The ‘Stans - Dubai to Ashgabat (28 July 2019)

28 July 2019 - Dubai to Ashgabat

I started my trip to the ‘Stans from Dubai heading to Ashgabat, two places that I thought would be worlds apart but were in fact extraordinarily similar in their extravagance and opulence.

I jumped in an Uber to Dubai International Airport after an uneventful night in Dubai and headed to Terminal 2. This is a Terminal I had never flown from before and was the beginning of sticking out like a sore thumb for the next month. Whilst waiting for my flight and consuming a KFC to kill the time (KFC Dubai does Shrimp), an Indian student struck up conversation about the UK. He had a small handful of British currency in his hand and asked if I would like to exchange it for Emirati Dirhams. Unfortunately I did not have the loose change to take the £1.50 off him.

Heading to the gate, I started to feel apprehensive. I consider myself to be fairly well travelled, but I had never been to a country as closely controlled and as mysterious as Turkmenistan. Whenever I told people I was heading here, people would look confused and asked if I meant Turkey. The few people who have heard of Turkmenistan had only seen this aspect of it:

The boarding announcement came over the tannoy and I apprehensively joined the queue to board. The only tourist on the entire Turkmenistan Airways flight, flying with what I assumed was the Turkmen elite. The very few allowed to leave their country on their own will.

As the plane flew into Ashgabat, I started to notice row upon row of low rise buildings all with green metal roofs, symbolic of the Turkmen flag. Having read numerous blog post about the perils of taking photos in Turkmenistan, I tested the water and attempted to slyly take one out of the window. It was an anti climax, no one shouted at me, no one stared. Maybe Turkmenistan was more normal than the hundreds of blog posts and articles would make you believe.

The plane touched down at Ashgabat International Airport. A $2billion airport finished in 2016 in the shape of an eagle, finished in white marbled. As far as airports go, it was as good as it gets. No queues, mainly because the airport receives only a handful of international flights a week. In fact there were more police than tourists, one standing guard every 20metres from the gate to the border control.

I arrived at the visa desk to no queue and no staff. In true central Asian style I waited several minutes for the visa people to finish their conversation. I showed my Letter of Invitation and was ushered to the desk adjacent to pay my visa fee ($87) & registration fee ($14) and I received a stamped bit of paper. I was then ushered back to the original desk to show proof of my stamped paper. I was then ushered back to another desk to receive my Turkmenistan visa:

It was beyond a relief to have the visa stamped in my passport - it took weeks of research and reading, debating the pros and cons of a transit visa over a tourist visa, but I had finally made it. To get to this stage I had contacted a number of Turkmen tourism operators to book a guide and a driver to escort me around Turkmenistan. It is notoriously difficult to obtain a Turkmen visa. Firstly you need a Letter of Invitation which is only provided by certain tour operators. Secondly, tourists are required to have a guide accompany them at all times.

You can opt for a transit visa which is cheaper and less restrictive, but I had read too many stories about these visas being denied to people without any logical reasoning.

I passed Turkmen passport control, grabbed my bag and made my way to the exit. A long line of local Turkmen had formed bringing all manor of boxes and crates from Dubai. Luckily there was a tourist lane (which must see little use) and I was guided through with only the slightest of searches.

I entered the arrivals hall and met with Anvar, my guide for the next few days. It was now early evening and we drove to the Ak Altyn hotel, one of the few hotels in Ashgabat to accept foreigners. It was an uninspiring brown cube, with gold windows, but it was home for the time being.

I checked in and started sweeping the room for listening bugs/two way mirrors. I'd read quite a lot on bugged rooms before flying out. But alas, there was nothing that exciting in the room. Maybe I just wasn't important enough to bug.  

The view from my window was of the UFO shaped Turkmen State Circus which was currently guarded by a couple of Turkmen police officers. 

The time was coming up to 11pm - curfew time in Ashgabat. I couldn't whatsapp/Facebook/Instagram that I have arrived due to state censorship, so I hit the hay ready for an early morning tour of Ashgabat.