The rule is that you must slow down at the checkpoint, make eye contact with the police to see if they want to pull you over, and if not, continue on your way. The road was more of a dirt track with many potholes and police checkpoints every 100km. To say we were excited would be an understatement. The next day after some brief sightseeing around the empty capital, we were picked up in a 4X4 ready to head back into the Karakorum Desert to spend the night at the Door to Hell. We repeated similar scenes at the hotel in Ashgabat, complete with “secret” policemen, but there was a little more life than there had been in Turkmenbashi. Well, aside from the secret policemen that loitered in the lobby eyeing us with suspicion.Īfter a surprisingly tasty breakfast in an empty dining hall, we were picked up by our tour guide and driver and driven the 600km across the desert to Ashgabat. However, not only were we the only guests in this colossal marble hotel, it seemed we were the only people in the whole resort. After waiting around at the port of Turkmenbashi (named after the former Dictator), we have whisked away to a palatial hotel on what looked like a large seaside resort. We arrived by cargo vessel from Baku in Azerbaijan. My friend and I were lucky enough to be granted five-day visas (the tour company said that two other people who applied were refused). I visited Turkmenistan when I was making my way overland from England back to my home in China, and Darvaza was one of the principal reasons for visiting the country.Īs visiting Turkmenistan is notoriously tricky (the government doesn’t really want tourists and routinely refuses both tourist and transit visas with no reason given), and to save money, I arranged a tour with a friend. Well, the flames have been burning now for over 50 years!Īlthough the Door to Hell, as it has become known, is not a tourist attraction, it does attract a specific type of visitor (myself included) searching for unique places around the world. The engineers and geologists decided the best way to stop the escape of the gas was to set it on fire and let it burn itself out. Upon setting up a drilling operation near the small settlement of Darvaza, they noticed the escape of natural gas, and the drilling area collapsed into a giant sinkhole. ![]() ![]() In 1976 when the country was part of the Soviet Union, geologists were scoping the desert for oil. Visiting Darvaza Gas Crater: The Door To Hell So it is with little surprise that hidden in the vast Karakorum desert of Turkmenistan is another strange edifice, the Door to Hell (or Gates of Hell) at Darvaza. It is the only capital I have walked around and not experienced the hustle and bustle of people going about their daily lives. The capital, Ashgabat, is a marble monstrosity with empty streets guarded by soldiers and policemen. Turkmenistan is a strange country indeed. The $8 million lumpy hillock closed January 9, just six months after opening.If you love traveling off the beaten path, the Dravaza gas crater, also known as the Door to Hell, will be right up your street! Check out these Darvaza gas crater facts, including its history, how to get there, famous Darvaza spiders, and a collection of incredible original photos. In the world of international tourist attractions, if the Darvaza Crater is Hell, London’s much-mocked Marble Arch Mound is a sort of underwhelming Purgatory. The crater was formed in the early 1970s, when the ground collapsed during a Soviet gas drilling expedition, and it’s been burning off natural gas ever since. However, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has now ordered the closure of the site popularly known as the “Gates of Hell.” Turkmenistan’s Darvaza gas crater is celebrated around the world as the closest thing on Earth to an honest-to-goodness portal to the Underworld. Here’s what’s been going on in the unfriendly skies. 2021 was the worst on record for unruly passenger behavior on US planes, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration.Īnd this year’s not looking much better – already American Airlines is saying a man’s been apprehended after damaging a plane during the boarding process. 2021: Year of the Unruly Airline PassengerĪssaults on crew members.
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