Tuesday 31 July 2012

The Gate of Hell, unknown location, Turkmenistan


One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them




This is the Darvaza Gas Crater, a burning hole The Soviet Union attempted to drill there for gas in the 70s, but the ground collapsed. To prevent the gas from poisoning the surrounding areas, it was set on fire but the problem is that the crater has burned ever since...

It's is a  bit of a long story how we managed to find it and visit it but it is enough to say that this, so far, has really been one the highlight of the trip. We were drove to the crater by Vladimir, a Russian guy who picked us up in a 4wd as to reach the crater it is a good 7km driving off road on the sand.








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