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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 example. This makes it very challenging to find Lvov on a map when it is actually spelled "Лвнв."
Surprisingly, the Cyrillic alphabet is actually quite easy to learn and can be done so on your plane ride over.
But don't spend too much time on it. Since the fall of communism, a number of countries have transitioned away from the Cyrillic alphabet and have replaced it with the Latin one, including Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Most recently, Kazakhstan has announced their intention to do so as well. The government anticipates it will take 12-15 years to reeducate the public and basically replace every sign and official document in existence. Man! Imagine growing up with one alphabet and suddenly having to change it mid-life. That must be tough. But than again, Kazakhs have already suffered through this in 1940 when the Soviets forced Cyrillic upon them.
As for us foreigners visiting the country, travel will be just a little bit easier with a more familiar alphabet at our service.
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, but a rather dangerous nut, during his long rule (that's him above, by the way, gold-plated and part of a fountain). For the most part, only the locals were affected by his craziness (such as having to recite the great leader's poetry in order to pass the national driving test).
Tourists, however, had to endure his bizarreness with tough visa requirements and, according to an article in the Moscow Times, "a law allowing [Turkmenistan] to deport foreigners for 'immoral behavior.'" This is hardly the type of law you want hanging over your head at a beach resort.
So, for whatever reason, the new kinder and more benevolent leader of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, now plans to make his country more tourist friendly. Let's all do him a favor and visit!
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 it'll be much like a Disneyland with very foreign twist. Check out the USA Today article for more details and remember to use this word when trying to score a place to rest after your day of play.
Turkmen is the national language of Turkmenistan with some 3,430,000 speakers within the country and 3,000,000 throughout parts of Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey. The language is more closely related to Crimean Tatar and Salar and less closely related to Turkish and Azerbaijani. Wiki has good background info including additional learning links. If you've some knowledge of the lingo already visit this tmchat forum to learn by hanging out and chatting with other members. Same rule applies if you're going to stop by this Dersat Turkmens page which says you can learn and has samples, tests and conversation, but it's difficult to understand without basic skills in place. Transparent.com has Turkmen language software and LP's Central Asia phrasebook has only a small section of Turkmen.
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 online and find nothing about, but this site alone proves I'm wrong. Of some of the more fascinating links I would check out the Turkmen museum which features Dr. Farzad Marjani's private collection of jewelry. Impressive pieces. I wouldn't mind owning something like the items seen there. Anyhow...
Turkmen is the national language of Turkmenistan with some 3,430,000 speakers within the country and 3,000,000 throughout parts of Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey. The language is more closely related to Crimean Tatar and Salar and less closely related to Turkish and Azerbaijani. Wiki has good background info including additional learning links. If you've some knowledge of the lingo already visit this tmchat forum to learn by hanging out and chatting with other members. Same rule applies if you're going to stop by this Dersat Turkmens page which says you can learn and has samples, tests and conversation, but it's difficult to understand without basic skills in place. Transparent.com has Turkmen language software and LP's Central Asia phrasebook has only a small section of Turkmen.
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 women journeying this big bad world on her own with the best and worst places for women to travel. The list, compiled by Jessica Labrencis and RaeJean Stokes of SmarterTravel, doesn't suggest women should free up and lose all inhibitions in so-called safe places or completely avoid named worst destinations. Instead of rambling on about what the list does suggest let's take a look at their best and worst and share some of our experiences. (You'll want to go to their site for all the specifics.)
If you ask me the worst place destination list looks to include a heavy number of places. Considering the U.S. has 50 states (some worse than others) and the former U.S.S.R. has some 14 states (including my next destination -Tajikistan) it's safe to say women have to watch their backs almost everywhere. What's your take? Ladies?
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 population is unaware of other smaller countries or entire regions to boot! On a recent trip into a book store for some quick guide book hunting my conversation with the clerk went something like this:
"Excuse me, do you happen to have any travel guides on Central Asia or Tajikistan," I said.
The clerk scratches his head and replies, "Hmm... Why no, no one goes there."
"But you're missing a HUGE chunk of the world and I'm going," I responded.
An older gent with his head tucked in an Eyewitness Travel Guide for France looks up in curiosity. "Then you're probably the only one going then," he concluded.
"Thanks, I'll look online," I said.
After this conversation at the bookstore I have found myself being questioned as to why I'd want to go any placed that ended in -stan or where the heck Tajikistan is, but the better question will always be, why not?! Anyhow, I didn't start all this to moan and groan. Instead I just wanted to provide a quick Central Asia refresher. Wikipedia is one of the best places to start for the basics which I'll just throw out right here/right now. Central Asia is comprised of the following: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, western China, northeast Iran, Afghanistan, western Pakistan, and central-east Russia south of the Taiga.
The borders of Central Asia have been defined a number of ways, but in one of the broader cases this is probably your best bet. There - I feel much better now. If you've got some Central Asia travel experiences to share please feel to tell all. For those who hadn't a clue before, I hope this provides a small amount of insight.
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 through Central Asia initially disregarded frontiers since all of the Central Asian republics were within the Soviet Union. So, my only glance of Turkmenistan was through the dusty windows of a bus as we detoured briefly (and illegally for me, without having a visa) into the country before heading back into Uzbekistan.
With the hope of going back to experience more of this country, I found a recent and fascinating article in the Independent (London) that paints a bleak, but realistic account of the challenges and rewards facing travelers who venture into this part of the world. Journalist Lucy Ash experienced the horror of visiting a local dentist, marveled at the surreal capital of Ashgabat (which she describes as "a cross between Stalinism and Las Vegas"), and relished in the joy of wandering through Merv, a 2,500 year old town that was once a major stopping point on the ancient Silk Road.
For me, the most attractive draw of Turkmenistan would be the opportunity to visit one of the few remaining countries where a Cult of Personality is still actively practiced. President Saparmurat Niyazov, the self-appointed "Turkmenbashi" has littered the country with countless portraits and statues of himself (see photo above). He has renamed towns after his mother and requires those taking driving tests to recite his poetry. Check out this hilarious BBC account of just how crazy this guy is.
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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 example. This makes it very challenging to find Lvov on a map when it is actually spelled "Лвнв." 
