Turkmenistan, Central Asia Travel Tours & Trips

If Turkmenistan’s has in the past been reduced in the western media to stories about its former leader’s eccentricities (ballet-bans and days of the week renamed after family members), then this helps the country itself come as a great surprise to visitors, one alive with evocative moments, unique present-day experiences and charming hosts. The shiny capital Ashgabat plays host to a planned-utopia parade of modern buildings, Central Asia’s finest market, horse studs and a grand National Museum, but it’s the natural landscape away from the city that influences most. From nomadic lives among the huge, harsh Karakum Desert, to the fertile flats of the east, to the natural resources boom of recent years, Turkmenistan’s character has been formed by the land.