3 / 5 - One review
How to get there
10 hours from Paris by plane, with a stopover
When to go
Year round
Minimum stay
1 to 2 days
Ashgabat (Turkmenistan)
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@flickr cc David Stanley
Practical information about Ashgabat
Reviews of Ashgabat
The capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, is a bright, golden, immaculate city with unparalleled charm and mystery.
My suggestion:
For a good overview on the history and local culture (to be taken with a pinch of salt!), go to the National Museum, located in an incredible palace at the edge of the desert.
Summary:
Where the absolute kitsch of Las Vegas and the planned Soviet architecture meet, Ashgabat has some impressive structures : gigantic marble squares with beautiful sculptures, fountains, palaces, and mosques with golden domes that seem almost unreal, and wide avenues all lined with gigantic buildings. The city's builders certainly did not have simplicity in mind!
With money pouring in from the production of oil and Turkmen gas, the city of Ashgabat seems a dream-like, strange oasis of opulence in a country where poverty is still very apparent. Finally, it's a perfect example of the almost unbearable inequality and corruption which blights this Central Asian republic.
©
@flickr cc David Stanley
4 travellers' photos