When gathering the items you wish to take with you, consider the following list:

Medicines

• Prescription medicines and any drugs you frequently use or carry as preventive measures i.e. painkillers and diarrhoea treatments.
• Disposable syringes (easily obtained from a travel clinic).
• Vitamin supplements.
• Proof of health insurance cover and a stock of claim forms.
• An initial stock of sanitary items.

Clothing

• Office wear is formal in winter with suites and ties, and less formal in summer when short sleeved shirts are worn, sometimes with tie. In winter several layers of clothes are desirable along with hat, gloves and a long coat. Loose, light weight and light coloured trousers and long-sleeved shirts are better in intense heat than shorts and T-shirts because they reduce water loss and sunburn. Shorts are worn usually for sport, and should not be worn in the streets.
• A pair of galoshes, wellingtons, or waterproof shoes or boots are useful if you plan to walk the streets in winter when they can be wet and slushy in the wet winter months.
• An umbrella can be useful in the rainier months.

Documentation

• A list of your credit cards and a list of their numbers carried separately (see ‘Money’).
• A photocopy of your passport and visa, kept separately from the originals.
• Several passport photographs (you will need photographs for visas and membership cards).
• International driving licence.

Money

• Unmarked, new dollars (from 1988 and later) in small denominations. The US dollar is the most widely accepted currency in hotels and restaurants. European currency can only be exchanged into Manats, the local currency, at the bigger banks.
• Credit cards, charge cards and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard/Eurocard, Diners and American Express) are rarely accepted, but can be used to obtain cash advances at the Vneshekonombank (Zhitnikov Street opposite the Magtymguly statue).
• If you have an American Express card, consider taking a cheque book as well because you can withdraw money from your cheque account by using your card as security.

Household and other useful items

• Travel plugs and adapters. The voltage in Turkmenistan buildings is 220 and sockets have two-pin, round plugs (European)
• Water filter and replacement filters.
• A universal bath/basin plug.
• Small introduction gifts e.g. Tacis pens, stickers, badges, pins, lighters.
• Pocket phrase book and Russian-to-own-language dictionary.
• Adapters for your television and video (if you take them). The Turkmenistan system is SECAM (the same system used in France).