Walking around the capital of Ashgabat, with its security points and surreal architecture, I understand why Turkmenistan is often called “The North Korea of Central Asia”.
Having visited North Korea, I will confirm many similarities.
Comparing Turkmenistan with North Korea
First, in the capital of Ashgabat, in the city center, police and soldiers guard street corners (often telling me to put my camera away, which is also typical of the DPRK).
Second, there are the colossal statues of historic Turkmen heroes, but also of the leader.
Saparmurat Niyazov, also known as Turkmenbashi, was the first leader of independent Turkmenistan (after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991).
He rebuilt Ashgabat.
Ashgabat got a facelift of glossy white marble
HOWEVER, with profits from Turkmenistan’s gas reserves, sudden modernization destroyed historic sites, ancient trees and traditional canals, replaced by empty highways, kitsch monuments, government blocks and palaces of dazzling white marble.
Following his death in 2006, his successor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, continued to rebuild Ashgabat, superseding his predecessor with evermore opulence.
So all gloss and no substance, for the common people of Ashgabat.
The politics of traveling police states
Like Pyongyang in North Korea, the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat is a surreal showpiece for the outsider.
Someone, like me, who understands little except to see the white marble surrounded by snow and overcast skies and then walk these empty streets is simply WEIRD.
And maybe, that’s the reason to travel to such places – to see something different.
But it’s a balancing act to travel politically aware / concerned or travel unconcerned – as it may seem to armchair critics who abhor people visiting states with dubious regimes.
It is an issue.
But I’ll leave it at this: Not everyone and everything is totally sh*t in these countries.
Monuments of Ashgabat
Glorious, often bizarre monuments vie for my attention.
Opulent, modern-Islamic architecture of shiny white marble, domes and gold motifs gleam across Ashgabat.
In 2013, they included the city in the *Guinness Book of Records as possessing the world’s highest concentration of white marble buildings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashgabat
*I really don’t know why Guinness has so many inane records for everything on the planet, including the pointless.
Poverty in Turkmenistan
Another similarity to the DPRK is the stark economic contrast between the showcase capitals and the countryside.
Turkmenistan, beyond the new white city, is mostly rural or empty desert, and remains in stark poverty.
How to travel overland to Ashgabat
I entered from Uzbekistan at the quiet border near Konye-Urgench (not recommended in Winter), and then traveled south to Ashgabat.
My departure from Ashgabat was via Merv (check the ancient ruins there) and I entered Iran, near Mashhad in the north-east.
I could only get a 5-day-transit visa for Turkmenistan.
WHY?
Simply, a tourist visa required too much paperwork and you’re assigned a guide 24/7 @ $100+ per day for your entire stay. (This is something that I couldn’t afford or even stand the idea of).
So, just like North Korea, to travel Turkmenistan properly, you must be a donkey and follow the handler.
Then, there are the reported stories of state repression in Turkmenistan.
If you want to know about the reality for some living in Ashgabat and Turkmenistan read this from The Guardian (2017).
As a comparison, Turkmenistan for this traveler was MUCH ‘freer’ than North Korea.
I didn’t have a minder and could wander without issues.
Also, I could choose where I stayed and where I ate and who I talked with.
What’s the most authoritarian state?
OK, Turkmenistan, you receive 8 – hard-earned – points.
However, unending global congratulations go to North Korea.
Yet again, another ‘perfect’ score of 10.
Travels in Turkmenistan – 2011