Turkmenistan - Central Asia - page 396

19 May Magtymguly Poetry Day
May (last Sunday) Carpet Day
August (second Sunday) Melon Holiday
6 October Remembrance Day (1948 Earth-
quake)
27 & 28 October independence Day
November (first Saturday) Health Day
November (last Sunday) Harvest Festival
7 December Good Neighbourliness Day
12 December Neutrality Day
INTERNET ACCESS
internet access, once horrendously slow, ex-
pensive and limited to top hotels in Ashgabat, is
now available in all big towns through state-run
internet cafes. Prices are standardised at 6M
per hour, and you'll need to leave your passport
with the administrator while you surf. As all
internet access is via the state-run www.online.
tm, bear in mind that out-going emails may be
monitored and many websites (mainly news
and politics sites, but also Facebook and Twit-
ter) are blocked, so save any plotting to over-
throw the government until you're back home.
The only reliable wireless in the country can be
found for free at the Soitel Ashgabat Oguzkent
Hotel (p379).
MONEY
The currency in Turkmenistan is the manat
(M), which is made up of 100 tenne. There is
no longer a black-market currency exchange,
which has made everything far more expensive
for visitors. All exchange oices change dol-
lars at the ixed rate of 2.85M to the US dollar.
Exchange oices are everywhere, take no com-
mission, and will freely exchange US dollars
and euros back and forth (you don't need to
worry about having oicial certiicates in order
to change your money back when you leave the
country, for example). US dollars remain the
currency of choice for Turkmenistan, and it's
best to bring them in various denominations.
Notes often need to be in very good condition
to be accepted. Euro are also generally easy
to change, though less so outside Ashgabat.
Don't bring other currencies.
Everything bought in Turkmenistan will be
paid for in manats, but travel agencies and ho-
tels still usually require payment in US dollars,
so it's best to keep a supply of both currencies
with you on the road.
Cash advances on credit cards are only avail-
able in Ashgabat at banks and, if you're lucky,
at the few functioning ATMs taking internation-
al cards (the only reliable one we found was in
the Soitel Ashgabat Oguzkent Hotel (p379),
and dispensed only manats). Outside Ashga-
bat, emergency money can be wired through
Western Union only. Credit cards are accepted
by a few luxury hotels in Ashgabat but by few

other places, and you'd be ill advised to rely
on them anywhere. Travellers cheques are not
accepted anywhere.
POST
Your post may be read irst, but at some stage
it should be delivered unless your postcard is
truly ofensive. Sending a postcard anywhere
in the world costs 2M and a 20g letter costs
around 2.20M. There are post oices in all
towns, usually in the same place as the interna-
tional phone centre and state-run internet cafe.
REGISTRATION
Anyone entering Turkmenistan on a tourist or
business visa must be registered within three
working days with the State Service for the
Registration of Foreign Citizens (aka OViR) via
the local bureau of the state tourism company.
The tour company that invited you will undoubt-
edly organise this. You will need two passport
photos and your entry card, which you'll need
to pick up at the airport or the border post
where you enter the country. As well as this
initial registration, you will automatically be
registered by any hotel you stay at in the coun-
try for each night you stay with them - this
service is included in the room price, and you
won't have to do anything. However, travellers
on tourist visas are therefore only able to stay
in hotels with licences to register foreigners,
the only exceptions being when you spend the
night in a place without such an establishment,
making these the only legal opportunities to
stay in a homestay. Transit visa holders do not
need to be registered, and can sleep wherever
they please.
TELEPHONE
You can call internationally and nationally from
most big towns at the main telegraph oice,
often referred to by its Russian name, glavny
telegraf .
The major mobile phone provider is MTS (look
for the sign MTC - MTS in Cyrillic). Prepaid SiM
cards (which allow internet use through a smart
phone) are available very cheaply from its of-
ices, though at the time of writing foreigners
were only able to purchase them at the main
MTS oice in the Russian Bazaar (p382) in
Ashgabat.
TRAVEL & TOUR AGENCIES
Any traveller not simply in transit through Turk-
menistan will usually make contact with one of
the following agencies to organise their letter
of invitation (LOi). The following companies
ofer comprehensive services including LOis,
guides, drivers, hotel bookings, city tours and
excursions.
Ayan Travel (Map p380; % 22 16 14, 22 05 03;
www.ayan-travel.com; Turkmenbaşy şayoli 81)