Lying smack bang in the center of the Karakum desert, in the center of one of the world's most craziest and closeted countries, lies a truly peculiar spectacle…
the Derveze Gas Crater.
Turkmenistan is a land rich in oil and natural gas, so it’s not a surprise to find a rich reserve of gas beneath desert sands, but what is a surprise is what they have done with it.... Back in 1971, when the country was known as the Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan, Soviet geologists were drilling for gas at the site of a cavern. The cavern collapsed, releasing the gas. Fearing the release of toxic gases, one bright spark came up with the idea to set the crater on fire, hoping that the flames would burn off the gas within a few days or weeks.
However, that was either a bit overly optimistic or downright naïve because the fire he set alight that day back in ’71 by chucking in a stick of dynamite has now been burning continuously for over 50 years. And in doing so has become a permanent feature of the desert landscape, and a magnetic bucket list item for crazies like me.
It's almost like a perfect circle - a very large perfect circle measuring 69m in diameter and a depth of 30m. And yes, in case you're wondering, back in 2013 some crazy actually did descend into the bottom it to set a Guinness World Record for a Nat Geo show called "Die Trying". I guess he didn't!
Understandably the crater has since become the country’s greatest tourist attraction, as we witnessed by the good number of fellow tourists congregating around the craters edge. As lucky as they were to be some of the only people to get to witness this crazy man v nature spectacle, it was us who were the luckiest, for after their fleets of Pajeros and Landcruisers had sped them off back into the night towards their tourist yurt camps, we simply parked up, popped open our bedroom, set up our chairs and cracked a cold one.
But it was as dusk began to fall into night, that the crater took on a new, darker personality and this place took wow to a whole other level…
The pale golden flames of the late afternoon had morphed into an incredibly fierce fiery inferno, and you could begin to understand why this place is named the ‘Gates of Hell’
But that isn’t without a touch of irony, as the nearby village - or whatever is left of it - is called Derveze… which translates directly from Turkmen to “Gate”. Cute that.
The evening desert breeze had picked up and waves of heat were forcibly slapping your face, some so strong it made you involuntarily turn your head, raise your arm to shield your face and stumble backwards. And amongst the still of the dark desert, you could actually hear the crackling and licking of the flames below.
Humans have long been drawn to fire, and for the handful of lucky visitors here in the dark, it was no different. Everyone stood silent and still, gazing into the furnace.
And it seems it wasn’t just us humans drawn to the fire… something little was scuttling about the crater edge… would I be lucky enough to see it up close?
This little guy was on an obvious mission, and he was sooo close to the edge. But just as he looked to become a Zoroastrian sacrifice, he turned and ran into my light and revealed himself.
A hedgehog!! A very long way from a hedge?! Oh ledgehog, forgive me
And what was he doing out on the ledge? Absolutely gorging himself on giant ants of course. And there were absolutely thousands of them!
By now it appeared that I had spent almost an hour standing, sitting, pondering the meaning of life, fixated on this strange spectacle. And then it occurred to me that the tickling sensation running down my spine was not in fact the universe or a shiver from the heat, but in fact an army of slaters searching for new terrain to explore…uggghhhh! As I stood up to relieve myself from the creepy platoon now crawling all over my body, it became apparent that I was only a visitor in this strange foreign environment and it was my time leave this mystical place to Ledgie and his fellow locals - the creatures of the night…
*thanks to Andreas from Austria for his amazing crater photos!
Great to see,loving them all and the Photo's.... Kiwimark.😀