Many people were dumbfounded to hear why I wanted to travel to Turkmenistan as soon as it opened back up for tourism earlier in 2023. To be fair, most people probably couldn’t locate Turkmenistan on a map, let alone share any facts about the country. But that was one of the many reasons that Turkmenistan appealed to me! I first learned about this quirky country in Gunnar Garfors‘ travel memoirs “198: How I Ran Out of Countries” and “Elsewhere”. Turkmenistan is one of the least visited countries in the world, and it’s easy to understand why. You need to request a letter of invitation from the country, which can be denied for any reason, such as whether or not you have a beard, can speak Russian, or work in journalism. It’s a country filled with wild rules, such as only allowing white, tan, or silver cars on the streets of the capital of Ashgabat.

What drew me to Turkmenistan was reading about the Darvaza Crater in Garfors’ memoirs, also lovingly known as the “Gates of Hell” or the “Door to Hell”. This crater is a burning natural gas field which collapsed into a cavern near Darvaza, Turkmenistan. The floor and rim of the crater are illumined by hundreds of natural gas fires, which have been burning since 1971, when Soviet geologists were exploring for oil and natural gas. I immediately became fascinated hearing about Gunnar’s experience camping out at the crater and knew I had to visit this quirky place someday. When I heard that the new president of Turkmenistan planned to extinguish the crater during the beginning of 2022, I knew I needed to make visiting Turkmenistan a priority as soon as it “opened back up” to the world from COVID-19.

And in which I did! I also wanted to experience what an independence day celebration is like in a former Soviet country and ended up booking an Independence Day tour with Young Pioneer Tours (YPT). Turkmenistan is pretty strict with their tourism and travelers either need to book a group tour or hire a private guide (Ashgabat is the only place tourists can travel “freely”). I liked the itinerary that YPT had planned for 8 days in Turkmenistan, as I wanted to see as much of the country as possible. I mean, who knows if and when I’d have the opportunity to visit again!

I was at first intimidated to fly into Turkmenistan due to all of its rules. However I quickly picked up how most of their “strict rules” are just for show. For example, you need to test negative for COVID-19 before entering the country. However the nurse immediately threw out the swab without checking the results and ushered us into the line to pay for the test…If that doesn’t sum up the quirky, nonsense rules of Turkmenistan, then continue reading below!

Traveling with YPT and visiting Turkmenistan in general was quite the wild experience. As to be expected, it takes a lot of patience to visit a country with minimal tourism infrastructure. Some places ended up being closed to tourists without much reason why, besides that it was “Independence Day”. Our itinerary would also swap out from day to day, so many of our activities and locations for the day ended up being a mystery to us. But sometimes you just have to go with the flow! Almost half of our time in Turkmenistan was spent in Ashgabat, marveling at the Italian white marble buildings and grandiose statues, while the other half was spent in other parts of the country, including the Darvaza Crater, Caspian Sea, and the Yangykala Canyon.

For some reason, Turkmenistan is allegedly known for their famous tracksuits. I knew I needed to get one as a souvenir (along with my copy of the Rukhnama!) and wanted to be able to sport my Turkmen pride during the Independence Day celebration! I luckily snagged one of the last tracksuits in my size as well as miraculously finding copies of both volumes of the spiritual text Rukhnama in English at the Ashgabat bazaar. I ended up challenging another guest in our tour group to a coin toss, to see who’d fairly be able to buy the only English copy available!

The Ruhnama, or Rukhnama, translated into English as the “Book of the Soul”, is a two volume work written by Saparmurat Niyazov, the president of Turkmenistan, also known as “Turkmenbashi”, from 1990 to 2006. It was intended to serve as a tool of state propaganda, emphasizing the basis of the Turkmen nation. According to Turkmen lore, or Turkmenbashi propaganda, if you read the Ruhnama three times, you’ll go to heaven! It was originally included as part of the public school curriculum but has recently been removed from required reading. And for another fun fact, it has an average of 2.5 star review on Goodreads, but honestly I was surprised it’s even on there! Having only read the first 10 pages so far, I can say it’s a bizarre blend of genres – part Turkmenistan patriotism and propaganda, part memoir, and part “historical” reflections, although some of the events are most certainly fabricated.

With many of us sporting our Turkmen tracksuits with pride, we headed off to an outdoor Independence Day concert, held in front of the Alem Cultural and Entertainment Center, also known as the Wheel of Enlightenment Ferris wheel. We arrived a couple of hours early and quickly realized how underdressed we were for the occasion! Men were arriving in their nicest suits and the women in their traditional red velvet dresses and braided hair. I never felt like more of a foolish western tourist than I did that night!

The authorities humored our existence for the celebration for about half an hour after the event started until we were officially kicked off from the concert grounds. Our tour bus was even escorted by the police the first few miles away from the event! We all ended up recovering from this derailment of plans by drinking plenty of Russian vodka and tasteless Turkmen beers, as one does when in Turkmenistan!

For a mini escape outside of the city during our time in Ashgabat, we also explored the Nisa fortress, a major trading hub for the Parthian empire! The dichotomy of experiencing historic ruins with the modern buildings in Ashgabat was unfathomable.

Overall, my trip to Turkmenistan was unlike any country I had ever experienced. While I have my personal opinions about YPT in regards to their cultural insensitivities and marketing tactics (as of 2025, they still promote Independence Day tours when our trip in 2023 was the last one to actually participate in celebrations), I’m still very grateful for this experience. Stay tuned for more about my experiences in Turkmenistan beyond Ashgabat in the coming weeks, including the infamous Darvaza Crater!