Requires: 2-4 people, 2 days (for best results), any tourist hotel.
It's time to see if the rumors are true. For this one you will need a partner (accomplice) who has a bit of patience and some free time, plus a pretense for entering and leaving your room periodically, in a somewhat predictable manner. Try to plan to have at least two days in your itinerary for best results.
Start by having a simple conversation in simple English with your partner (accomplice) in your hotel room. The topic is not important, perhaps something about the day's events, or things that have happened back home. The important thing is to make sure that you have a positive tone (you know someone is listening, but you never know just WHO is listening). Then notice one of the many flaws in your hotel room. Don't worry there will be several. Mention how you would like to have it changed. Easy things to mention are burnt out light bulbs or a lack of towels, but don't even bother mentioning hot water, as this seems to be an issue that cannot be solved. Feel free to find your own things as well, the important thing is to be creative! Mentioning these things in such a way that makes the listener believe that if such things are remedied your stay in Turkmenistan will become a journey through heaven on earth is most likely to achieve favourable results. After this say to your partner that it might be a good idea to leave the room for a believable reason within a reasonable time frame. Try not to be too obvious, as the listeners may be seasoned veterans who might not take the bait! With any luck when you come back, the things that you mentioned might be fixed! Of course there is a good possibility that nothing will happen, such as in the case that no one was listening, or if the listeners did not understand whatever language you may have been speaking, but it is still worth a shot!
Note: Some people might say that the whole "bugged hotel room" thing is a myth designed by the government to spook tourists, or by tourists to make themselves look cooler. All I have to say is that I mentioned the light bulb was burnt out, came back twenty minutes later to find it was fixed and the clean towels I was just THINKING about were placed on the bed. Coincidence? I think not!
