon. The second Sunday in August is National Melon Day.

The Independence Monument in Ashgabat is flanked by statues that celebrate Turkmenistan’s sovereignty.Credit: iStock

Turkmenistan is twice the size of Britain, almost as big as Spain. It has more than 4800 kilometres of railways, including lines to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, Iran and Russia, and the 540-kilometre Trans-Karakum Railway across the desert of the same name. The most celebrated “sight” here is the Gates of Hell gas crater at Darvaza, burning since the ’80s when someone took out a match to prevent the emission of poisonous gases caused by a gas field’s collapse 20 years earlier.

A long, Milton-esque stairway in a cave at the foot of a mountain leads to the Köw Ata Underground Lake, where you can swim in sulphurous waters. Ancient Merv is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a repository of 4000 years of history and “the oldest and best-preserved of the oasis-cities along the Silk Route in Central Asia”.

Nokhur cemetery in southern Turkmenistan contains tombstones decorated with mountain goat horns – believed by the Nokhuris (who claim to have descended from Alexander the Great’s soldiers) to protect against evil spirits. Animism, Islam and Zoroastrianism are routinely melded, causing some traditional Muslims to take umbrage at Turkmenistan’s bespoke approach to theology.

The country is dotted with photogenic rock-scapes. Yangykala Canyon is the one that you see most often on promotional material, with its striated limestone walls rising out of an ancient seabed.

Turkmenistan is a de facto one-party state with no serious opposition permitted. Should that put anyone off? Only if you also want to discard China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Eritrea; the US is a de facto two-party state and is more likely to go in the other direction than to suddenly announce a trio of options.

The Gypjak Mosque can accommodate 10,000 worshippers.Credit: iStock

Turkmenistan has some of the slowest and most tightly controlled internet – positive messaging only is firmly encouraged – which is, of course, a major issue for locals. YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook are blocked. There’s no roaming. All in all, it’s also an excuse for tourists to switch off and forget screens and report back on their experiences once they get home.

For now, a letter of invitation is required (though this will be retired with the introduction of the new e-visa); tour firms will usually take care of the red tape. The Australian government’s Smart Traveller website also advises, “you must take a COVID-19 (PCR) test on arrival, and if you have a positive test result, you may be required to quarantine in a state-run facility or at your place of residence under medical supervision”.

THE DETAILS

Fly
Turkmenistan Airlines does not fly to Australia, but does fly from Ashgabat to several Asian hubs where passengers can connect to the airline, including Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Alternatively, Turkish Airlines flies from Sydney and Melbourne to Ashgabat via Istanbul.

Stay
The five-star Yyldyz Hotel in Ashgabat has rooms from about $480 a night.

The Telegraph, London