One of the world's most reclusive countries, the former Soviet republic adopted strict visa requirements after gaining independence in 1991 and closely monitors travellers.While this policy remains largely in place, tour agencies in the Central Asian nation have noticed a recent decrease in visa rejections and this year authorities announced plans to expand the tourism sector.At the archaeological ruins of Nisa, an ancient fortress near the capital, Ashgabat, AFP spotted a Western tour group taking advantage of this tentative thaw."I wanted to see what the mystery was about," said Nick Frey, a 28-year-old US tourist admiring the fortress. "I think the uniqueness is really what stood out."
Ashgabat has the highest density of white marble buildings in the world © STRINGER / AFP/File
Turkmenistan declared itself "permanently neutral" under its post-independence leader Saparmurat Niyazov, a policy that he used to justify extreme constraints on contact with the outside world.For 15 years, the former Communist official shaped the capital in his image, ordering it to be rebuilt as a marble citadel complete with a towering gold statue of himself.Since Niyazov's death in 2006, successive presidents -- Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and his son Serdar -- have kept the system in place, along with the cults of personality and grand architecture.Ashgabat has the highest density of white marble buildings in the world, according to Guinness World Records.'World's weirdest country'Turkmenistan's odd architecture and reclusiveness has made it a magnet for content creators on social media, some of whom have dubbed it the "world's weirdest country"."The first thing I noticed was the whiteness of everything," said Liza Zorn, a German tourist who visited Ashgabat."It was the first time in my life I saw white traffic lights."
