March 27: Urgench to Dashogus
I crossed the border into Turkmenistan, “the North Korea of Central Asia” (according to Lonely Planet), and started the 5-day clock on my transit visa (yes, I had a few “24”-style tick-tocks in my head along the way, particularly when I almost got stuck at the other end of the country). The Urgench/Dashogus crossing was very easy, as far as Central Asian borders go, and I only had to sacrifice about an hour and 12 USD for a registration/entrance fee. A lovely young female guard guided me through the Russian customs declaration form and I was on my way.
Another friend-of-a-friend picked me up at the border and helped me exchange USD for Turkmen Manat ın Dashogus after the inevitable sit-down for tea. The money exchange took us a bit of effort, though, and served as a fine introduction to the idiosyncrasies of Turkmenistan. You’re technically supposed to exchange money at banks and get an official receipt, so we went to 5 different banks in attempt to do things honestly… but none of them had Turkmen Manat. Why on earth would a Turkmen bank have its own national currency?! Such questions should be checked at the border along with any preconceptions of what a quote-unquote democratic country should look like. We wound up changing the money at the bazaar, as per usual, and I was introduced to the somewhat complicated banknotes. Turkmenistan is in the process of currency redenomination and everyone uses half Old Manat and half New Manat (5 000 Old Manat = 1 New Manat). Vendors often give a combination of both currencies, so you have to be on top of your mental calculations between both denominations, in addition to conversions to USD, to make sure you’re not getting ripped off!
