Circuit de groupe au Turkménistan

Option 1: Arrival at Ashgabat International Airport. Our representative meets you at the airport and transfers you to the hotel (check-in at the regular time). Overnight at the hotel in Ashgabat. Option 2: Our representative meets you at the Shavat border crossing between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and transfers you to your hotel in Dashoguz (15 km). Overnight at the hotel in Dashoguz.

Achgabat

Au cours de la nuit : Achgabat (Hôtel)

Breakfast at the hotel. In the afternoon, drive to the burning Darvaza Gas Crater (about 276 km from Ashgabat), one of the top international tourist destinations. The area is rich in natural gas, and the crater has been burning for over 50 years, shining like a pearl in the middle of the Karakum Desert. One of the most vivid features of this trip is the fresh desert air and a taste of nomadic life. At night, while the light of the gas crater hits the sky, you camp in a Turkmen national yurt or in private tents and have a barbecue dinner. This unique landscape will fascinate you and make you want to come again.

Cratère de gaz de Darvaza, Désert de Karakum

• Achgabat → Cratère de gaz de Darvaza (276 km)

Au cours de la nuit : Cratère de gaz de Darvaza (Yurt camp)

Repas : Petit déjeuner, Dinner

Picnic-style breakfast at Darvaza. After breakfast, drive to Ashgabat (276 km). In the afternoon, Ashgabat city tour. You will see the Wedding Palace, the modern Yildyz Hotel, the Ferris Wheel, the Constitution Monument, the Arch of Neutrality, the Monument and Park of Independence, the Ertogrul Gazi Mosque, the Ashgabat Olympic Stadium and the Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex. Overnight in Ashgabat.

Achgabat, Ertuğrul Gazi Mosque

• Cratère de gaz de Darvaza → Achgabat (276 km)

Au cours de la nuit : Achgabat (Hôtel)

Repas : Petit déjeuner

Breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, visit the Turkmen Carpet Museum, one of the best in Central Asia and one of the cultural centres of Turkmenistan, with about 2,000 carpets, including rare ones, featuring designs of the Tekke, Yamud, Sarik and Chodor tribes. Among them are the smallest carpet, made to hold keys, and the world’s largest handmade carpet, 301 m² in size, woven in 2001 and entered in the Guinness Book of Records in 2003. Then drive to a horse stable to see the national pride of the Turkmen people – the Akhal-Teke horses, the most beautiful horses in the world. Turkmens began breeding Akhal-Teke horses 5,000 years ago, and this unique breed was never mixed with other breeds. Illustrious emperors such as Alexander the Great and Darius I desired to own them. There are over 35 beautiful horses on the farm, and according to local belief, every sick person who touches an Akhal-Teke horse will soon get well. In the afternoon, visit the Gulistan Bazaar (Russian Bazaar), one of the largest and oldest covered markets and a must for any traveller to Ashgabat. The ground floor is dedicated to fresh produce such as fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products, with stalls selling spices, nuts, dried fruit and other food; the second floor is home to shops selling clothing and souvenirs. Overnight at the hotel.

Achgabat

Au cours de la nuit : Achgabat (Hôtel)

Repas : Petit déjeuner

Transfer to Ashgabat International Airport for your flight home. Optional: morning flight to Dashoguz or Turkmenabat, followed by a transfer to the Turkmen/Uzbek border near Khiva (from Dashoguz) or Bukhara (from Turkmenabat), for an additional 110 USD per person.