How to Buy a Turkmenistan Tracksuit

Eilidh Crowley

Nov. 9, 2022

Some countries are famous for a particular item of clothing, or a unique style. The Ushanka hat ( шапка ушанка) in Russia, a sari from India, a Scottish kilt, or a hanfu from China, for example. And if you’re visiting any of these countries, one of these items of clothing might be on the souvenir shopping list. So what do you want when you’re going to Turkmenistan? Often people don’t realise it until they get there, but tracksuits is what Turkmenistan should be known for!

Yes, you heard right. The Turkmen love their tracksuits. Well, whether they love them or not, they wear them a lot! If you ever travel to Turkmenistan you'll see a large percentage of the population walking around in their Turkmenistan tracksuits and if you're ever at an event you might just be the only one not wearing one. Perhaps it’s thanks to Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedow, the former president, who is very often seen wearing one, whether it be while riding a bike, opening a new building or monument in Ashgabat, or just relaxing at the beach resort of Avaza .

So it often happens that people arrive in Turkmenistan, and within a day or two realise that this is the souvenir that they want, and then start trying to find one. But where does one go to find themselves a Turkmenistan tracksuit? All the locals have them, so they must be somewhere.

Firstly, I'll tell you is what mistakes not to make. Most people start off by heading to the markets. The Russian Bazaar is a great place to find souvenirs and we always make a stop there on our tours, but although you’ll find other textiles and clothes, there won’t be a tracksuit in sight.

What about Tolkuchka Bazaar on the outskirts of the city then? The biggest bazaar (by area) in Central Asia, surely they would have anything anyone could think of. Well no – if you’re after a camel, a carpet, a fridge, a hat, any nut or dried fruit you could think of, a CD, or even a cassette, you’ve gone to the right place, but for those seeking a tracksuit, you have not.

Maybe a smaller, lesser-known market then? Nope. You just won't find them there, and believe me, we’ve discovered this the hard way.

You’d think that on your travels searching for the tracksuits you might just be able to ask locals – they all have them, so surely they know where to get them from, right? Also nope. This is something that will make sense once you’ve been to Turkmenistan, and is really difficult to explain to anyone who hasn’t.

So where can you get one? Well luckily, despite searching high and low in every market in the country, and asking everyone we know, plus plenty of people we don’t know, all to no avail, we did eventually discover where to find these amazing items of clothing.

There is a chain of State-run textiles shops which sell them. The easiest to get to is in the Altyn Asyr shopping centre (which translates to Golden Era), right in the middle of Ashgabat. It is right around the corner from the Russian Bazaar, opposite the Grand Turkmen Hotel, next to the old British Pub, and on any group tour we’ll either go there together or direct you there during free time. Inside you'll find multiple shops on the ground and second floor (or is it the first floor? Whichever floor is above the ground floor in a two-story building) all selling tracksuits, t-shirts, hats, scarves and even bedding and towels, all Turkmenistan themed.

T he tracksuits themselves are released for different events, so depending on when you’re there there might be different ones available. Some of the various tracksuit designs have been for the Asian Games, the Year of the Silk Road, The Year of Neutrality, or even just individual governmental departments. One of my most treasured tracksuit is a Migration Department Chess team Turkmenistan tracksuit.

There is also another store just around the corner from the Ak Altyn (translates to White Gold) Hotel. As you exit the hotel you turn left then right on to the first street heading south for less than a minute and you're there. Quite often if the central store doesn't have a particular product, it can often be found here and vice versa. Definitely worth checking out both! There are others of these stores too, but these are the two most convenient and well stocked.

So now you have it. Where you can buy a Turkmenistan tracksuit as your ultimate Turkmenistan souvenir. Who knows, maybe you'll be mistaken for a local!

Fancy joining us in Turkmenistan and getting your hands on one of these? Join us on one of our group tours .