Ashgabat - Post Report Question and Answers
Knowing what you know now, would you still move to this city?
Absolutely. - Jan 2024
Yes. If you have an open mind, are OK with weird, quirky behavior and willing to make your own fun- this is your place! It isn't the chaos of most hardship tours, it's just weird. - Dec 2020
Yes. - Mar 2019
Yes. - Jun 2018
Well we don't have any choice in our posts, but if we did - no. However, living here is quite the unique and memorable experience - Feb 2016
I've thought about this for some time, and cannot really say one way or the other. Turkmenistan is a fascinating place with the hydrocarbon wealth and small population to allow the country to really propel itself quickly forward from its tribal cum Soviet backwater history. Living in Ashgabat is comfortable, though the imminent destruction of the American residential compound for the new Embassy removes the main focal point of Post's social life for the next several years. So too will AIS' construction disrupt life. Professionally, banging one's head against a bureaucratic wall artificially created to slow interaction and impede partnerships grows tiresome fast. Progress is measured in the most minute of ways, so if you are seeking grandiose accomplishments, Ashgabat will disappoint. The issues are meaty, however, and the country will always have the potential to do more. So, In the short term, I'd say "no" given the disruptions to living conditions. In the medium term, perhaps, as this hermetic country is increasingly (unwillingly) exposed to world views that differ from its own. I wouldn't go there without full diplomatic rights and priveleges as they spared us much of the additional bureaucracy and unwanted government scrutiny imposed upon resident expats. - Jul 2014
Not on your life! I'd rather slam my head in a sliding glass door than to go back there. - Oct 2012
In a minute. - Mar 2012
