The Strangest City on Earth | Ashgabat Turkmenistan | Budget Travellers Guide

[@bayramvaliyev2670]

I have been two times in Ashgabat. Beautiful city. Like open air museum. But less people in streets

[@FrugalTravellers]

Yes it is an amazing city to visit. The buildings and monuments are incredible. We loved it there.

[@carolinacadabra8278]

These buildings look like something on the cover of a sci-fi novel! Most interesting place.

[@FrugalTravellers]

It truly is one of the strangest places we've ever visited, Carolina! It was quite difficult to get a 5-day transit visa for Turkmenistan, and it was an amazing experience exploring Ashgabat! ~ Mandy 😀😁

[@georgewallace4907]

you should've went to the older parts of the City (pre 1990s building) there is a lot more people and liveliness and great parks and bazaars aswell.

[@FrugalTravellers]

We would have liked more time to explore this amazing city but were limited by our 5 day transit visa. The area around Teke bazaar and the circus seemed a lot more lively than most. Hopefully we can return one day. We loved it there.

[@georgewallace4907]

@@FrugalTravellers it is a really great place as ive been there several times as my mother grew up in the city, its such a strange but amazing experience to go there.

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@georgewallace4907 Wow - that's brilliant! It must be so interesting going back & visiting family. It is a fascinating city!

[@LetsgowithHyro]

This is why I love watching all sorts of Travel videos. I had no idea about this place (city). The buildings and monuments have like a futuristic feeling to them, specially the shot going up on the ferris wheel. The streets are creepy quiet though.

[@FrugalTravellers]

It certainly is a bizarre place to be but we thoroughly enjoyed it there, and would definitely recommend a visit if you can at some time. Probably the strangest place we've ever been! And yes, the streets were eerily quiet! Normally it would just be us, street cleaners and gardeners in the city centre!

[@opagodaswirling9383]

Stupendous . I realise you had to struggle for the visa but it appears to have been well worth the effort . I dare say it will be a while until you come across a place quite as quirky. I seem to recall the writer Paul Theroux running into some troube during his visit to Ashgabat . Good to see you were given free rein .

[@FrugalTravellers]

Thank you. Ashgabat was quite insane. It felt like being in an episode of Tales of the Unexpected. We loved our experience there and I'm so glad we documented it. So rarely these days can you be in a capital city and feel you are the only tourist in town. I'm a fan of Paul Theroux as well. Can you remember which book it was? I'm thinking maybe riding the iron rooster? Cheers ~ Lee

[@opagodaswirling9383]

@@FrugalTravellers You two are members of a very exclusive travel club ! I have recommended your videos to several friends~all are enthralled. The Theroux book was 'Ghost train to the Eastern star' published in 2008.I have a video up entitled 'The old KCR and Ghost train to Low Wu' which might bring back memories of your time in Hong Kong.I am still searching for your HK videos.Cheers

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@opagodaswirling9383 Thank you so much for your kind comment and we really appreciate the share. I'm not sure if i may have read Ghost train years ago but i'm going to go and look for it now.👍 It was in Hong Kong on Easter 2018 that Mandy signed us up for our blog and KZbin and Frugal Travellers was born. Alas we didn't take video from there and we've missed so many years of opportunities to record our travels but we are making up for it now. 😊 - Lee

[@luismendoza1569]

Lovely Architecture and scenery. Peace to u both

[@FrugalTravellers]

Thank you. Turkmenistan is pretty amazing.

[@RocharVot]

It does look like a very strange and interesting city. Am I right in saying it is the only "Stan" of the 5 that does not use the Cyrillic alphabet ? I am planning my trip hopefully to 4 of the stans in Sept/Oct this year, (Turkmenistan is currently not open to tourists according to the national advisory here in Australia) and found your videos very interesting. I think you would also enjoy going to Mongolia if you haven't been already, the capital city and the countryside. I went there in 2011 and really liked it.

[@FrugalTravellers]

Hi Richard. I believe you are right about about Turkmenistan being the only one that doesn't use Cyrillic. Their language is very close to Turkish. When we were in Kazakhstan they were using Cyrillic but were talking about changing to Latin script. Taking a symbolic step away from Russia. If you will be travelling in the region we really recommend learning to read Cyrillic. It's not as hard as it seems and we learned in under 3 hours using this excellent KZbin video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHrMYWiZatGVmM0 We still haven't visited Mongolia and really want to. It looks fascinating and it's high up on our wish list. You will find the nomadic culture in Kyrgyzstan very similar I believe. 👍 ~ Lee

[@RocharVot]

Thanks Lee. I will check out that KZbin video on Cyrillic. I believe a few phrases in Russian would be useful in that part of the world too. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are actually the countries I am more excited about visiting.

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@RocharVot It's definitely worth investing a bit of time on learning some basics of the language if you will be spending a bit of time over there and we found her videos really good to get started off. Good luck.

[@ajapkakajanova7371]

The fizzy camel milk you tried is not pure camel milk but fermented milk. It is not advisable to drink a pure milk in big portions as it can ruin your stomach. The fermented milk is an acquired taste but it is good for the digestion system in your body as it is rich with good bugs. It treats gastritis and kill the thirst in a hot weather.

[@FrugalTravellers]

Thank you. That is very interesting information. We drank kymyz, fermented mares milk in Kyrgyzstan and enjoyed it in small doses. I found the flavour of the camels milk to be very, very strong!

[@ajapkakajanova7371]

@@FrugalTravellers You are welcome! Home made fermented milk tastes better than factory made.

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@ajapkakajanova7371 Yes. We always try to buy home made products over factory produced, commercial products every time. Better for the environment and normally tastes better too! 😀.

[@jaypiper2]

Nice video. Was this a tour or a transit?

[@FrugalTravellers]

Thanks! We could only get a five day transit visa. We spent three of those in Ashgabat because we loved it so much! 😁😁

[@jaypiper2]

@@FrugalTravellers Thanks for the reply. I will take 2-day tour next month. Maybe next time I'll transit.

[@jaypiper2]

@@FrugalTravellers Yeah, I went for two days and on the second day went to the crater.

[@FrugalTravellers]

Excellent! Let us know if you post a vlog or blog 😃

[@dushyantgautam54]

Love your videos

[@FrugalTravellers]

Thank you for your lovely words. We like to share. 👍👍

[@amanata1955]

Why did they construct so many unnessary monuments as if this city were a cemetary??

[@FrugalTravellers]

Lots of money earned from the countries vast mineral wealth yet the rest of the country looks poor. Only Ashgabat gets the money spent on it as it is the showpiece of the nation.

[@jbudlo2]

It ranks 3rd most totalitarian after N. Korea and Eritrea.

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@jbudlo2 I can believe that. I haven't been to the other 2 yet but now I'm curious to go and compare.

[@MrRW1980]

i heard from a quite good source that the former chief of government was dentist...and that is why everything is made of marple....the source then travelled onwards by motorbike and the rural population is reaaallllyy fine...but a gps sender was mounted on the motorbike and removed when leaving the country...whoever controlled the route ???? that is what i know from a source that was there.......

[@hermenegildoc3933]

@@jbudlo2 actually Eritrea is the most totalitarian, then Turkmenistan and them NK

[@HughTheBeerKid]

Love your videos, you’ve gone everywhere I want to go/revisit!, how hard was it to get the visa for Turkmenistan and do you need to be on an organised tour for Turkmenistan like you do in North Korea?, I’ve heard different things from different people

[@FrugalTravellers]

Hi Hugh. It took us 35 days to get a 5 day transit visa for Turkmenistan, when we were in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The video explains it all here... kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5mshIalnJd9iNk You can only get a 5 day transit visa when travelling independently. If you want longer you must go on an organised tour. We explain more in our blog post too. frugaltravellers.com/turkmenistan-transit-visa-bishkek/

[@umairmalik7650]

Isn't video making allowed inside the monuments?

[@FrugalTravellers]

Yes we got to video inside some of them. It's only really around the presidential palace photography is forbidden. We were told we couldn't inside the bazaar also.

[@halsee8857]

nice video

[@FrugalTravellers]

Thank you! We're pleased you enjoyed it 😃

[@ij2653]

where are all the people?

[@FrugalTravellers]

J I Good question! That’s the bizarre thing about Ashgabat. It’s a city devoid of people in most places. Just policemen, soldiers and city workers. It’s like the twilight zone! 😮

[@awsomemodels]

@@FrugalTravellers I've looked at ashgabat in google earth and it looks like all the weird and very cool looking places are located in the south and normal houses are located in the north .

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@awsomemodels Yes you are right. It's a big, spread out city. We took a city bus to the bus station in the north, and after the airport it was mainly residential housing. The old Soviet blocks are ugly but the new housing is much nicer.

[@der__forschera3589]

@@awsomemodels They just recently put on table a new project called "Ashgabat city " in that north area of Ashgabat and currently it is under the construction . This is the link to the project preview images.app.goo.gl/RvGvXrebvG8p41nQA

[@eternalfreedom717]

@@FrugalTravellers hahaha Ill bet it is. Any gryphons around? I am floored by this. Great work guys. Must have had QQuite the architect. Probably a lot of building experience.

[@hullcityafc72]

I imagine Kyrgyzstan to be much more culturally intriguing? Poorer, for sure but organic. What was your experience of it? I speak Turkish so would live to try and communicate with the locals there

[@FrugalTravellers]

Kyrgyzstan is definitely more culturally intriguing as more of the population are nomadic living traditional lifestyles. This video was in Turkmenistan which is more modernised in the urban areas. Russian seemed to be the Lingua Franca in Kyrgyzstan whereas Turkish would be very useful in Turkmenistan.

[@hullcityafc72]

@@FrugalTravellers ​ Hi thanks for your quick reply! I'll seek out your Kyrgyz video, not sure when I'll be able to go... I believe it's the only "-stan" where you don't require a visa (as a Brit)

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@hullcityafc72 You are welcome. We were travelling on our NZ passports as we were continuing on overland to Iran so not sure about the visa situation for UK passports. We didn't need a visa for Kazakhstan either.

[@SWITCHMASHER]

Where are the people?

[@FrugalTravellers]

That's a great question, Paul. They were either all at work inside those white buildings, or out in the less ornate suburbs.

[@IvanKosenkov]

You know the common trait for authoriatarian/totalitarian governments - their cities look uninhabited. It reminded me Minsk so much. Haven't been to N. Korea, but I assume it's the same - claen, monumental and lifeless.

[@FrugalTravellers]

This is so true. They always fascinate me to see how life is there. I've never been to Pyongyang but I'd be curious to see it. The great thing about Ashgabat was we were free to roam around on our own, whereas in N Korea that wouldn't be possible.

[@Sharon-Kriya]

The first Intelligent observation. Where are the people. How did this guy even get into that city and why? Words like freakish, told me his mission had nothing to do with travel. Wake-up and think for yourself instead the usual acceptance to be 'AWE INSPIRED' without a single fact about why this technology is so fascinating and not normal to a slaveless society, well apart from those who built that city. This Technology is shown in full view, of what our planet should be and yet we think this is 'fascinating' and not something that is normal to a real civilised slaveless world.

[@erikthehalfabee6234]

Who lives in these white marble videos i wonder?. I don't like oil-based dictatorships, but i find the idea of all white quite interesting and visually appealing. You could do with some better equipment, production value is not quite the same as some similar travel videos i saw.

[@FrugalTravellers]

Hahahha... thank you for your honesty 😂 These videos were made using my Motorola G4 Plus - being Frugal Travellers we've never splashed out on fancy equipment or editing software... BUT have just bought a GoPro9 so the quality for future videos should improve dramatically 😉🤗 These buildings were stunning, as were the parks!

[@ایرانزمین-ت5ث]

👍👍👍👌👌👌

[@FrugalTravellers]

Glad you liked it. More travel videos to come! 😁

[@sarahx87]

wow

[@FrugalTravellers]

Haha... It's a whacky place! 😄😄

[@GozelGadamova]

this is my country

[@FrugalTravellers]

We had such an amazing time there👍🇹🇲😍

[@gautamsaxena9292]

Why is everything white here?🤔

[@FrugalTravellers]

By law, every building in the city centre must be covered with white marble... so it all looks so clean and shiny!

[@der__forschera3589]

0:59 nice pronunciation :D

[@FrugalTravellers]

Oops... Sorry if I got it wrong. I was guessing at the pronunciation 😄

[@arianatesfaye6745]

It is written like Berzeññi pronunciation like (Berzengi)

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@arianatesfaye6745 - thank you! I really messed that one up 😄 I'll know for next time!

[@sadiyebalc6413]

What is your instagram??

[@FrugalTravellers]

instagram.com/frugaltravellers/ Check out our Instagram posts for plenty of frugal travel tips 😎😎

[@Gboz90]

Why do you say every odd word with a NZ accent?

[@FrugalTravellers]

Haha. Very observant of you, Matt. I'm from the UK and Mandy is from New Zealand, and we've lived in NZ on and off for years as well as OZ and UK. I guess it rubs off eventually 😀

[@halsee8857]

because why not

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@halsee8857 Hahaha... it happens when you call many countries home 😀

[@arianatesfaye6745]

this is my country

[@FrugalTravellers]

We loved Turkmenistan. Ashgabat was amazing. We were sad we only had a 5 day visa. We'd love to stay longer!

[@arianatesfaye6745]

@@FrugalTravellers Thank you, We love tourists too💖💙

[@FrugalTravellers]

@@arianatesfaye6745 Hopefully one day we can visit again 😊

[@FrugalTravellers]

@nomad traveller Yes 😀. Turkmenistan is amazing and the people are very nice too! 👍👍