TOUR OVERVIEW
Heard of the North Korean Mass Games? Ever seen an Olympics Opening Ceremony? Well the Independence Day concert in Ashgabat is bit like if both of those had a love child. But add in some of Turkmenistan's special brand of weirdness. It really is something totally unique, and what makes it even cooler is how many people do you know that have even heard of it? We were the first to ever take a group of tourists to this special event, and since 2015 have continued to be the only people to manage it.
The first couple of days will be spent in Ashgabat, taking in the city which in itself is really something special, interspersed with the concert, a day of horse racing at the hippodrome, and any other Independence Day events that we have the opportunity to experience. There's a good chance the President and his father, the former President, will be at one or both of these events, but just depends what they feel like on the day!
Once all the Independence Day fun is wrapped up, we'll head out of the city and spend a night at the Gates of Hell, before heading west, with stops at the underground lake of Kow Ata, the mountain village of Nokhur, and the ancient ruins of Nisa.
Reaching the Caspian Sea coast you'll have a chance to explore the resort town of Avaza, and we'll venture into the desert to Yangykala Canyon, before flying back to Ashgabat on Turkmenistan Airlines.
View the full itinerary
If you like the look of this tour but the dates don't work for you, or you'd like to do part of the tour, please
get in touch
and let us know. All our tours are able to be split into smaller sections, we're always scheduling new tours and your dates might work for one of them, or we can always organise an independent tour.
There are other versions of this tour, whether you want something quicker or something longer and more indepth, check out our
Whirlwind Tour
or our
Mega Tour
.