Turkmenistan in 11 days: Merv, the Caspian, Darvaza and Kunya-Urgench

Highlights

• Nisa, Ashgabat and ancient Merv
• Bread, crafts and folk dance at a Turkmen ethnic guesthouse
• Nokhur village and the “Moon Mountain” of Syunt-Khasardag
• The Yangykala canyons and the Caspian Sea
• A night by the Darvaza gas crater and the Karakum desert
• Kunya-Urgench (UNESCO) and the Altyn Asyr bazaar

By airBy road

1. 1 AshgabatDays 1–5, 7, 9–11 By air → Ancient Merv
2. 2 Ancient Merv
3. 3 Yangykala Canyon
4. 4 Darvaza gas crater By air → Kunya-Urgench
5. 5 Kunya-UrgenchDay 9 By road → Ashgabat

Positions are exact; lines show the order of the route, not the road.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. 6
7. 7
8. 8
9. 9
10. 10
11. 11

1. Day 1Flight to Ashgabat

   International flight to Ashgabat, direct or via Istanbul.

2. Day 2Ashgabat and Nisa

   Arrival, meet our team and transfer to the hotel for rest and breakfast. Visit Nisa (UNESCO since 2007), founded by Arsaces I in the 3rd century BC as a residence and necropolis of the Parthian kings. In the afternoon, white-marble Ashgabat with the Wedding Palace, the Ferris wheel, the Constitution Monument, the Arch of Neutrality, the Independence Monument and park, the Ertuğrul Gazi Mosque, the Olympic stadium and the memorial to the earthquake and the Second World War.

3. Day 3Ashgabat – Mary

   Drive to Mary, visiting on the way the ruins of the Seyit Jemaleddin mosque at Anau (1456) and Abiwerd, a trading town on the Silk Road between Nisa and Merv. In Mary, see the regional library, the largest in the Mary region, and the Orthodox church.

4. Day 4Mary – Merv – AshgabatReturn by domestic flight

   Visit the Mary bazaar and ancient Merv, the “Queen of the World”, with the two koshks of Kyz Kala, the Askhab complex, the Gyaur Kala fortress, the Sultan Sanjar mausoleum and the mausoleum of Muhammad ibn Zayd, and the history museum. Then an evening at the Gadymy Turkmen Ojak ethnic guesthouse, with fresh Turkmen bread, traditional cooking, embroidery, wool spinning and carpet weaving, and a folk-dance show for the group. Evening flight back to Ashgabat.

5. Day 5Ashgabat – Nokhur – Karrykala – Balkanabat

   Visit the studio of the sculptor Saragt Babaev, known for his monumental works in granite, wood, bronze and marble. By 4x4 to Nokhur in the western Kopetdag for lunch with a local family, the goat-horn cemetery, the pilgrimage site of Kyz Bibi and the sacred cave. Continue to Karrykala (129 km, 2 hours) through the Syunt-Khasardag reserve to see the “Moon Mountain”, then on to Balkanabat (278 km, 4 hours).

6. Day 6Balkanabat – Yangykala – Turkmenbashi

   Drive to the Yangykala canyons by way of the pilgrimage site of Gozli Ata. Cliffs of white, yellow, ochre, purple and red, carved by wind and rain into stone castles, give the “fire fortress” its name. Walk in the canyons, then continue to Turkmenbashi on the Caspian Sea for a walk on the beach.

7. Day 7Turkmenbashi – Ashgabat – DarvazaDomestic flight to Ashgabat

   Fly to Ashgabat and visit the Carpet Museum, with some 2,000 carpets and the largest hand-woven carpet in the world (301 m²). Drive to Darvaza with a stop in the desert village of Erbent. See the burning gas crater after dark, then a barbecue dinner and a night in the yurt camp.

8. Day 8Darvaza – Dashoguz

   Cross the Karakum, the Black Sands, one of Central Asia’s great deserts at some 400,000 km², to Dashoguz. Visit the house-museum of a well-known potter to learn how traditional Turkmen ceramics are made.

9. Day 9Dashoguz – Kunya-Urgench – AshgabatDomestic flight to Ashgabat

   Visit Kunya-Urgench (UNESCO), once the flourishing capital of Khorezm: the portal of the old caravanserai, the Mamun minaret, the mausoleums of Il-Arslan and Sultan Tekesh, the Khorezm Academy, the Kutlug Timur minaret and the Turabek Khanum mausoleum. Flight from Dashoguz to Ashgabat.

10. Day 10Ashgabat – Gokdepe – Ashgabat

    Visit the Altyn Asyr bazaar at Jygyldyk, 20 km north of Ashgabat, one of the largest open-air markets in the world, with carpets, jewellery, silk, Turkmen costumes and livestock (open Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday).

    Drive to the Gokdepe fortress, taken by the Russian army in 1881 after a 23-day siege, and its turquoise-roofed mosque of white marble built in 1995. Finish at a stable of Akhal-Teke horses.

11. Day 11Departure from Ashgabat

    Transfer to Ashgabat international airport for your flight home.

Hotels, transport & meals

Gallery

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