If you’re flying into Ashgabat or even on the ground at night, you’ll notice a string of lights lining the mountains outside of the city. This is The Health Path, aka The Walk of Health. On a clear day, you see it as a bright white line zigzagging across the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains. Whether they knew about it before their arrival or not, many tourists wonder if it’s possible for them to take on this trek themselves. The short answer is yes, you can currently do part of it, though there are some things you should be aware of before you get started.
What is the Health Path?
The health path consists of two sections: an 8km stretch and a 28km trek. The official name of the walk is now “Saglyk Yoly” which translates to “Health Trail”. Its original name was “Serdar’s Trail”, which is not an ode to the current president, but translates to “Leader’s Trail”. Both sections were created under the first President Saparmurat Niyazov, or Turkmenbashy . He started with the implementation of the 8km section in 1999 as an encouragement for his citizens to exercise and take care of their health. A few years later, he unveiled a connecting 26km path (now 28km after some remodelling). At this time, he announced that all government workers would need to complete the full course once a year. This typically happened all on the same day while he reportedly watched from a helicopter and jeered. While taking place in the name of health, the event would actually lead to multiple hospitalizations, as doing a 36km climb through the mountains with no preparation can take quite a toll on one's system. The mandate that government officials must complete the walk went away in the Gurbanguly era, though it has been used for special events since.
Today, only the 8km trek is currently open to the public. The 23km section runs too close to the TV Tower (famously the World’s Largest Building in the Shape of a Star) as well as the President’s residence. Both of these are off limits to the public - even locals are not allowed here.
How to do the Walk of Health Yourself
The most difficult part of the walk of health is not the distance or the incline, but it is convincing a taxi to pick you up on the other side and wait for you. You will need good Russian or Turkmen language skills, or the help of a translator, to ensure that your plans are in place and that your ride will be waiting for you. This is best arranged with a phone call to an actual taxi company rather than flagging down a car. While you could do the 8km section in either direction, both ends of it are on the outskirts of the city and it will be very difficult to catch a car to take you back into Ashgabat, even hitchhiking. One entrance to the path is on the furthest outskirts of the city near the entrance road for the TV tower and Magtymguly statue. Cars here are few and far between. The other side of the health path is about 8km outside of Ashgabat next to Old Nisa.
I would recommend starting from the entrance across from the new Magtymguly statue. This is where the 28km and the 8km sections of the health path meet, though they are separated by a road. You’ll be heading up the section of the path facing away from the statue. There is unlikely to be car traffic where you’ll finish your walk at Nisa, and the only cars and buses there will probably be ones there with other tourists (and they will not be authorized to give you a ride). However, the benefit of ending at Nisa is that there is a ticket office there, and the operator can call a cab for you if for some reason you cannot find your pre-arranged taxi waiting for you. Cabs will be reluctant to drive out there, so you might have to agree to a higher price, covering their drive from Ashgabat and the ride back into the city. For a cab to drive you out to the start of the path, wait for you at Old Nisa, and drive you back into Ashgabat, you can expect to be paying around 300-400 manat ($15-20).
Though every report online says the health path is 8km, when we’ve completed the path using a distance tracker, it’s really more like 7.1km. Depending on your physical abilities and speed, the path should take about 1.5-2 hours to complete. Regardless of which end you start at, the first leg of your journey will be stairs, stairs, and more stairs. The path itself is fully concrete and is in great condition. There are railings and streetlights on both sides, so there is zero chance of deviating from the path. There are several covered spots with benches along the way for you to stop, take a rest, and enjoy the view. There is limited tree cover, and Ashgabat is rarely cloudy, so be dressed accordingly and prepare yourself with whatever sun protection you require. The higher you climb, there is typically a breeze, so you can still cool off a bit in the covered shady areas on a hot day.
You likely won’t pass many locals on your journey. In fact, I’ve had locals try to discourage us from attempting the walk, saying it will be too hot and will take hours. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be alone. The last time I completed the path, about a minute after we started our journey, a solitary man in a black leather jacket (clearly not dressed to exercise that day) started following us up the steps. He “happened to” stop every time we stopped, and we seemed to be the focus of many of his pictures when he thought we weren’t looking. It seemed to us that he was keeping someone informed of our whereabouts, which made it a very fun and uniquely Turkmenistan experience. We joked that he probably wished we had gotten beers at the pub rather than making him follow us up a mountain!
The Walk of Health provides a wonderful view of the city of Ashgabat, and even nearby Kipchak. You can see Turkmenbashy Mosque glittering in the distance. Though there is not much in terms of flora and fauna, there are many animal statues (in gold, of course) dotted along the way. It’s not a hike geared towards nature-lovers, but travellers wanting some decent exercise and to participate a cool slice of Turkmenistan’s history will undoubtedly enjoy it.
If you want to visit Ashgabat and do the Walk of Health yourself, remember that your trip must be booked through a tour agency like SAIGA. We have a variety of group tours geared around seasons and special events which you can peruse here . If you prefer traveling on your own, check out our blog on How to Travel Independently in Turkmenistan . If you have any questions about our group and private tours, or traveling in Turkmenistan, send us an email at [email protected] .
