Turkmenistan

Silk Road Splendour at Ancient Merv

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Ancient Merv is one of the great archaeological treasures of Central Asia, a city that was at various times among the largest on earth and a vital hub of the Silk Road trade routes. Layers of civilisation lie visible across a vast plain, from the mud-brick ramparts of the Bronze Age to the soaring ruins of Sultan Sanjar's twelfth-century mausoleum. Walking through Merv at golden hour, with swallows circling the ancient ramparts, is the kind of travel experience that stays with you for years.

The Door to Hell and the Karakum Desert

The Darvaza gas crater, known to travellers as the Door to Hell, is a collapsed natural gas field that has been burning continuously since 1971, lighting the desert sky with an otherworldly orange glow visible for kilometres in every direction. Getting there involves a long drive across the Karakum, one of the world's great sand deserts, past camel herds and nomadic encampments. Camping beside the crater on a clear night, with the crackling heat and the endless stars above, is one of the most extraordinary things you can do anywhere in Asia.

Ancient Nisa and the Parthian Legacy

Just outside Ashgabat lie the ruins of Old Nisa, the first capital of the Parthian Empire and another UNESCO World Heritage site that receives only a fraction of the attention it deserves. The site preserves remarkable round towers, treasury rooms and ceremonial halls from a civilisation that once rivalled Rome. Turkmenistan as a whole rewards travellers willing to engage with its complexity, offering landscapes and historical depth that feel entirely removed from the well-worn trails of more visited neighbours.