Story 19: Driving in Turkmenistan

If you asked the average person in the United States have you ever been to Turkmenistan? you would probably get a resounding “No.” However, a few years ago My friend Mike and I went there as part of our own tour of Central Asia.

During the course of our journey Michael decided that he wanted to drive our guide’s car. It was not just any car, but a suped-up Mercedes Benz with tinted windows.  It’s not every day you see one in an economically troubled country like Turkmenistan. Fortunately it was automatic transmission, because manual transmission was still a mystery to us.

I remember Michael climbed into the drivers seat and started to put his safety belt on.  Our guide immediately started to lecture him.
“What are you doing?” asked our guide.

“Putting my seat belt on.” Michael replied.

“Well, don’t. People in Turkmenistan don’t wear seat belts, and the police will think it’s strange if they see you wearing one and will certainly stop our car.” Our guide explained.

I looked at Michael, but he simply shrugged. Quite a change from New York where if you don’t wear a seat belt you might incur at least a fifty dollar fine.

Life Lesson 19: What can we learn from this incident?  I think it’s critical that when you travel you should know the laws and customs of country you are visiting, because you are subject to them too. If you don’t know what they are read up on them, or better still consult/hire a local because that might really save you a lot of headaches down the road.