Gate of Hell, Turkmenistan by jamibann

Gate of Hell, Turkmenistan

Another image from my son's adventure. I couldn't resist sharing it, as I thought it was not only interesting, but a super image of the 3 of them.

In 1971, Soviet geologists punched through the crust of the Karakum Desert outside Derweze, Turkmenistan. They were searching for natural gas, and they found it!

The drilling rig hit a large natural cavern filled with gas, which promptly collapsed, taking down the rig and possibly some of the geologists as well.

A crater about 70m wide and 20m deep formed, and began spewing methane into the atmosphere.

That was over forty years ago, and the crater is still burning. Its glow is visible from Derweze each night. The name Derweze means "gate" in the Turkmen language, so locals have dubbed the burning crater the "Gate to Hell." Although it is a slow-burning ecological disaster, the crater has also become one of Turkmenistan's few tourist attractions.

Our latest information is that the boys are currently on the Pamir Highway between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, heading slowly towards Kazakhstan.
Fascinating narrative. Wishing the boys a safe journey!
August 14th, 2016  
Wow - great shot but what a eerie place! What a thing to do... and that it continues to burn today is intriguing and also kind of frightening. An ecological disaster indeed - what a trip! I'm enjoying their journey and learning things as well! Amazing to think such places exist - wow. Wild! Makes for a wonderfully wild capture too!
August 14th, 2016  
Wow ... they are having quite an adventure!
August 14th, 2016  
@taffy Their journey is amazing. I'm still very nervous about the whole thing however and will be very glad to see them all back in one piece. Another 4 weeks to go though!
August 14th, 2016  
amazing adventure all right
August 14th, 2016  
I understand very well that you are nervous. And I wish them safe travels ans wonderful (safe) adventures. Like this one, the Photo is amazing.
August 14th, 2016  
Bit like imagine hell to be!!
August 14th, 2016  
Fantastic shot
August 14th, 2016  
It must be amazing to see this sight for yourself. Fabulous capture.
August 14th, 2016  
Fascinating story of this interesting place and great capture.
August 14th, 2016  
Bep
Fascinating!
August 14th, 2016  
Absolutely amazing shot and narrative, fav.
August 14th, 2016  
Wow awesome night shot and narrative!
August 14th, 2016  
What an amazing shot! Even more interesting is the back story about the formation of the crater. I didn't know anything about that.
August 14th, 2016  
WOW! I've heard of this, but never seen such a dramatic photo of it!
August 14th, 2016  
What sights they have seen! Super shot showing this amazing sight - awesome that it's been going for 40 years - enjoyed the background information. Glad the boys are still on track!
August 14th, 2016  
This is soooo impressive!
August 14th, 2016  
awesome captyre
August 15th, 2016  
Superb shot, that is so cool to visit...
August 15th, 2016  
@Cherrill Cherrill, neither did I! Very interesting though, isn't it?
August 15th, 2016  
The mother in me is yelliing "step back away from the edge right now!" and yet the,adventurer in me is saying, "wow, that's cool!!!!"

What a trip of a lifetime.
August 16th, 2016  
Tom
Wonderful photo and story; what a fun adventure
August 16th, 2016  
@darylo Oh, tell me about it! I'm glad we probably don't know the half of it. We heard something about them being 'arrested' and locked into a hotel lobby in Tajikistan until they paid some sort of bribe for something ... but all is well and they're now in Kyrgystan. We'll hear the full story some day, I'm sure!
August 17th, 2016  
Absolutely incredible story and image!!! (Don't mess with Mother Nature!!! Talk about "Pandora's Box"!)
October 20th, 2016  
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