Turkmenistan - Central Asia - page 397

Offers comprehensive services including LOis,
guides, drivers, hotel bookings, city tours and
other excursions.
Dagsyýahat (Map p376; % 93 25 59, 93 04
63; [e-mail]; Hotel Daýhan, Azadi köçesi
69) Offer all services to travellers, includ-
ing LOis, guides, drivers and hotel bookings.
English-speaking staff at its Ashgabat office
are very helpful.
DN Tours (Map p376; % 27 06 21, 27 04 39;
www.dntours.com; Magtymguly şayoli 50) DN
Tours offer comprehensive services includ-
ing LOis, guides, drivers, hotel bookings, city
tours and other excursions.
Stantours ( % [phone]; www.
stantours.com; Almaty) Stantours offer
a very high standard of service with their
knowledgeable, reliable English-speaking
local staff on the ground in Turkmenistan.
As well as arranging visa support and tours
to every corner of the country and beyond,
the Stantours team provide good advice on
how to structure trips and are able to tailor
itineraries to most budgets and interests. its
main office is in Almaty, Kazakhstan, through
which Turkmenistan tours are arranged.
Tourism-Owadan (Map p376; % 93 04 86;
www.owadan.net; Azadi köçesi 65) Offers com-
prehensive services including LOis, guides,
drivers, hotel bookings, city tours and other
excursions throughout the entire country.
TRAVEL PERMITS
Permits are needed to visit the border regions
of Turkmenistan. Given that the centre of the
country is largely uninhabited desert and the
population lies on the periphery, you need
permits for some of the most interesting ar-
eas. Ashgabat, Mary, Merv, Turkmenabat and
Balkanabat are not restricted, but anywhere
outside these areas should be listed on your
visa, thus giving you permission to go there.
Travellers on transit visas can usually transit
the border zones along the relevant main road,
if they correspond to the country they are
supposed to exit to. if you get a tourist or busi-
ness visa on arrival, you'll automatically have
your visa endorsed for all areas of the country.
The following areas are termed 'class one'
border zones and entry without documentation
is theoretically not possible, though there's
actually little chance you'll have your docu-
ments checked:
Eastern Turkmenistan Farab, Atamurat
(Kerki) plus adjoining areas, Kugitang Nature
Reserve, Tagtabazar, Serkhetabat.
Northern Turkmenistan Entire Dashogus
region including Konye-Urgench, Dargan-Ata,
Gazachak.
Western Turkmenistan Bekdash, Turkmen-
bashi, Hazar, Dekhistan, Yangykala, Gyzyle-

trek, Garrygala, Nokhur and surrounding
villages.
VISAS FOR ONWARD TRAVEL
Turkmenistan is generally a poor place to pick up
visas, with long processing times and embassies
that aren't used to independent travellers.
Afghanistan
The Afghan Embassy (p401) can issue one-
month tourist visas for US$102. You need to
show a letter from your embassy supporting
your application, which few embassies will pro-
vide, so it's better to get an Afghan visa at home.
Transit visas are not issued here.
Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijan Embassy (p401) issues single
entry (US$50) and double entry (US$100) tour-
ist visas in ive working days. You'll need a copy
of your passport, a copy of your birth certiicate,
two photos and an LOi. Transit visas are not
issued.
Iran
Transit visas are processed in 10 days (€30) or
24 hours (€45) at iran's embassy (p401), as well
as 15-day tourist visas in 10 days (€40) or 24
hours (€60). You'll need two passport photos
and a copy of the certiicate from Saderat Bank
at Magtymguly șayoli 181a, showing that you've
paid the money into the embassy's account.
Kazakhstan
The Kazakhstan Embassy (p401) issues one-
month tourist visas (US$40) and ive-day transit
visas (US$20); both need ive working days to
be processed. You'll need a photo, a letter of
invitation and a copy of your passport for a tour-
ist visa, and a valid visa for a third country and a
plane/train ticket through Kazakhstan to get a
transit visa.
Kyrgyzstan
The Kyrgyz Embassy (p401) issues one-month
tourist visas (US$50) in seven to 10 working
days. However, most travellers no longer require
a visa for Kyrgyzstan.
Tajikistan
One-month tourist visas (US$25) are issued at
the Tajik Embassy (p401) to anyone with a letter
of invititation. You'll need a copy of your pass-
port and the visa will be issued on the same day.
Transit visas (US$20) require a third country
visa and a plane/train ticket of some kind.
Uzbekistan
The Uzbek Embassy (p401) issues one-month
tourist visas (US$75) in three working days.
You'll need a copy of your passport, a form illed
out online (http://evisa.mfa.uz/evisa_en) and
a photo. Transit visas cost US$55 and require a
third country visa and a plane/train ticket.