"Turkmenistan a Magic Carpet ride" Top 5 Page for this destination Turkmenistan by Ekahau

Turkmenistan Travel Guide: 200 reviews and 605 photos

The flag with 5 carpet guls - Turkmenistan

The Five parts of

The flag shows the five parts of the country of Turkmenistan with each of the carpet patterns of the five Tribes.

Merv

"Water is a Turkmen's life, a horse is his wings, and a carpet is his soul." In 8 trips to Turkmenistan starting in 1991 a week after its independence from the USSR I had the chance to meet the Turkmen see and buy their wonderful carpets and share their “Water of Life”. Turkmenistan has a rich history it is where the Nissa the capital of the Parthian Empire the other empire at the time of Rome. It has the ruins of Marv the largest city in the world in the middle ages.

Yomut Man at Market

The five traditional designs that repesent the 5 major “tribes form part of the country's state emblem and flag along with their house - the famous Akhal-Teke horse Turkmen tribes are Teke (Tekke), Yomut (Yomud), Arsary (Ersary), Chowdur (Choudur), Saryk (Saryq), Salyr (Salor). For people that really know and love carpets this names really mean something as they are the names of some of the world’s best carpets. Just try typing one of these names in google see what you see beautiful carpets.

The history of Turkmenistan is the really the history of the Persian, Parthian and Selucid empires.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Rich History
Cons:Exotic
In a nutshell:Magic Carpet rich history

Last visit to Turkmenistan: Dec 1999
Intro Updated Jul 17, 2006
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Reviews (11)

Fresh Hot Bread out of tamdyr Restaurants (2)

Fresh Hot Bread out of tamdyr, a traditional clay oven in Turkmenistan Now this is as about as close to heaven as you... more travel advice

Annau Archeology site Things to Do (8)

Not very far from beautiful downtown Ashgabat is this very interesting major stop on the Silk Road. The Great Annau... more travel advice

Historical old Nissa - Parthian Empire Things to Do (8)

Yes this is well woth the visit it is the capital of the Parthian Empire the other empire at the time of Rome.... more travel advice

Ancient Merv Things to Do (8)

Merv is one amazing place if you are like this VTer and love history. It was the largest city in the world in the... more travel advice

Warnings and Dangers (1)
Common sense

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Comments (13)

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starship Aug 13, 2007 at 5:35 PM

Fantastic page! Love the history, the carpets (love to have one), and even the cooking receipe!! The culture is very exotic . Photos of the people are priceless. Too bad about the street crime though.
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AALEX Jul 26, 2007 at 4:10 AM

I still love the part about the Carpets really fun and useful information
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Trekki Feb 27, 2007 at 10:40 PM

Ah, I shouldn't have read that before going to work... Now I miss that fantastic bread again and I also did see the yoghurt drink, with mint, yes ? Wonderful, Paul, thanks !!
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JohnniOmani Feb 26, 2007 at 2:58 AM

G'day, thanks for the wishes. I may be off to Central Asia or South America for some time in the fall. Turkmenistan looks fascinating and now that the wingnut died, maybe I can get in the door ;) great page. jz
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Bonobo2005 Feb 22, 2007 at 7:04 AM

Well done page that's shows lots of enthusiasm for people and culture. An eye-opener!
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willy_wonka Dec 18, 2006 at 9:27 PM

thank you for sharing your magnificent photos and excellent information with us! it looks like i'll be in the central asia region next year, hope to make it here! nice work!
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diocletianvs Nov 25, 2006 at 5:58 AM

Interesting page. I like your focus on details and local people.
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SLLiew Nov 23, 2006 at 11:48 AM

Wow... Turkmenistan, one of the least travelled Central Asian countries. Great pics and tips. Cheers, SL
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ellielou Oct 30, 2006 at 5:48 PM

this is pretty amazing.....wow! in very preliminary stages of planning a Stans trip for next year.....and, well, Turkmenistan just happens to be between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan...where I really want to go! So, I guess it's on the itinerary!
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Confucius Jul 23, 2006 at 12:56 PM

You've got truly great tips here, especially the warning. Just think, if I hadn't trashed your North Korea deal then I'd have never posted Koryo Tours deals and not found your Turkmenistan page. I'll go here next year to see Tolkuchka Bazaar near Ashgabat