Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
are large apartments with a living room, a
couple of bedrooms, and rather awful bath-
rooms, though there's usually hot water. It
is located behind the Hotel Turkmenabat.
No English is spoken and air-con is in
some rooms only.
Hotel¨Amu¨Darya¨
HOTEL $$
(
%
3 14 30; Niyazov şayoli 14; r US$60;
a
)
De-
spite a recent renovation this place op-
posite the station has re-emerged looking
surprisingly similar to how it did before it
went under the knife. Admittedly rooms
are nicely painted now, and are as spacious
as ever, but there are still no holders for the
showerheads.
Hotel¨Turkmenabat¨
HOTEL $$
(
%
3 82 92; Magtymguly şayoli; r US$60;
a
)
The
Turkmenabat offers comfortable rooms,
each with high ceilings, a fridge, comfy
beds and a tiny TV. There is a pleasant bar
and a good restaurant, the Oguzhan.
5
¨Eating
You won't be blown away by anything in
Turkmenabat, but there are several solid
choices.
Oguzhan¨
iNTERNATiONAL $
(Magtymguly şayoli; mains 6-22M;
h
9am-
10.30pm;
E
)
The restaurant at the Hotel
Turkmenabat is a good choice - its menu
takes in Russian, Central Asian and Cau-
casian cooking, including Georgian
cha-
khokhbili
(chicken stew in a spicy tomato
sauce). There's a pleasant garden with
yurts and a few sun-dappled outdoor
tables where you can dine if the dark inte-
rior doesn't appeal.
Traktir¨
RUSSiAN $$
(
%
3 14 38; off Puskin köçesi; mains 10-30M;
h
10am-10.30pm;
vE
)
This friendly place
has three garish rooms and even in the
quietest one you'll still have to compete
with the TV to be heard. There's also a bar
that's popular with locals. The large menu
runs from game to fish, and even includes
a miniscule vegetarian section.
8
Getting¨There¨&¨Away
There are around four dirt-cheap lights a day
between Turkmenabat and Ashgabat (60M,
one hour). The airport is 2km east of Hotel
Turkmenabat. The brand new
train station
(
%
3 60 62), in the centre of town, has two daily
trains to Ashgabat (11.26M, 12 hours) via Mary
(6.51M, four hours). Outside the station you
can catch marshrutki or taxis to Mary (30M
per seat) and Ashgabat (50M per seat). A ride
to the Uzbek border will cost 30M per taxi, but
you may need to bargain hard as starting prices
can be much higher. The road to Dashogus is in
such bad condition that it's not recommended
unless you have a 4WD and plenty of time.
NORTHERN
TURKMENISTAN
Stalin's modus operandi in Central Asia
sought the division of its people, thus re-
sulting in the split of the Khorezm (an
ancient kingdom centred around the Amu-
Darya delta) oasis - the northern section
around Khiva going to Uzbekistan and the
southern portion going to Turkmenistan.
It remains this way today, with the Amu-
Darya river wriggling its way in and out of
the Uzbek and Turkmen borders. As part
of historic Khorezm, the Turkmen portion
still contains a sizeable Uzbek minority
and retains a culture apart from the rest
of the country. Sadly, the region has not
escaped the Aral Sea disaster and suffers
from air, soil and water pollution. It's also
the poorest part of the country, with little
commerce apart from the smuggling of
subsidised petrol to Uzbekistan.
Turkmenabat
æ
Sights
1
Lebap Regional Museum..................... A1
2
Russian Orthodox Church ...................B2
3
Zelyony Bazaar .....................................B3
ÿ
Sleeping
4
Hotel Amu Darya................................... A1
5
Hotel Gurluşykçy ..................................D2
6
Hotel Turkmenabat ..............................D2
Konye-Urgench
%
347 / POP 30,000
The modern town of Konye-Urgench (from
Persian 'Old Urgench') is a rural backwater
with livestock wandering its chaotic, un-
paved roads. Yet centuries ago, this was the
centre of the Islamic world, not the end of it.
ú
Eating
Oguzhan......................................... (see 6)
7
Traktir.....................................................D3
ï
Transport
8
Marshrutka & Taxi Stand..................... A1
