Thanks Edde & Phil

Camping is the preferred option. We stayed in Almaty earlier this year, so - been there, done that, and got the bank balance to prove it!! Couldn't afford the T shirt as well.

Thank you Phil for the good stuff about Turkmentistan. and the rest of all you great people who have helped us in our planning. I am now officially retired. Friday was my last day. I will work for a while longer unofficially (it is against the law for anyone over 65 to work) to push a few more dollars together but this time next year we will be at the Christmas gathering in Ushaia. I don't know how to attach a photo but I would like to put one up of our scotter with all its gear. We made a trial run to Yellowstone this past summer to see how it would handle with all the weight and really couldn't tell any difference except a drop of 2-3 miles a gallon. no load it gets 55mpg and loaded it gets about 52. We go up next week to the clinic to get the rest of our stabs and jabs and will get 170 malarone tabs for the two years we will be in mozzie country. The dream is coming together

congratulations 'Hindu1936'
 

well done on the retirement !!!!

Have fun on the road, enjoy, drive safe, travel far.

Phil.

Unlucky Phil, I managed to find a place for 30 bucks a night. Admittedly it was on the wrong side of the tracks, but I never had any grief! Hope your journeys going well, its driving me nuts not being on the road anymore. In fact enough procrastinating, I'm going to get that triumph going...

Congratulations on retiring Hindu!!

don't know if congratulations are in order. I haven't been out of work since I was 7 years old and it is a strange feeling. I am out of work. Korean law won't let me have a contract job anymore so the only thing I can do is teach private students until spring time when I go back to the states and get the machine ready for traveling. all these years of planning and now it is here. talk about mixed emotions----still, it isn't like I don't have something to do. I have learned languages, memorized maps, we have long lists of places to see and things to do and when the three years of wandering the world are finished, we then have the rest of the States to see and maybe a ride to Alaska. I worked up there 20 years ago on Zarembo Island out of Wrangell and would like to go back up there. bet they don't see many maxi-scooters there. see you down the road somewhere.

I think I managed to get a room in Almaty for even less than that in 2003.
There are guys hanging out in front of hotels offering rooms in apartments. No hot water and we had to find parking on our own, but it beat forking out big bucks for a hotel and everywhere we needed to go was pretty much within walking distance.
However, I don't know if this is still possible, or even if it is/was legal...

not sure
 

what we did is apply for our turkmen visas in dushanbe and pick them up five days later in tashkent, which worked perfectly and saved us the trouble of hanging around in capitals. but at both embassies we were told no more transit visas are issued if you're heading for the ferry; not our problem as we were heading for iran, but that's what they said. several other travellers, with and without bikes, were refused visas on that ground.

good luck

Thanks for that. Guess I must just wait and see what happens.

When was this?
Did your transit visa in your passport specify your port of entry AND exit?

Mine didn't so when I arrived in Turkmenbashi(May 2007), I was asked there...where my port of exit was. Make sure you purchase insurance for twice your transit visa length of stay OR else you will have to buy it twice...not sure if that's possible.
You can extend your transit visa in Ashgabat...

exit not entry
 

This was october 2007. And no, the visa doesn't specify entry or exit, but you have to fill out both points on the form with the little map on the entering border, as they use it to calculate your road tax.

there's no problem if you enter via the port + ferry, only if you want to exit that way.

g&t

Just to clarify...do NOT specify your ENTRY or EXIT when applying for your visa...as it may not be necessary AND my give them an excuse to deny you a visa.

You will be asked at the port of entry(whether Ashgabat airport or Turmenbashi ferry port) your exit...

On occassion, embassy and border control folks seem to operate on different interpretations.

visa
 

we applied for our turkmen transit visa in dushanbe and pick it up in tashkent. easy and no hassle. but we were told everywhere that you cannot get one if you want to exit with the ferry. we were heading for iran, but saw several travellers refused a visa for that reason. the embassy in dushanbe is friendly, but hard to find. i don't remember the adress, but it is close to the great game travel logde which is in the new lonely planet, and close to the geran embassy - we spent 3 hours looking for it, so check first.

[QUOTE=trui_gaea;171310]the embassy in dushanbe is friendly, but hard to find[QUOTE]

it's here: N 38° 36,544 E 68° 46,919

I'll be coming the other way so I'll try Almaty or Tashkent embassies. If they ask for them there are worse places to wait for LOI's - providing you can afford Almaty! Currently David Berghoff is saying he can't help with Transit visas, only organised tours.[/quote]

We are planning to cross Turkmenistan (from Uzbekistan) and want to get visas in Almaty or Tashkent - prefer to get a transit visa. Were you able to succeed?

tashkent
 

you should be able to get a visa in tashkent. the embassy is correct but show up in time -hours before it opens- and put your name on the waiting list, or you'll never get in. then spend three hours waiting -don't leave or you won't get in- and fill out the forms. come back afterwards for same procedure.

and the embassies now ask for your ongoing visa, so even if your exit-entry points are not on the form they don't give you a transit visum without iranian visa.

g&t