The Turkmenistan Visa

The only visa we weren't able to get in Shanghai (apart from those after Iran, which should present no problems) is the Turkmen visa. The guidebook and other travellers assured us that Tashkent is the best bet to get a transit visa.

We went to the embassy early in the morning to put our name on a waiting list: we thought we were there at 7 a.m., but that turned out to be 6 a.m. as our watches were still on Kazakh time. Listed as number 10, we were urged to come back to apply for the visa at 11 a.m.

Of course, this list used by the Uzbek guards turned out to be little more than a joke: the only real way of getting in the embassy is paying them (we heard 10 USD) or just being very patient. We opted for the last option, meaning we queued outside for over 1,5 hour in a blazing midday sun.

Other people had different strategies, the best of which was the one used by an elderly Uzbek woman: she used her full weight and her impressive bozom to literally brush the rather embarrassed guards aside. The guards didn't really know what to do with such a theatre, and she did manage to get in before us.

About 15 minutes before closing, we managed to get inside the embassy as well and we frantically started filling out those long-awaited application forms. We applied for a 5 day transit visa, entering on the 9th of October. According to our application, we will stay in some of the best hotels the country has to offer (Grand Turkmen Hotel and Ashgabat Palace or something of that sort) and use mainly taxis for transportation. We will take the southern transit route (Bukhara-Turkmenabat-Mary-Ashgabat). Just after we handed over our forms, 2 copies of our passport and 2 passport pictures, the office closed - even as there were still people filling out forms. Moreover, there were people who didn't manage to get in at all.

Next week, we are going back for another day of queueing and waiting - and hopefully also actually getting that visa.