Off to Turkmenistan ...

It's a very early start today - we are up before the sun - to get to the border with Turkmenistan (TM) at Shavat as soon as it opens. It's the only border in this region that is open to foreigners. All foreigners including Uzbeks need a visa to get into TM with the exception of residents of the Shavat region as families are living either side of the border.

After about 40 min drive, we reach the Uzbek side of the border - meaning:
Everyone gets out of the minibus, picks up their luggage and then waits at the iron gates until the border guard lets us in.
Well, we have to hand our passport to the guard who is then leafing through all the pages before we are let through the gates - one at a time of course.

Next, all our luggage has to go through security screening before we join the next queue at border control. There is a short moment of apprehension when both our rucksacks are stopped for further investigation.
It seems we have rather a lot of medication in the bag - but none are banned substances - and they didn't like the shape of my power bank. Suppose to the weary eye, it could look like a bomb or a hand grenade as it doesn't have the typical brick like shape. But all good!
So, we wait for the actual border guards to inspect our passports and the required face screening. And we are almost through when there is a blip in the electricity - there we go, we think - but that's quickly sorted and we get our exit stamp.
One would think we are through now, but no! Take your luggage and walk for another 50m to the UZ gate to no-man's land. And here we go again, hand your passport over ... checking through all the pages before we are finally entering the neutral zone. It has taken us 75 min to get that far.

From here, it's about 1km to the border with TM. Luckily, there is a bus and we don't have to lug our luggage along the dusty road in the late morning heat.

Arriving at the border control post of TM, we are met by our TM guide - Shelby.
There is no way to travel in TM without an official, government approved travel agent.

And here begins the organised chaos. It's a small building with lots of groups - Japanese, Chinese, some Belgian, lots of locals and us congregating in a very small room. It's a bit of a squeeze.

First of all, having handed over our passports to our TM tour guide everyone has to 'park' their luggage somewhere in the room and queue to get a Covid test done while our tour guide queues to officially register our passports to get a bill per person for entering TM.
Done that, she collects the necessary dollars from everyone and queues at the cashier to pay for us to receive formal proof of payment while we wait patiently huddled around our luggage in a corner of the room.

Finally, having received the handwritten paper confirming that we have paid our dues, we are asked to move our luggage to another corner of the room ever so slightly closer to the actual border control booths. The masses in the little room move like tides - every new bus load from the UZ border starts a new wave.
But finally, it's our turn to queue up at border control which actually moves rather quickly. Hand over your passport to the border guard, smile for another picture to be taken and leave your thumb prints. Hey presto, in less than 10 mins we are through.

Actually, no, not yet.
Our luggage has to go through security screening again - well, understandable - and we have to hand over our passports to the guard manning the security screening ... who leafs through all the pages of the passport.

That's it we think and pack away our passports. But hey no!
Leaving the building, we have to handover our passports to the doorman who leafs through ....

It must be it now - surely!
Well, think again. We have to handover our passports to two more guards who...... before we are finally let out through the iron gates and officially enter TM 🙌

All in all it took about 2.5 hours - almost equally split between leaving UZ and entering TM - and handing over our passports 10 times. Apparently, quite a record as Timur, our general guide, said it can easily take 4 hours.

So then, how about the country?
In lots of the books I read, TM is often described as the "North Korea of Central Asia" because it has long been one of the world's most isolated and tightly controlled countries. Not surprisingly having jumped through all the hoops to get our visa to start with and then crossing the border.

However, the comparison is not exact but several features have led to the nickname:

☝️Authoritarian rule: Since independence in 1991, the country has been ruled by highly centralized presidency with very little political opposition. Elections are not considered free or competitive by international observers. In fact, the current president is the son of the previous president.

☝️Cult of personality: The first president, Saparmurat Niyazov (who called himself Turkmenbashi, "Leader of the Turkmen"), promoted an extensive personality cult. His portraits were everywhere. He even declared himself as President for life.
The father of the current President called Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow changed his name to Arkadag, meaning The Protector. An entire smart city built outside Ashgabat, along with television channels, monuments, and a top-tier football club, is named Arkadag in his honour.
The current President is called Arkadagly signifying that he has the backing, protection, and legacy of his father. Also, he has been awarded with
Hero of Turkmenistan status and his portraits are everywhere

☝️ Restrictions on civil liberties:
International watchdogs, United Nations committees, and foreign observers consistently rank Turkmenistan among the most restrictive and repressive countries in the world with strong digital censorship Internet access is among the most restricted and expensive globally. Major social media platforms (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp) and independent news websites are blocked.

☝️Isolation: Our experience confirms that the government tightly controls tourism, visas, and contact with the outside world, making it difficult for foreigners to visit and for citizens to travel abroad. However, with the new President this seems to improve.
In 2025, 40,000 tourists visited TM while the year before it was only 12,000.

Despite these similarities, there are important differences from North Korea. Turkmenistan is proud of it's neutrality, has a much smaller military, maintains diplomatic and trade relations with many countries, exports large amounts of natural gas, and does not pursue nuclear weapons. It is definitely less confrontational internationally.

It will be interesting to spend some time with our official tour guide and hear her views.

Let the next part of our adventure begin!Read more