A lunar landscape with craters of cultural activity. The most curious of the Central Asian republics, Turkmenistan resembles an Arab Gulf state without the money. It's the second largest Central Asian country, but four-fifths of it consist of an inhospitable lunar-like desert called the Karakum which conceals unexploited oil and gas deposits.
Capital: Ashgabat
President: Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow
Government: republic
Time zone: GMT +5
Area: 488100
Population: 5000000
Religion: 89% Muslim, 9% Eastern Orthodox
Currency: Manat (M)
Country Dialing Code: 993
Flights to Ashghabat most commonly transit through Frankfurt, Moscow, Kiev, Istanbul, and Baku in Azerbaijan. There's one flight a week from London and another from Yerevan. If you're more into travelling than arriving, there's a hybrid journey by air from Turkey to Baku (Azerbaijan), by cargo vessel across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan, and from there to Ashghabat, Bukhara and beyond by train. Plenty of travellers also cross between Turkmenistan and Iran, using Turkmenistan's five day transit visa to get between Bukhara and Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
Train travel is slow but reasonably comfortable. Trains often travel by night, so you can save money on a hotel but end up missing the excellent views of the passing countryside. Tickets are cheap but tend to sell out early, so buy your ticket as early as possible. Buses travel early in the morning while afternoon services are rare or non-existent. All day long there is no shortage of marshukas (private minivans) or share taxis which travel quickly and cheaply between cities. Off the main routes, some villages may only be served by one bus per day. For destinations well off the beaten track, private transport is essential and there are a number of tour operations that can organise expeditions into the desert.
Turkmenistan is by far the hottest of the Central Asian countries, although its dry desert climate and low humidity means that despite the soaring temperatures, it's not always uncomfortably warm. That said, only the insane or deeply unfortunate find themselves in Ashgabat in July and August, when the temperature can push 50° C (122° F). Winter days see highs of just 3° C (38° F) in January, but as the hours of sunlight are about a third of that in summer, nights make little difference, usually averaging around -4° C (25° F). Proximity to the Caspian Sea blunts conditions along coastal Turkmenistan, with cooler summers and warmer winters. Rainfall is infrequent over the country and only mild in southcentral regions outside of summer. The major area affected by the weather is Dekhistan, in the south-west, which is virtually unreachable after rain because of impassable road conditions.
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