[mobileexpert]

Turkmenistan is a really interesting place to visit. I entered from the north on foot and caught a ride in a weird hippy van taxi instead of the 1km walk between the border checkpoints of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. If you are interested in atypical travel I definitely can recommend it.

[dognotdog]

Interesting doesn't even begin to cover Ashgabat. It is positively surreal. It looks as if somebody was playing Sim City in cheat mode.

And getting through the beaurocracy, crossing the border by car was very much akin to https://youtu.be/JtEkUmYecnk?t=33

After that, finding out that the whole district your hotel was supposed to be in has been demolished just a few weeks prior isn't as surprising as one would think.

[albroland]

I managed to finally get a LoI approval this year after 2 previous rejections but then COVID happened; I'm hoping it's an easier process when I reapply next year (assuming they've reopened to tourists).

Note to anyone curious and reading: if you have a US passport - this is a challenging country to get into. Plan ahead and be prepared to either book flights last minute pending approval or buy refundable tickets for when you get the rejection last minute.

[082349872349872]

For flavour, if travel is difficult[1], at least Youtubing is easy.

Here's a turkmen wedding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGhSBOy8H_Y

and a pop clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udALVHSH9T4 (According to WP and the picture on https://yashlar.gov.tm/catalog/556 , this song is named after the "red rover" game.)

or landscapes + folkloric activities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy8LOpoMh10

Akhal-Tekes clean up fancy? https://live.staticflickr.com/5560/14529754743_26a80692e0_b....

[1] "Восток — дело тонкое"

(the obvious incentivisation is that oil companies need to hire country managers who are wealthy enough on their own account they can assume any necessary irregular payments and entertainment will be arranged by their personal lawyers, or in any case, well off the companies' own books?)

Incidentally, Berdimuhamedow's thesis was "Clinical features and pathogenesis of major dental diseases in children of multiparous women", but I haven't bothered to look up his advisor.

[puranjay]

Did you go yourself or use an agency? I was in Uzbekistan last year and from what I gathered, Turkmenistan isn't a place you can really do much solo travel.

[baybal2]

Do not go there, lest you want to add to ranks of Otto Warmbiers.

Turkmenistan, up until recently, was a close contender for the title of Central Asian version of North Korea with Uzbekistan.

With Karimov now dead, his gang purged, and Uzbekistan coming to a minimal semblance of normality, Turkmenistan takes the title.

[BeetleB]

Not sure why you were downvoted. These two countries have incredibly brutal dictatorships - far worse than countries we usually criticize (Iran, etc). I'm more familiar with Uzbekistan, where a decade ago there were a number of cases of people dying in prison because of burns from boiling water being thrown on them. Islam is practically outlawed - people have been put in prison for sporting a religious beard. When I was in grad school, there was an Uzbek student who was friends with a local Muslim student. When he was returning to Uzbekistan, he told his friend never to use Islamic phrases (greetings, etc) in emails to him as those could land him in prison.

Very controlling of outside journalists. Almost no outside journalist was allowed on site to report on the Andijan massacre, for example.[1]

I recall when Ahmadinejad came to Columbia to speak, the university president (Bollinger) went out of his way to blast him for his policies. Yet just the day before the Turkmenistan president spoke, and Bollinger also opened for his speech, and praised him. I was aghast.

Wiki page on human rights in these countries: [2] [3]. Turkmenistan even banned libraries outside of the capital. And video games!

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Andijan_unrest

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Uzbekistan

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Turkmenistan

[natcombs]

how did you exit?