Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
8
Getting¨Around
The main sights of Konye-Urgench are spread
out so it's best to use a car. There is no public
transport as such, but you can lag down a taxi
on the main roads or by the market. The trip to
the southern monuments and back, with wait-
ing time, should be no more than 10M.
Kafé¨Marat¨
iNTERNATiONAL $
(Turkmenbashi şayoli 15; mains 7-32M;
h
9am-
10.30pm)
This festively decorated restaurant
is a lively downtown institution, where you
can choose from kebabs and pizza to meat
and fish dishes. It's on the opposite side of
the fountain from the Hotel Dashogus.
8
Getting¨There¨&¨Away
Dashogus airport is 14km south of the city.
Flights from Ashgabat to Dashogus (58M, four
daily) take about 50 minutes. Turkmenistan
Airlines also lies to Turkmenbashi (69M, four
weekly), Turkmenabat (65M, once weekly) and
Mary (68M, two weekly).
The bus station is near the Bai Bazaar, in the
north of the city. Buses regularly go from here
to Konye-Urgench (2M, two hours) and once a
day at 6am to Ashgabat (20M, nine hours). Due
to the bad state of the road, buses for Turkme-
nabat were not running at the time of research.
Shared taxis go from outside the train station
and cost 40M per seat to Ashgabat.
The
train station
(
%
4 68 75) is about 600m
east of Gurbansoltan köçesi. One painfully
slow train per day goes from here to Konye-
Urgench (1.5M, four hours) and one goes to
Ashgabat at 12.45pm daily (
platskartny
/
kupe
5.08M/9.58M, 20 hours).
Dashogus
%
322 / POP 210,000
A creation of the Soviet Union, Dashogus
is a sprawling industrial city with a neat,
soulless centre and nothing to attract visi-
tors. Even its one semi-sight, some idiosyn-
cratic dinosaur statues, has been removed
by the authorities for reasons best known
to them. For some local colour, head to the
excellent
Bai¨Bazaar
, where you can buy
pretty much anything. There's an
internet¨
cafe
(per hr 6M;
h
9am-9pm)
on the main
drag, between the Dashogus and Diyarbe-
kir hotels.
4
¨Sleeping
Hotel¨Dashogus¨
HOTEL $
(
%
5 55 06; Turkmenbashi şayoli 5; r US$18;
a
)
This centrally located Soviet dinosaur was
largely renovated in 2011, and is run by
unbelievably friendly staff. Rooms are now
absolutely fine and have balconies and hot
water, even though the bathrooms are still
very basic. There's no breakfast included,
but it's available at the restaurant down-
stairs.
Hotel¨Uzboy¨
HOTEL $$
(
%
2 60 15; Turkmenbashi şayoli 19/1; s/d/lux
incl breakfast US$30/50/70;
pa
)
Dashogus'
newest hotel is a white-tile construction on
the western side of town. Rooms are rather
cramped but have been repainted and have
good bathrooms, TVs and fridges. Try to get
a room away from the atrium, which can be
loud in the evenings.
5
¨Eating
o
Chaikhana¨
TEAHOUSE $
(Zilili 9; set menu 12M;
h
9am-11pm)
This is by
far the most atmospheric place in Dasho-
gus to eat - a simple, Uzbek-run chaikhana
where you'll eat good home-cooked soups,
tasty kebabs and fresh bread. It's a five-
minute walk from the Hotel Uzboy: from
the hotel head towards the white monu-
ment with the flag on it and take the last
street on the right before the bridge.
UNDERSTAND
TURKMENISTAN
Turkmenistan Today
In 2007, following the death of Saparmyrat
Niyazov (Turkmenbashi), Turkmenistan's
bizarre dictator of more than 20 years,
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov assumed
the presidency. Berdymukhamedov made
initial reforms that toned down some of his
predecessor's policies: the most egregious
initiatives, such as renaming the months
of the year and the days of the week after
Turkmenbashi's family members, a ban on
ballet and the prohibition on listening to
music in cars, were all lifted. Yet despite
these small signs of reform, no further
changes have been forthcoming. While the
pathological state paranoia that so thrived
under Niyazov has also been toned down,
travellers wishing to visit the country con-
tinue to go through the same rigorous visa
channels and must be accompanied by
guides in most cases.
