Extreme
Damla Oasis
The Damla Oasis is one of the furthest Yomud and Teke tribe oases in the heart of the Karakum desert. Far off the main road, flat roof villages and yurts found in almost every household characterize this breathtaking place. You can witness simple and beautiful nomadic traditions, throwing the rare visitor back in time. In order to reach the small settlement one has to cross into the Northern Karakum and traverse the Uzboy - the former riverbed of the Amudarya River. The demanding track across the dunes and salt marshes is a challenge for even the most experienced driver with a refreshing stop at the Bekuri Oasis halfway. This venture gives the Silk Road explorer a genuine impression of what travel and life in the desert has always meant its nomadic inhabitants.
Damla is some 4 hours off-road from the main Ashgabat-Dashogus highway and can be visited on a two-day trek from Ashgabat spending the night in tents or with the nomad families.
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The Northwest Off Road
This unique off-road adventure connecting Khorezm to the Caspian Sea along time-honoured salt caravan trails is a challenging route for the adventurous traveller. With no settlements along the first 300 km of the difficult trek, guided by GPS systems we start from Kunya-Urgench's southernmost monument, the Shasenem fortress. Here we enter the Sarakamysh depression passing around the large lake with its unique wildlife, which due to its inaccessibility makes it the "Serengeti of Turkmenistan". We further journey along the edge of the Karakum desert into the vicinity of the remote Kaplankyr Reserve, the 'Plateau of the Tiger'. The dazzling Karashor Salt Marsh borders this vast area of white ravines, cliffs and endless steppe with its 250 m white rock face stretching far into the horizon. Crossing the challenging Kumsepishen desert we reach the first remote Yomud tribe village with its large camel herds. The trek further continues across the fascinating red and orange-coloured
Yangysu canyon on the shore of the Karabogaz Basin, a large gulf of the Caspian before we reach our destination and the cool waters of the Sea.
Starting from the port Turkmenbashi or Kunya Urgench, to make this exciting crossing and to see some of the beautiful landscape you need a minimum of 4 days by 4WD.
