Darvaza, Konye-Urgench

"The Door to Hell"

Taking a break from sitting in the car

The next day we set off with a new driver: Dimitri, north from Ashgabat across the Karakum Desert.

We were heading to the much anticipated Gas Craters, three unexplained craters in the earth that emitted gas, one of which was mysteriously set alight around forty years ago, still burning to this day.

Having Google imaged this "Door to Hell", as it is nicknamed, numerous times, I wasn't quite sure if we were to be disappointed or not. After building up the experience of finally seeing the thing, would it live up to our lofty expectations?

Camel Crossing

After a very fast, but bouncy car journey, we made it to the first two craters. The first was filled with water, roughly 20 meters deep and around 50 meters across. The fizzing in and around the centre of the pool showed us evidence of the invisible gas seeping out.
The next one was filled with a curdling and bubbling mud, but otherwise quite similarly uninspiring and lifeless as the first. We soon become disheartened, hoping that the last crater wouldn't be such a waste of our time, as we drove off the main road and deeper into the desert.

Dimitri, Sam and Charlie hang out by the first crater

The second wasn't that much cooler!

Our campsite, 400m from the burning crater, to avoid the toxic fumes.

I had convinced myself that the burning gas crater would be like looking at a distant camp fire at the bottom of a large hole.

Clearly it wasn't.

After climbing a small hill, we got our first glimpse of the 'Door to Hell' at sunset.

Charlie and Sam approach the crater.

Dimitri explained his version of events that led to the creation of such a fantastic phenomina in the middle of the Turkmen desert.

This awesome sight was the bizarre result of failed Soviet gas exploration and a disgruntled shepherd, whose sheep were not particularly benefiting from breathing in the leaking gas.

A burning tyre rolled from a neighbouring hill not only improved the health of the sheep, but created an incredible spectacle, frequently visited by both tourists and locals.

As well as watching the crater against the darkness of the night, I particularly enjoyed it as day light faded and it gradually began to glow, a spot just above our campsite being the perfect place to watch it from.

It was WARM

The wind blew all of the leaking gas to one side. It was so strong that we couldn't get within 25 meters of the edge.

But with the wind our backs, we could get as close as we wanted...

Charlie joining Sam on the other side of the crater. Gives a pretty decent size comparison!

The sun rises over the Karakum desert. It seems like the 'gates to hell' have been closed.

Wide-angle view of the crater in daylight

More wandering around on sand dunes!

The next day we hit the road (again), further north towards Uzbekistan. Our last stop on our Turkmen itinerary was the border town of Konye-Urgench.

What was of interest was the town sized archeology site of the old Konye-Urgench. Only few ruins remained here, as the city was obliterated of Chinggis Khan in the 1200s. Further along in a cemetery, local women rolled down a hill in the hope that they would hit a mausoleum so that they could receive God's good will. Certainly an interesting practice, as well as being quite amusing.

Dimitri, Sam and Charlie with our ride.

Dimitri passionately filled us in on the history: Chinggis Khan was unable to defeat the defenders of this city in 1221, after besieging the city for a year, he resorted to diverting an entire river to flood the city. This promptly drowned the remaining inhabitants, something that I'm sure they were not expecting. In addition to this, Chinggis left a single minaret, a sign to any enemies who might have stumbled upon the smoldering remains that there had once been an advanced and powerful civilization there, only for it to be utterly crushed by his relentless force.

The 'Unknown Portal' at Konye-Urgench, no archeologist has figured out the purpose of this entrance.

The minaret spared by Chinggis Khan.

That afternnon, with our trip to Turkmenistan at an end, we still had to leave the country and cross into Uzbekistan.

Seb was clearly not Turkmen enough to take one of their precious flags out of the country and this was swiftly confiscated after the boarder guards emptied our bags.

I felt that this bizarre occurrence summed up our experience of Turkmenistan. As the guard took it, he laughed sheepishly and looked slightly embarrassed.

We had witnessed the same sheepish expression on the face of Dimitri, whilst we were eating our evening meal in the glow of the gas crater, he told us about some of the other things the former President had done in the country.

Having written the national book, 'The Ruhnama' (The book of the Soul), he had enraged the Muslim world by building a giant mosque (Turkmenbashi Mosque) decorated with inscriptions, not from the Koran, but from the Ruhnama.

Then having made this book a compulsory read for all his subjects, he paid NASA to take the book and a Turkmen flag into space and leave it on an orbiting satellite.

Being a firm patriot and strong believer in the greatness of Turkmenistan, we were never sure if Dimitri was criticising his country when he told us these things and laughed so openly, or whether he was just trying to brush it off, but it was a theme that seemed to be prevalent with a lot the Turkmen people that we met.

When the boarder guard took Seb's flag, as well as when Dimitri laughed, it was if they wanted to apologise for the eccentricities of their former leader and to an extent their current one, whilst maintaining that they were both, underneath all the gold, truly great men, in charge of a truly great country.

I got the feeling that the Turkmen's attitude in words would be something like this: 'Some of it is a bit mental, but it works and we're happy, so why change it?'

Perhaps a mentality with potential; especially as the new President has started to tone down some of the more fanatical elements of the personality cult advocated by his predecessor and seems to be driving towards a more sustainable political plan.

Nevertheless as previously mentined, the gas will eventually run out and an extinguished buring crater will be the least of their worries.