Introduction
One of the most closed countries in the world, with even fewer tourists every year than North Korea, Turkmenistan really is a one-of-a-kind type of place. Giving a new meaning to “off the beaten track”, you will be in total awe the whole time you’re in Turkmenistan, whether it be the white city of Ashgabat, the eternally-flaming crater known as the “Gates of Hell”, the abandoned-yet-futuristic, ghost town of a beach resort, Avaza, the incessant statues and pictures of the President and the former President, or the spectacular and completely untouched natural phenomenon of the Karakum Desert.
We do of course pride ourselves in running group tours for people who don’t like group tours, but in case our dates don’t suit, the itinerary isn’t what you’re looking for, or if you’d simply prefer to travel alone, we do of course also organise independent tours to suit exactly what you’re looking for. The types of tours that we can tailor for you are endless, including but not limited to horse riding, 4WDing, hiking, nature and outdoors, sporting, cultural, ancient cities, Soviet interest, and many more. Let us know what takes your fancy and we’ll see what we can do.
Visa requirements
In order to travel to Turkmenistan on a tourist visa, which is the simplest way to visit the country, it is necessary to travel with a licensed Turkmen tour company. Once you have booked a tour with us, we will organise your Letter of Invitation (LOI), included in your quoted tour price and send it to you usually around a month before the start of your trip (depending of course on exactly when the application was submitted).
What counts as a tour?
In order for us to apply for the LOI for you we will need to have pre-arranged all your inter-city travel (whether it’s by car, train or aeroplane), all accommodation (including camping and homestays), airport/border pickup and drop-off at the beginning and end of your tour. Outside of Ashgabat you will need to be accompanied at all times, however within Ashgabat it is possible for you to have some free time to explore by yourself. We will of course go into detail with you about that when we’re organising your trip.
Sample itineraries:
We have put together some sample itineraries here to give you some ideas about what you might like to do on your independent tour. These are only ideas and of course we can organise anything much longer or shorter than these options.
Independent extensions to Group Tours:
Perhaps you’d like to join one of our group tours, but there’s something else you’d like to see whilst there that’s not on the group itinerary. In this case we offer a variety of extensions that can be done as independent tours. This can be anything from an extra day in Ashgabat to a whole week of horse-riding or a two-day trip to visit the ancient sites of Merv and Gonur Depe.
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