Ashgabat

Ashgabat's historical appellation is The City of Love but nowadays its modern nickname, The City of White Marble will seem vastly more appropriate. Turkmenbashi, the prior president of Turkmenistan, transformed the city from a relatively drab Soviet capital to a city of pure white marble buildings, many containing some rather overbearing symbolism (the Ministry of World Affairs building is a perfect illustration). Short of Pyongyang, Ashgabat is probably the best example of what happens when a city gets redesigned according to the vision of exactly one man, and most visitors will find themselves at first awestruck and then severely confused given the sheer similarity of most of the buildings.

By plane

• Ashgabat International AirportAs of April 2018 flight: Belavia - Minsk; China Southern Airlines - Ürümqi; Flydubai - Dubai; Lufthansa - Baku, Frankfurt; S7 Airlines - Moscow; Turkish Airlines - Istanbul; Turkmenistan Airlines - Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Amritsar, Balkanabat, Bangkok, Beijing, Birmingham, Daşoguz, Delhi, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kazan, London–Heathrow, Mary, Minsk, Moscow, Paris (CDG), Saint Petersburg, Türkmenabat, Turkmenbashi, Yerevan

By rail

Turkmendemiryollari (Turkmenistan Zeleznice) runs trains to Ashgabat from Turkmenbashi and Turkmenabad via Mary.
Trains leave Turkmenbashi every second day at 19:30 and arrive in Ashgabat at 05:20 next morning or daily at 16:05, arriving in Ashgabat at 05:50 next morning.
Trains leave Turkmenabad at 18:00 and Mary at 00:25 daily and arrive in Ashgabat at 08:20 next morning, Another train leaves Turkmenabad at 21:55 and Mary at 02:50 every second day, arriving in Ashgabat at 09:35 next morning. There is a day train leaving Turkmenabad at 04:20 and Mary at 10:23, arriving in Ashgabat at 18:35.

By car

Distances to Ashgabat: Almaty in Kazakhstan 2120 km, Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan 1870 km, Tashkent in Uzbekistan 1290 km, Samarkand in Uzbekistan 1000 km, Shakrisyabz in Uzbekistan 1100 km, Turkmenabad 590 km, Mary 350 km, Mashhad in Iran 270 km, Dashoguz 650 km.

"Taxi", by which everyone means hitchhiking is probably the best way to get around Ashgabat. Simply hold out your arm at a downward angle with two fingers extended, and a car (usually a Lada) will stop. Say where you are going. If they nod, get in, otherwise they will go on and you have to wait for the next car. Expect payment to be about US$2 per person. Hitchhiking is an entirely safe mode of transport in Turkmenistan—everyone uses it.
There are also official taxis which can be easily found in front of the arrivals hall of the airport and close to the railway station. They are safer but more expensive.
Ashgabat has a very extensive and convenient bus system. The main public transport hub is Teke Bazaar. From that place any location within the city or in its environs can be easily reached. In the modern part of the city there are air-conditioned bus stops with detailed maps of routes of every bus line departing from a stop. The cost of a single ride is 0.50 manat. The price should be paid by every passenger to the basket located close to driver's seat while getting off the bus. Alternatively a multi-ride should be presented to the driver.

Museums

• National Museum

  phone: +993 12 454954
  address: Archabil sayoli 30
  Hall 1 is dedicated to post-independence Turkmenistan, Hall 2 (upstairs) has a focus on ancient history with exhibits from Bronze Age sites and artefacts from Margiana. Halls 3 shows artefacts found at the Parthian site of Nisa. In Hall 4 a model of the medieval Merv, dioramas from Konye Urgench and Anau and the beautiful Merv vase are exhibited. Hall 5 and 6 display collections of weapons, musical instruments, silver jewellery and female dress. In Hall 7 (downstairs) a 20 m x 13 m carpet is exhibited.

• Museum of Fine Arts

  phone: +993 12 351566
  The Central Hall has a large picture of President Niyazov Abundance of the Harvest. In the Independence Hall the heroic figures of the nation (Oguz Han, Togrul Beg, Alp Arslan and the poet Seydi) are shown. The museum also contains a reconstruction of the dragen freeze of the mosque of Arnau and exhibitions of Turkmen paintings before and after 1950. The first floor is devoted to Russian paintings from the 19th century and to European paintings, including minor works by Tiepolo and Poussin.

• Turkmen Carpet Museum

  phone: +993 12 398879
  address: 5 Georogly köcesi
  The museum houses antique carpets of the 18th and 19th centuries and modern carpets from all parts of the country. There is a nearly 200 m² carpet which was intended as curtain of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, but proved too heavy. The pride of the museum is the largest hand-woven carpet in the world, as certified by the Guinness Book of Records. It covers 300 m² and was woven by 40 carpet makers on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Turkmenistan's independence.

• Museum of Turkmen National Values

  phone: +993 12 451954
  In the first floor, the Museum houses displays of silver jewellery for women and horses, and replicas of the golden bull- and wolf-head sculptures from Altyn Depe.

Monuments

• Turkmenistan Independence MonumentThe most important monument of Ashgabat in located in the southern part of Turkmenistan Independence Park, which covers an area 2 km long and 1 km wide. The area around the Independence Monument contains monuments of famous people of Turkmen history: the founder of the Seljuk dynasty Seljuk Beg, the founder of the Turkmen people Oguz Han, the Turkmen poet Magtymguly, the Seljuk leader Sultan Sanjar, the Turkmen warrior Georogly, the Seljuk rulers Alp Arslan and Malik Shah, the 18th-century leader of the Ahal Tekkes Keymir Kor, the poets Zelilli and Sydi, the leader of the White Sheep confederation Uzyn Hasan, the father of the founder of the Ottoman Empire Ertogul Gazy, the Turkmen commander and poet Bairam Han, the poets Molianepes and Mataji, the Turkmen leader Gara Yusup, the Seljuk ruler Togrul Beg, the spiritual leader Gorkut Ata and the poet Kemine.

• Ashgabat FlagpoleThe former tallest freestanding flagpole in the world.

Other sites

• Tolkuchka BazaarOne of Central Asia's most colourful bazaars,

• Turkmenbashi Cableway

  address: Kopet Dag
  Cable car, opened in 2006, climbing up to 1290 meters, offering spectacular views over the city with the desert in the background

• Jeitun archaeological siteJeitun is one of the oldest archaeological sites in Turkmenistan. The settlement dates back to the 7th century BC and is considered as the first proof of agriculture in Central Asia. The excavations at Jeitun show that the Neolithic revolution in Central Asia took place almost simultaneously with similar developments in Western Asia. Jeitun was excavated from 1957 onwards by the Russian archaeologist V.M.vMasson. Jeitun covers an area of about 5,000 m². It consists of free-standing houses of an uniform ground plan. The houses were rectangular and had a large fireplace on one side, a niche facing it, and adjacent yard areas. The floors were covered with lime plaster. The buildings were made of cylindrical clay blocks about 70 cm long and 20 cm thick. The clay was mixed with finely chopped straw. The settlement consisted of 30 to 35 single room houses. Each house is considered as home for 5 to 6 people. 160-200 people could live here at the same time. They formed a tribal settlement and their economy seems to have been communal, not individual. The people of the Jeitun culture were growing barley and two sorts of wheat, which were harvested with wooden or bone knives or sickles with stone blades. At Jeitun blades were found in every house. It can be assumed that almost the entire population participated in farming. The settlement of Jeitun was built of houses of one room only with an area of 15-30 m². Each house had only one fireplace, it was designed for a single family and not for collective meals. The same layout designed for a nuclear family has been found in other settlements of Western Asia as well. The fact that the Neolithic settlements consisted of about 30 houses one room reveals the tendency of the nuclear families to form larger units because of the economic necessity that arose from partial use of irrigation. The society of Jeitun was thus formed of nuclear families living in kinship settlements that formed small tribes.

Theatres

• Mollanepes Drama Theatre

  phone: +993 12 357463
  address: Magtymguly sayoli 79

• Magtymguly Theatre

  phone: +993 12 350564
  address: Shevchenko köcesi
  Turkmen musical performances

• Pushkin Russian Theatre

  phone: +993 12 3654193
  address: Magtymguly sayoli 142

The , Turkmenbashi sayoli 75, 09:00 to 23:00, is the largest modern shopping centre (it is pronounced "Yimpash" and should be known by anyone who stops to give you a lift) and has a western-like supermarket where you can buy all necessary stuff like food, drink, soap, toothbrush, and cosmetics. Probably the only one in the whole city. The shopping center has a nice food court in the second floor where you can get all kinds of kebabs for reasonable prices. You can also rent pool tables, play table tennis or go bowling there, or use the internet café.

• Tolkuchka Bazaar: 8 km north of Ashgabad, past the airport, Sa Su 08:00 to 14:00, also Thu morning at a smaller scale. Buy a telpek (sheepskin) for US$10-15, a khalat (red and yellow striped robe for men) for US$15 or a typical red carpet for US$150-250. Be aware that you also need an export certificate, which you can get at the 'expert commission' behind the Carpet Museum, Görogly köcesi 5.
• Carpet Shop, Görogly köcesi 5, east of the Carpet Museum, run by the government.

• Gulistan market

  address: ul. M. Kosaev
  Central universal market: fruit, vegetables, handcrafts, clothing.

• Asuda Nusay

  phone: +993 12 352288
  address: Alishera Navoi Köcesi 54a
  Speciality: sturgeon from the Caspian Sea.

• Altyn Jam

  phone: +993 12 396850
  address: Magtymgily sayoli 101
  European dishes and sweets.

• Hotel Nissa

  phone: +993 12 22-10-25
  address: Atabaeva Street, 18B
  Apparently owned by family of Saparmurat Niyazov, this is a four-star hotel with air conditioning, swimming pool, pool bar, sauna, Turkish sauna, gym, jacuzzi. This is about the "best" quality hotel you'll find in Ashgabat (think somewhat run-down and a bit overpriced for its features), about a 10-minute walk from the war memorial and book shop. The restaurant has decent Italian food. Expect to come across lots of foreign workers, and women of dubious persuasion at the hotel bar. Some English is, however, spoken.
• Hotel President, Новоарчабильское шоссе 54, Tel: +993 (12) 400000, Fax 993 (12) 40 00 41 and 993 (12) 40 02 22, E-Mail: presidenthotel@online.tm
• Hotel Grand Turkmen (Гостиница "Грант Туркмен Отель"), ul. Georogly 7 (ул. Героглы, 7), 744000 Ашхабад, Tel: +993 12 51-05-55; Fax +993 12 511251, E-mail: grandhtl@online.tm
• Hotel Ak Altyn, Magtumguly ave 141/1, Tel: +993 12 36 37 00 and +993 12 363701, Fax +993 12 363543 and +993 12 36 34 94, E-Mail: akaltyn@online.tm. US$75 per night, Visa accepted (MasterCard is not). Contains offices of the British Embassy and American Information Centre, so it's a good place to stay if you find yourself needing assistance. Supposed to have Wi-Fi but is so slow it's effectively useless, internet available in telecom building less than a block away though.

• Hotel Azatlyk

  phone: +993 12 48 87 00

• Hotel Ahal

  phone: +993 12 48 87 37

• Hotel Nebitchi

  phone: +993 12 489360

• Dovranov Homestay

  phone: +993 12 92-71-78
  address: Garaja Burunov (old: Krupskaya), or 1997 st. No: 36
  Homestay where you'll stay with the big family. US$10 for B&B + dinner. Daughter Jennet speaks English.

Internet

Internet cafes are available at some locations around town. Price is 6 TMT per hour.

• Yimpas Shopping Center
• Great Turkman Hotel
• Russian Market
• Sofitel, aka Oguz Kent, Features free WiFi in lobby and bar. (Ssd: Wireless; username: white; password: city)

Airlines

• Aeroflot

  phone: +993 12 398792
  address: Turkmenistan Söwda merkazi, Magtymguly sayoli 73

• Armavia

  phone: +993 12 390548
  address: Turkmenbasi sayoli 15

• British Airways

  phone: +993 12 510799
  address: Grand Turkmen Hotel, Görogly köcesi 71

• Iranian Airlines

  phone: +993 12 510641
  address: Magtymguly sayoli 71

• Lufthansa

  phone: +993 12 510684, +993 12 510331
  address: http://www.lufthansa.com

• Pakistan InternationalAirlines

  phone: +993 12 511838
  address: Magtymguly sayoli 71

• Turkish Airlines

  phone: +993 12 5161666, +993 12 512219
  address: Magtymguly sayoli 73

• Turkmenistan Airlines

  phone: +993 12 352643, +993 12 394271
  address: Magtymguly sayoli 82

• Uzbekistan Havo Yullari/Uzbekistan Airways

  phone: +993 12 378203
  address: Main Concourse, Saparmurat Turkmenbashi Airport

• Belavia

  phone: +993 12 92 64 09
  address: st. 2028 (Govshudova) 50/2, 4 th Floor

Emergencies

Dial 01 for the fire brigade, 02 for police, 03 for ambulance. Be aware that the operators will speak Turkmen and Russian only.

Embassies and consulates

• Afghanistan

  phone: +993 12 480757
  address: Garashsyzlyk köcesi, Berzengi

• Armenia

  phone: +993 12 354418, +993 12 395542
  address: Ingenernaya köcesi 37

• Azerbaijan

  phone: +993 12 364608
  address: 2062 köcesi 44

• Belarus

  phone: +993 12 331183
  address: Maxim Gorki köcesi 81

• China

  phone: +993 12 488105
  address: Kuvvat Hotel, Berzengi

• France

  phone: +993 12 363550, +993 12 363468
  address: Ak ALtyn Hotel, third floor

• Georgia

  phone: +993 12 933929
  address: Azadi köcesi 139a

• Germany

  phone: +993 12 363515, +993 12 363517
  address: Al Alty Hotel, first floor, Magtumguly Avenue

• India

  phone: +993 12 456153
  address: Emeryal Business Center, 1 Yunus Emre köcesi, mir 2/1

• Iran

  phone: +993 12 350236
  address: Tehran köcesi 3

• Japan

  phone: +993 12 477081
  address: Paytagi Offic Building, Parahat District

• Kazakhstan

  phone: +993 12 480468
  address: Garaszylik sayoli 11-13, International Ustay Compound, Berzengi

• Kyrgyzstan

  phone: +993 12 392064
  address: Görogly köcesi 14

• Netherlands

  phone: +993 12 346700
  address: Tehran köcesi 17

• Pakistan

  phone: +993 12 482128, +993 12 482129
  address: Garashszlyk köcesi 4/1

• Poland

  phone: +993 12 274035
  address: Azadi köcesi 14

• Romania

  phone: +993 12 347655
  address: K.Burunov köcesi 43A

• Russia

  phone: +993 12 335957, +993 12 391505
  address: Turkmenbashi sayoli 11

• Saudi Arabia

  phone: +993 12 454963
  address: Emperyal Business Center, Yunus Emre köcesi 1

• Tajikistan

  phone: +993 12 480163
  address: Gorgoly köcesi 14

• Turkey

  phone: +993 12 354118
  address: Shevchenko köcesi 9

• Ukraine

  phone: +993 12 391874
  address: Azadi köcesi 49

• United Arab Emirates

  phone: +993 12 456915
  address: Kalifa center, Turkembashi sayoli 124

• United Kingdom

  phone: +993 12 363462, +993 12 363463, +993 12 363464
  address: Ak Altyn Hotel third floor

• United States

  phone: +993 12 94 00 45

• Uzbekistan

  phone: +993 12 342419
  address: Turkmenbashy sayoli 124

Medical services

• Central Hospital, Emre köcesi 1, phone +993 12 450303 or 450331. Foreigners have to pay for their medical treatment.
• International Medical Center, Berzegi, phone +993 12 519006 or 519008.
• Lechebnii Hospital, Shevchenko sayoli, phone +993 12 390877.
• Dr.Arslan Nepesow, Turkembashi köcesi 124, phone +993 12 425250

Registration

• OVIR (State Service for the Registration of Foreign Citizens), 2011 köcesi 57, phone +993 12 391337, 09:00-13:00, 14:00-17:00. All persons entering Turkmenistan on a tourist or business visa have to register within three working days. You need three passport photos and your entry card. In most cases the tour operator that invited you will organise this for you. Persons holding transit visa are not required to register.

Nearby

• Nissa, 15 km west of Ashgabat, settlement dating back to the 2nd cent BC
• Geok Depe, 50 km west of Ashgabat, site of the final battle between troops of Turkmen and tsarist troops in 1881/84, Saparmurat Hags Mosque, erected by President Turkmenbashi
• Bakharden, 100 km West of Ashgabat, near the Kopet Dag mountains, cave with the Köw Ata Lake with hot thermal water, however, smelling of sulphur, a favorite place for excursion for people of Ashgabat at weekends.
• Nokhur, 150 km from Ashgabar in South Western Turkmenistan in the valleys of the Kopet Dag mountains. The people of Nokhur claim to be direct descendants of Macedonian warriors of Alexander the Great's times,
• Anau, 15 km south east of Ashgabat
• Altyn Depe is a settlement of the Eneolithic and Bronze Ages. It has been extensively excavated during the Soviet period. The settlement has specialised potter's quarters, evidence of a differentiation of the living quarters according to the wealth of their inhabitants and a monumental cult complex. During excavations a small golden head of a wolf and a bull were found. According to the Russian archaeologist V.M. Masson, the cult complex was dedicated to the Moon Good as in Mesopotamia. The site was abandoned in the middle of the second millennium BC.

Farther afield

By plane

Turkmenistan Airlines offers domestic flights to Dashogus] (6 flights per day), [[Mary (3 flights per day), Turkmenabat (5 flights per day) and Turkmenbashi (3 flights per day), as of 2009.

By rail

Turkmendemiryollari (Turkmenistan Zeleznice) (phone 255545, fax 473858) runs trains from Ashgabat to Turkmenbashi and Turkmenabat via Mary.
Train 24 to Turkmenbashi leaves Ashgabat every second day at 20:40 and arrives at Turkmenbashi at 06:55 next morning. Train 606 leaves Ashgabat daily at 20:10, arriving in Turkmenbashi at 09:15 next morning.
Trains to Turkmenabat and Mary leave Ashabat at 07:40 daily, arriving at Mary at 17:00 and at Turkmenabat at 23:00. Train 195 leaves Ashabat daily at 17:20 and arrives at Turkmenabat at 07:35 next morning. Train 21 leaves Ashabat every second day at 22:10, and arrives at Mary at 05:25 and at Turkmenabat at 09:40 next morning.

By 4WD

Ashgabat is probably the best place to hire someone to take you to Darvaza. The trip requires going off-road and is probably best not left to you average Lada.
{{isPartOf|Ahal Province}}
{{geo|37.95|58.38333}}