Huge buildings, XXL avenues, but not a passer -by. Here, silence reigns. But what is the most intriguing country on the planet?
Impeccable streets, ultra -modern shopping centers, giant airports: everything is there, except the crowd. The rare images circulating show an oversized decor where the void attracts more eye than architecture. And it’s cold in the back.
Indeed, the rare travelers authorized to enter speak of a territory where space is mastered even in the smallest details. Each facade of official buildings is white, as are vehicles allowed to circulate. The avenues are wide, clean, lined with imposing buildings, but remain practically deserted. A landscape which is therefore similar to a film setting.
Even the sites supposed to attract people seem uninhabited. Recent tourist complexes, museums and central places have only a few people, who often are other than staff members. The same goes for the main airport which, however designed for significant traffic, only works with employees than passengers.
And it doesn’t stop there. On the communication side, internet access is limited, with most of the sites and applications blocked. The country is then truly cut off from the rest of the world. The whole gives an impression of total isolation, reinforced by the strict control exerted on internal trips. In other words, visitors must be permanently supervised by a guide and do not have the opportunity to go freely in certain regions. A traveler who managed to enter the territory recounts having immediately questioned when he arrived: “Where are they all?”.
Indeed, how to explain this phenomenon? The explanation is due to a mixture of political choices, social control and voluntary isolation. Since its independence, the country of Turkmenistan, and more particularly its capital, Achgabat, has embarked on a strategy where the official image takes precedence over daily reality. Visa obtaining procedures are among the most restrictive in the world: you have to go through an approved tour operator, obtain an invitation letter validated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and submit to a long and uncertain administrative route.
You will understand, you will never visit this country by chance. For a population of around seven million inhabitants, annual tourism attendance estimates are less than 100,000, sometimes even evaluated at only 7,000.
