Turkmenistan - Central Asia - page 377

When using internet cafes, bring your pass-
port, know that anything you view or write can
be monitored and expect news websites to be
blocked.
Internet Café (Map p376; Karl Liebknekht
köçesi; per hr 6M; h 9am-1pm & 2-9pm) Next
to the international call centre, this internet
cafe has seven fast terminals.
Yimpaş (Map p380; Turkmenbashi şayoli 54;
per hr 6M; h 7am-11pm) internet cafe on the
3rd floor.
LAUNDRY
Floor maids at most hotels will do a load of
laundry for around 10M.
Brilliant (Map p376; Magtymguly şayoli 99)
Dry-cleaning and normal service washes can
be done for reasonable rates here.
Yimpaş (Turkmenbashi şayoli 54; h 9am-
11pm) Dry-cleaning at this Turkish department
store is more expensive than at Brilliant.
MEDICAL SERVICES
Central Hospital (Map p380; % 45 03 31, 45
03 03; Emre köçesi 1) This large and excel-
lent hospital is the main medical provision in
Ashgabat. There's an emergency department
and pharmacy, both of which are open 24
hours a day.
Lechebny Hospital (Map p376; % 39 08 77;
Shevchenko köçesi) This Soviet-era hospital
in the city centre is less well-equipped than
Central Hospital.
MONEY
There are several banks in the city centre, but
they're not of much use to travellers as they
don't have ATMs or change travellers cheques.
Most places change US dollars, and euros too,
even though the euro rate is not always dis-
played. As the exchange rate is ixed, there's no
advantage in going to one place over another
and there is no longer a black-market rate.
There are just two banks that can do credit-
and debit-card advances.
Senagat Bank (Map p380; Turkmenbashi
şayoli 42; h 9am-1pm & 2-6pm Mon-Fri,
9.30am-1pm Sat & Sun) For MasterCard and
Maestro advances, go to the Western Union
office inside this bank. it's located next to the
Yimpaş department store and charges a 3%
commission on withdrawals.
State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs
(Türkmenistanyň Daşary Ykdysady Döwlet
Banky; Map p380; % 40 60 40; Garaşsyyzlyk
şayoli 32; h 9.15am-1pm & 2-4pm Mon-Fri,
9.15am-12.30pm Sat) For visa-card advances
(with 5% commission), this is the place to
come. Go to desks 31 or 32. This is also one of
the few banks where you can change curren-
cies other than dollars and euros.

POST
Post Office (Map p376; Mopra köçesi 16;
h 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-2pm Sat, 9am-1pm
Sun) This main post office is in the city centre.
REGISTRATION
OVIR (State Service for the Registration of
Foreign Citizens; Map p376; % 39 13 37; 2011
köçesi 57; h 9am-noon & 2-5pm Mon-Fri,
9am-noon Sat) For tourist registration, in case
you're not staying in a hotel.
TELEPHONE & FAX
Most hotels ofer international direct dialling
(iDD) and fax facilities, although the Interna-
tional Call Centre (Map p376; Karl Liebknekht
köçesi 33; h 8am-7pm) ofers better calling and
fax rates than hotels.

8 Getting¨There¨&¨Away
AIR
Flights arrive and depart from Saparmurat
Turkmenbashi Airport ( % 23 38 45, 23 20 34),
approximately 6km from the centre of town.
Within Central Asia, the only lights to Ash-
gabat are from Almaty (Kazakhstan), oper-
ated twice a week by Turkmenistan Airlines.
Uzbekistan Airways has linked Ashgabat and
Tashkent (Uzbekistan) in both directions every
Wednesday for years, but the light was sus-
pended at the time of research.
Domestic Turkmenistan Airlines lights are
heavily subsidised, making the ticket prices
amazingly low. Consequently, demand is high
and lights need to be booked in advance.
Every day there are four lights from Ashgabat
to Dashogus (58M), Turkmenabat (60M) and
Mary (51M), and three daily lights to Turkmen-
bashi (65M).
Airlines
The following airlines ly to/from Turkmenistan
and have oices in Ashgabat.
Lufthansa ( % 23 39 47, 23 20 37; www.
lufthansa.com; Main Concourse, Saparmurat
Turkmenbashi Airport) Five flights per week to
Frankfurt via Baku.
S7 Airlines (Map p376; % 92 30 21; www.
s7.ru; Grand Turkmen Hotel, Görogly köçesi
50) Flies between Ashgabat and Moscow three
times a week.
Turkish Airlines (Map p380; % airport 23 20
59, main office 45 66 48; www.turkishairlines.
com; Yimpaş Business Centre, Turkmenbashi
şayoli 54) Two daily flights from İstanbul to
Ashgabat.
Turkmenistan Airlines (Map p380; % 39
17 18, 39 17 17; www.turkmenistanairlines.
com; Ataturk köçesi 61) Operates good-value
flights from Ashgabat to Abu Dhabi, Almaty,
Amritsar, Bangkok, Beijing, Birmingham,