flames burning on the floor of the Darvaza Crater
The reason to interrupt the Nowruz celebrations prematurely was our next item on the program, the Darvaza Crater. Turkmenistan tourist attraction number one. Which perhaps says more about the tourists than about the tourist attractions.
The crater is another four hours’ drive, once again into the desert. What started as something resembling an airport landing strip, a stretch of tarmac fit for landing an aircraft, without markings, turns into a badly potholed, still airstrip-wide, road, with unsurfaced tracks on both sides to avoid the worst parts of tarmac. Once again in SUV convoy, our drivers go much too fast, swerving from left to right to avoid the potholes, or speeding irresponsibly through the soft sand on the side. Suggestions to slow down somewhat are met with a big grin, and if possible even faster speeds. Turkmen men are macho men.
just outside Ashgabat there are busstops every few hundred meters, it seems – no people, also no information about which bus comes when, or comes at all
even quite far into the desert, the busstops keep appearing – without any information
but it is Nowruz, and people line up in places where they think they have most chance of getting a lift, which is not the busstop
we met quite a few of those trucks, enormous transports
and this is the airport runway that leads to the Darvaza Crater
although it deteriorates quite badly along the way
they warn for camels
all different types, it seems
You wouldn’t expect it, but there are some villages, even in the middle of the desert. It is unclear what the people here are surviving on, most of the surrounding countryside is firmly covered by dunes. Occasionally we come across some firm rock, sticking out of the mostly flat surface, which provides a nice backdrop for the sunset. The crater itself we only reach much later, when it is already dark.
once inside the deserts, there are still the occasional villages
we now have truely entered the desert
which colours ever nicer in the late sunlight
this is another crater, filled with water instead of burning gas, but apparently the result of similar exploration mishaps
along the way, we do get to experience the sunset
Which is the point, of course. Because the crater is only of interest because it is burning. In fact, there are three craters, of which two are filled with water, and only show some gas bubbling on the water surface. In the third crater, however, gas is continually escaping, as the result of a hydrocarbon exploration project going wrong. During a drilling campaign in 1971 the drill hit an underground, gas-filled cave, which collapsed, creating the present-day crater of some 70 meters in diameter and 30 meters deep. As the gas escaped, some clever geologist decided to lit it – flare it off, in the jargon – to prevent poisonous methane entering the atmosphere. Anticipating that the gas would burn off in a few days’ time, there we are, 55 years later, still looking at the ground on fire – although the extend of the fire is clearly less than in the past.
Kind of an interesting view, but after a few minutes you have seen it, of course. After which we have a quick meal, and then we drive back. Another four hours. In the dark.
another overview of the crater on fire
close up of the flames, sort of
and I was there…
