After almost 4 successful unforgettable weeks in Central Asia, the destination with most doubts and open questions about was yet to come: Turkmenistan – the region’s own version of North Korea. We had heard many horror stories from people being controlled or observed all the time, who were not allowed to move freely or always had the feeling to be spied upon, or even who were denied the entrance. In fact, the only “official” way to visit the country is via a fully organized tour, where you are accompanied by a guide 24/7. Regarding the price of a pre-booked all-inclusive trip, and also because of our aim to travel independently without the help of an operating company, such a tourist visa was no option for us. Luckily, there is the possibility to obtain a cheaper five days transit visa, which besides enables you going to wherever you want and doing whatever you like alone. Just a little problem: the use-case of a transit visa clearly states that you have to leave Turkmenistan towards a third country other than your homeland …. but we intended to fly back to Germany from the capital city Ashgabat! Fortunately, thanks to the super friendly Turkmen Consulate in Francfort, we were anyhow issued a five days transit visa which in reality we should not have received (we guess he rather made a mistake and was not very well informed).
So while being quite nervous overall, we took a taxi from Nukus to the Turkmen border post of Konye-Urgench nearby and hoped for the best. Then came the first big surprise: entering our last country was astonishingly uncomplicated and nothing compared to the Uzbek struggles we had experienced previously. Of course the officials checked our passports and bags, but they stayed friendly all the time and asked us a few interested questions about Europe and our journey. After perhaps 30 minutes we were stamped in with a nice and warm “Welcome to Turkmenistan”. Continue reading