We live in an increasingly borderless world and we have access to many countries that were closed (or non-existent) 20 years ago. As reported earlier this week, Americans are especially lucky with access to 169 countries visa free. Still, there are still many countries that ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Turkmenistan
10 countries Americans need advance visas to visit
We live in an increasingly borderless world and we have access to many countries that were closed (or non-existent) 20 years ago. As reported earlier this week, Americans are especially lucky with access to 169 countries visa free. Still, there are still many countries that ...Travel then and now: Travel to the USSR and GDR
This year is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union and 21 years since the reunification of Germany. While citizens of the USSR and GDR were unable to travel abroad and restricted in domestic travel, foreign travelers were permitted under a controlled ...Ten most corrupt countries of the world
You spend every holiday weekend annoyed that you can't talk your way out of a speeding ticket. If only there were some way out of that predicament ... aside from taking your lead foot off the gas, right? You may be out of luck on the New Jersey Turnpike, but there are ...Mother attempts to flush newborn baby down airplane toilet
A 25-year-old medical student has been arrested in Northern India after attempting to flush her newborn baby down the toilet.
The woman was flying home from Turkmenistan when she gave birth in the bathroom. Upon landing, she left the plane, leaving the baby in the toilet. ...Cycling the Silk Road
Cycling tours have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially amongst adventure travelers who are looking to explore the world from the seat of their bikes. One of the leaders in organizing these kinds of adventure cycling trips has always been Tour d'Afrique ...Visiting Turkmenistan
Add former Soviet satellite Turkmenistan to the growing list of countries that were once off limits to visitors from the West, who are now opening their borders to tourists for the first time. According to this story from the Wall Street Journal, the Central Asian country is ...Lonely Planet names top 10 "weird" cities
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Top 10 lists are the lifeblood of blogging. How else, dear reader, can we quickly inform you of all you need to know about a topic in a format that is quick to read and simultaneously entertaining? The end of the year is fertile ground for top 10 lists, providing an ...Turkmenistan's "Door to Hell"
We've previously reported here at Gadling on the intriguing, surreal and downright bizarre tourist attractions of the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Now today comes further "fuel" for the country's already odd reputation. Website English Russia is reporting on what ...Ranking the world's best and worst flags
Gambia's great, Senegal plagiarized, and Libya didn't even try. So says a fun new evaluation of the flags of every nation in the world. In an admittedly unscientific ranking of the world's flags, high marks are given for good color schemes and originality, while grades are ...Keeping the 'Stans Straight, part 3: Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Capital: Ashgabat
Location: North of Iran and Afghanistan, it shares a Western border with the Caspian Sea.
In a nutshell: Under President-for-Life Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan became one of the most bizarre, isolated countries in the world. The ...Seven (screwed up) wonders of the totalitarian world
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There is something terribly crazy about totalitarian governments and their sense of architecture: monumental, gaudy, pompous, and, more often than not, in extraordinarily poor taste.
That's whey the fine folks over at Esquire Magazine have compiled a list of what they feel ...Kazakhstan Replacing Cyrillic Alphabet with Latin One
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One of the biggest challenges of traveling through the former Soviet Union is tying to decipher the Cyrillic alphabet. The unnerving thing is that it shares many letters with the Latin alphabet, yet they are pronounced very differently. Like a "B" having a "V" sound, for ...Death of Turkmen Dictator leads to ease of Travel Restrictions
With the death of Turkmenistan dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, the country he ruled for 21 years has announced that it will be softening its stance on foreign tourism, easing visa requirements, and developing coastal resorts along the Caspian Sea. Niyazov was a bit of a nut, ...Word for the Travel Wise (11/10/06)
I assume now that Turkmenistan has a fairytale like theme park, that there will be many a visitor busting down the doors to ride the rides. Visitors shall be greeted by characters of Turkmen folklore and the Ferris wheel will follow designs of Turkmen jewelry. Let's say ...Word for the Travel Wise (09/04/06)
Turkmens.com is the Internet's number one site on everything Turkmen. If you want to hear Turkmen pop music, Turkmen classical music, see Turkmen horses, Turkmen art work and Turkmen artists you've found the right link. This was one of those countries I expected to google ...SmarterTravel: Best & Worst Travel Destinations for Women
As a woman, traveler, and the type that tends to like parachuting into off-the-beaten track destinations, I long for articles that point out where women should go and where they should exercise extra caution when going. Well, USA Today features a fine piece for the solo ...Central Asia Refresher
Every once in a while it's nice to remind ourselves about places that may not be on the top of our travel lists, but we forget exist or never knew existed. As I've been sharing some upcoming travel plans with people it's suddenly starting to strike a nerve how much of the ...Red Corner: Harsh, but Intriguing Turkmenistan
All this talk of Central Asia has gotten me all excited about revisiting this strange corner of the planet. I spent a few months in the area but only a couple of hours passing through the least visited country of this rarely visited region: Turkmenistan. The main highway ...
