Starting June 1, Turkmen Airlines will resume regular weekly flights to Kazan.
Representatives of Russian travel agencies told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper about the specifics of tourism to a closed country. According to them, during the first month, direct flights will be only on the Kazan-Turkmenabat route. But this is also "a breakthrough, since the Turkmen air fleet consists of American aircraft, which manufacturers in every possible way prevent from communicating with Russia."
A month later, from July 1, flights from Kazan to the capital Ashgabat will open, “and there it’s not far to Moscow and St. Petersburg.”
Answering the question whether tourists are allowed into Turkmenistan, they answered that “the covid restrictions have not yet been officially lifted. But in fact, foreign guests are now allowed in exactly as much as they were allowed in before the pandemic . Of course, there is no gigantic tourist flow there, but there are tourists.”
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It is noted that tours to Turkmenistan, in addition to Arab sheikhs, are most in demand among Americans, British and Irish. Russians can also come and have a great time, you just need to know some subtleties .
In particular, for this you need to get an invitation from a private person or organization. Travel agencies working with Turkmenistan deal with this and the visa. You also need to have a vaccination certificate with your passport (the Russian vaccine is recognized), or a certificate of antibodies.
According to travel agents, the only thing that will not be shown to a guest in Turkmenistan is the life of ordinary citizens , which, “to put it mildly, does not shine with prosperity,” the newspaper notes.
Moskovsky Komsomolets writes that those who imagine Turkmenistan as something like North Korea are very surprised by foreigners permanently living in Ashgabat - Europeans and Americans, more often IT people.
According to them, “if you earn money not in Turkmenistan, but remotely in your own country, here is just heaven on earth. The white marble city is covered in gold, greenery and fountains - and not a soul! Only snow-white limousines on perfect asphalt, stores are bursting with abundance, but there are no buyers.
“Unfortunately, this is not a myth, but a reality: an ordinary citizen of Turkmenistan has so little money and so many prohibitions that a guest will not see him on the streets of the capital,” the newspaper writes. - At first it even seems that the city is not real, but an interactive presentation for curious tourists. Among the white marble palaces, only a select few walk - women in long national dresses, men in suits in any heat.
“However, no special dress code is expected from foreigners of both sexes here: a guest in Turkmenistan is always right, and a guest with money will feel like a real padishah here. For the owner of hard currency, local pleasures will cost mere pennies - fruits, vegetables, fresh meat, textiles and knitwear made from local cotton of such quality that exporters consider it the second Turkmen wealth after gas,” the newspaper notes.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan