Can you imagine a country where no black cars are allowed in its capital?
Guess which country it is?
Turkmenistan!
Have you ever heard of Turkmenistan?
It is one of the former Soviet republics, and its name ends with ‘stan’, which stands for “place” or “land of” in Persian language.
Since 2018, the president has banned all black cars from entering Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Basically, police impounded all black cars within the country.
Why?
The president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov considered white to be lucky just like how Chinese see red as the auspicious color. But this was the whole new level, where all black cars were impounded and some even towed!
He even started using a convoy of white limousines to travel to public events. Back in 2014, tinted windows were also banned for all cars in the country.
Turkmenistan is one of the least-visited countries in the world. It is also extremely difficult to receive any news from this country.
The capital is in fact full of white marble buildings, spanning an area of 4.5 million square meters. But most of these buildings are uninhabited.
Since Feb 2024, we are now having a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Ashgabat, which is the capital of Turkmenistan with Turkmenistan Airlines.
Besides Turkmenistan, Malaysia also has direct flights to its brother Central Asian republics, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
But is it really so difficult to visit Turkmenistan?
Well, not only for Malaysia but the whole world as well.
The visa application process for Turkmenistan is among the world's most difficult to get approved. Additionally, you are only allowed to travel there with a guided tour group, meaning you cannot travel solo.
Only 10,000 to 20,000 tourists visit this isolated and mysterious country annually.
So what do you think about Turkmenistan?
Stay tuned and follow for more insights into studying, traveling, and living abroad!
Jason Kang is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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