Turkmenbashi

Turkmenbashi sits on a bay on the eastern Caspian shore, founded as Krasnovodsk in 1869 as a Russian military port and still the country's maritime outlet, with the rail line from Ashgabat ending here and ferries running across to Baku. The old town has nineteenth-century brick buildings among Soviet blocks, dry hills rise behind, and the port and refinery dominate the working shore.

What you actually see

• The bay - the Caspian anchorage the port was built on.
• The old brick buildings - nineteenth-century structures surviving in the old town.
• The ferry terminal - the crossing point for the run to Baku.
• The dry hills - the bare country rising directly behind the city.

When to go

April to May and September to October are the comfortable months. Summer is very hot and winter is windy. Ferry schedules are irregular.

Honest expectations

The ferry to Baku has no fixed timetable and waits of days are normal. The city has little for visitors and the port dominates. Summer heat is severe with limited shade.

Nearby

Awaza is beside it, and Garabogazköl is north.