Turkmenistan – The oddities of a strange country
Turkmenistan might just be the strangest country I’ve ever visited. Between empty marble cities, paid wedding actors, and Guinness World Record Ferris wheels, nothing felt real. Until we hiked the Walk of Health…
Approximately one year ago today, we visited Turkmenistan. While the visa process seems rather weird, the oddities are not restricted to how long it took and for which strange reasons we were rejected and had to apply again.
We visited the Gates of Hell, a gas crater that was somehow set on fire, but was burning for much longer than they had originally anticipated. It is still burning now. Tourism infrastructure has been established, mostly surrounding the crater that has a nice orange glow when you see it at night. There were multiple campsites around it.
During the day it doesn’t really do much except for that it is quite hot if you are standing next to it. We learned that they want to turn it off, and there’s actually some stuff set up next to it to eventually quench it. Apparently, it already is quite a bit smaller than a couple of years back. At night it’s an amazing sight! The pictures you can take are incredible. Also just sitting next to it, talking about books and travels and connecting with new and old friends was something I had expected from a trip like this.
Also, we did a pretty nice train ride throughout the whole of Turkmenistan towards the coast. It is a night train and the consumption of alcohol is prohibited, but the conductor was a known friend and let us do whatever we wanted.
At the end of the train ride we ended up in Turkmenbashy which the president had named after himself in 1993. Turkmenbashy translates to “Head of [all] Turkmens”.
Turkmenistan is very much a authoritarian government. The internet access is restricted. The streets and sights often are empty besides the one or other cleaner here and there.
We were told in advance that most people we would meet, would be paid actors. We were ready for the random wedding that was not a real wedding but seemed performative. I looked at it with mostly curiosity when they opened the biggest indoor Ferris wheel (according to the Guinness Book of World Records) only for us to have a ride in. The city made of marble had empty buildings, empty streets, and it felt like it was built for a much larger, or much richer population than they actually had.
Leadership done differently – or Saparmurat Niyazov’s dictatorship 101
One of the oddities was the Walk of Health. You see, their current president is the son of the dentist of the first president. The previous president was the dentist of the first president. And how the first president Saparmurat Niyazov came into power, I would not know. The first president had a rather strange approach to lead a country. I am not sure it got much better afterwards.
Among other things he wrote a book, he considered more important than the Quran where he wrote about how amazing Turkmenistan is, how gorgeous his wife is and how much of a great leader he is. He did not only write it; there is a statue of it. There’s a lot of weird statues in the Italian marble capital of Ashgabat. Also, he made everyone in school read it and take exams about it. A little self obsessed if you ask me.
He also renamed the months and named one of the months after himself as well. For international communication they then used their naming of the months with the English naming of them in brackets, because otherwise nobody would understand.
Back then, also the Walk of Health was established. Every Turkmen of any age should complete the Walk of Health. It is a 36 kilometer walkway alongside the Kopet Dag mountain range in south Ashgabat. He establish that they should at least walk it once per year. He claimed doing this would keep the population healthy. He actually made his ministers walk it every year. But he established he could not complete it because of a heart condition. Therefore, he flew over it in a helicopter while the ministers were doing the walk.
When I heard about it I was thrilled. I like hiking, and it looked, after a week of performative activities all over Turkmenistan to be something that might give us some authenticity. This turned out to be correct but very differently than we had anticipated.
We were told that we could do the 8 km stretch of it, which actually is the first part of the trail that had been constructed. Afterwards, there were many cars that could bring us back to Ashgabat, no problem at all.
I usually do not do this, not having a plan on how to get back. It usually makes me nervous. It did so this time as well.
The reassurance to be able to make it back without any issues kind of empowered me, though, and soon enough, we shared a taxi to the start of the trail. While the more sporty friends started running the trail, we slowly made our way up the stairs.
In all honesty, it was harder than I thought, at least at the start. We went up more and more, steeper and steeper stairs, and it was hot, and uncomfortable, and I was sweating like a little piglet. The views made it worth it. Also, the weird statues along the way, with all kinds of animals, gave it an interesting touch. When we were on the highest point, we took pictures, a deep breath and continued the way back down. Although, in between we still had to go some staircases up and back down. I think I burned like 1.700 calories doing the whole thing, my legs were burning from all the up and down, but we still had to go back to Ashgabat.
The way back a.k.a. futile attempts of hitchhiking
We tried to hitchhike, as it was suggested, but none of the cars stopped for us, on either side of the road. We were told that it was easy, that pretty much every car would act as a taxi and we just paid them some money at the end and get back to the city in no time. The sun started setting and we waited for like 30 minutes with no-one stopping. And then there she was, our angel in disguise. Well, not so much in disguise as one of the cleaners (they literally were everywhere!) took pity on us and asked us to follow her. She did not speak English, we did not know any Turkmen. We still somehow managed to communicate.
She led us down a slope and into a forest. I lingered a little to that back when I noticed that there were a ton of soldiers in this forest, but still followed her at a distance. I was a little apprehensive of where we were going. I signaled to Bas about the soldiers being all around us. We kept walking, silently talking about this rather weird situation. It did not take long until we reached a spring with a couple of cars and some guys getting water from the spring.
To our luck one of the guys spoke English and told us to drink some of the water. He explained that he was a professor and that he and his family always came here to fetch the spring water because it was the freshest water you could get around the city. Indeed, they were going back to Ashgabat and that we could ride with them. We just had to wait for them to fill up the canisters. There were around 20 canisters in the car that had to be filled. Some were already standing next to the spring.
The Turkmen hospitality
We waited a little, started chatting with them in English and with hands and feet. He had been to Germany he explained, when it was still East Germany. He even spoke a little German. We grew a little bored. Therefore, we helped them carry the canisters back to the car. We took a sip of water here and there because the hike had made us thirsty.
In between, the cleaner had vanished. When we were ready to go back, we jumped into the back of their car. We drove back and chatted along the way about travels. We also talked about life in Turkmenistan and what we had done while we had been there.
Reaching the hotel, we wanted to give him some money for his efforts. He laughed, shook his head and vehemently said “no”. Shrugging and laughing we left the car and waved them good bye. For the first time, in the week, we had spent in this rather strange country, we realized that this might have been an authentic experience. We even saw some people going about their day along the way. It was busier than I had seen Ashgabat ever before.
Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of our broom-equipped savior or the professor. I often miss those opportunities because I focus on the connection rather than the story after. But maybe that’s exactly what made this encounter feel so real. It was not about staged smiles, or photos, just people helping each other out.
I guess sometimes it is not the sights that you find in a place. Sometimes it’s a hike, an angel with a broom, a spring, some random guys and a car ride back to the hotel that shows you what a country is about.
🗺️ Quick Travel Guide to Turkmenistan
Visa & Entry
⚠️ One of the hardest visas to get. Requires a tour operator’s invitation and patience with delays/rejections.
Top Sights
✅ Darvaza Gas Crater (Gates of Hell): Best seen at night — glowing fire pit in the desert.
✅ Ashgabat: Marble capital, surreal empty streets, world’s biggest indoor Ferris wheel.
✅ Walk of Health: 8 km (short version) or 36 km full trail. Great views but bring water & stamina.
Getting Around
⚠️ Hitchhiking is common but unreliable (don’t count on it!).
✅ Night trains (e.g., Ashgabat → Turkmenbashy) are comfortable, but rules like “no alcohol” may apply.
Internet & Communication
⚠️ Very restricted. Many sites/apps blocked, VPNs barely work. Download maps, books & music beforehand.
Cultural Quirks
✅ Expect staged weddings, empty marble boulevards, and patriotic monuments.
✅ Authentic moments happen off-script — chatting with locals, unexpected hospitality.
Looking 4 Adventures 
Leave a comment