Welcome to Ashgabat Without a shadow of a doubt, Ashgabat is one of the strangest cities on the planet. Fashioned almost entirely of white marble it’s like Disneyland on steroids. A touch of roman style flair topped off with a healthy dose of communist architecture. In short it’s this mismatch of styles coupled with the genuine oddities that only exist in Turkmenistan that make this city what it is. Getting into Turkmenistan Getting into Turkmenistan is easy if you go with a tour, but its more expensive. The cheaper alternative is a transit visa which whilst being significantly cheaper has a rejection rate of around 60% (some sources suggest it’s even higher). We have more info on that here in our post on the Darvaza Crater in the middle of the Karakum Desert. The vast majority come with a guided tour. This will include at least a day around Ashgabat…