Turkmenistan, the North-Korea of Central Asia, and of all the ‘stans’ the hardest to get into. This country is also an essential link on our route from Shanghai to Rotterdam. Not being able to enter would mean to adjust plans and go from Uzbekistan across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. Or to go north of the Caspian Sea through Russia? There are options but it would mean to have to skip Iran, which has been very high on our bucket list.
Today, we went to the embassy of Turkmenistan in Tashkent to pick up our visa and we are very excited to tell you that we got our 5-day transit visa! Iran here we come! Turkey here we come! EU here we come! We received a visa to transit on the eastern side of Turkmenistan, unfortunately skipping the capital Ashgabat and the Gas Craters. We will also keep the following in mind, which was made very clear to us during the application procedure in Almaty: ‘You will receive a transit visa. So no sightseeing and no left and right turns’. Ok Sir!