Turkmenistan - Central Asia - page 378

Delhi, Dubai, Frankfurt, İstanbul, Kiev, London,
Minsk, Moscow and St Petersburg.
Uzbekistan Airways ( % 23 20 26; Main Con-
course, Saparmurat Turkmenbashi Airport)
While suspended at present, normally oper-
ates a weekly Tashkent to Ashgabat service.
BUS, MARSHRUTKA & SHARED TAXI
Bus stands in Ashgabat are organised by
destination, and are used by shared taxis and
marshrutki as much as buses. A new bus sta-
tion is under construction to the north of the
city near the new Tolkuchka Bazaar site, but
until then public transport leaves from the
following three places.
Transport for Mary and Turkmenabat leaves
from a makeshift bus station known to locals
as the Mariiskaya stoyanka about 3km east
of the centre on the main road out of the city.
There are marshrutki to Mary (four hours,
20M) and Turkmenabat (seven hours, 30M).
There is also one daily bus to Saraghs from
here (ive hours, 24M). Taxis from Ashgabat to
Mary cost 30M per seat, while taxis to Turkme-
nabat cost 60M per seat.
Transport for Dashogus and Konye-Urgench
leaves from the Dashogus Bazaar (also called
Azatlyk Bazaar). A marshrutka to Konye-
Urgench costs 35M (seven to eight hours),
while a seat in a shared taxi is 40M. Prices to
Dashogus are slightly higher: the daily bus
takes around nine hours for the trip (25M),
while marshrutki (35M) make the trip in six
hours. A place in a taxi will cost 40M and the
trip takes 5½ hours.
Transport to Turkmenbashi leaves from the
Old Airport, to the north of the centre on the
road to the current airport. The journey to
Turkmenbashi (50M) takes around six hours by
marshrutka or taxi.
TRAIN
The modern Ashgabat train station ( % 39 38
04) is at the northern end of Turkmenbashi
şayoli, in the heart of 'old' Ashgabat. Though
it takes much longer to travel by train than by
shared taxi, the fare is cheaper and the journey
far more comfortable.
There are daily trains in both directions to
Turkmenbashi (15 hours, 10.20M/22.92M),
Mary (7½ hours, 7.72M/17.20M), Turkmenabat
(12 hours, 11.26M/25.06M) and Dashogus (20
hours, 9.58M). Prices quoted above are for
kupe/SV (second/irst class), except for Dasho-
gus, which has no SV carriage. Very basic third
class (platzkart) tickets are available for around
half the second-class cost, but you'll be in an
open carriage in very crowded conditions. Note
that tickets are not sold in the main station
building, but in the ticket oice (Map p376) a
short distance down the platform.

8 Getting¨Around
TO/FROM THE AIRPORT
The easiest way to get into central Ashgabat
from Saparmurat Turkmenbashi Airport is to
take a taxi. They are both plentiful and cheap,
especially if you choose to go with a shared
one. You should expect to pay 10M, but agree
before getting in, as drivers are likely to try
their luck and ask for much more. Buses 1, 18
and 58 leave from outside the airport and go
into the centre of Ashgabat (0.2M). However,
as many lights to Ashgabat arrive in the mid-
dle of the night, the buses may not be running.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
A leet of sparkling, modern buses serves Ash-
gabat along some 70 routes, making getting
around the city a doddle. Any ride costs just
0.2M (you just toss the money into the box by
the driver as you get on, or give the driver a
note if you need change; there are no physical
tickets). There is however no single map listing
all the routes, so you'll need to improvise and
check the nearest bus stop, which will only
have information about buses stopping there.
it's quite easy to do, as the routes are depicted
on a city map, but sadly the print quality is
usually so bad that it's hard to be sure which
bus goes where, and there are no street names
on the map. if in doubt, try asking locals.
As with almost every other city in the former
Soviet Union, you can just hold out your arm
on the street and a car will soon stop and give
you a lift to wherever you need to go. Short
hops in the city cost 2M, rising to 3M for longer
journeys. Agree on a price before you get in, or
hand over the money with supreme conidence
when you get out. To order an oicial taxi call
% 35 34 06.

KARAKUM DESERT
The Karakum desert is a sun-scorched ex-
panse of dunes and sparse vegetation in
the centre of Turkmenistan. It's Central
Asia's hottest desert but manages to sup-
port a handful of settlements, including
the oasis town of Jerbent , 160km north
of Ashgabat. A ramshackle collection of
homes, battered trucks, yurts and the occa-
sional camel, Jerbent is being slowly con-
sumed by the desert as sands continue to
blow off the overgrazed dunes.
While it doesn't look like much, the vil-
lage does offer a glimpse of rural Turkmen
life, and you can watch traditional cooking
methods and sit down for tea inside a yurt.