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.
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!
@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!
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!
@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!
What a trip of a lifetime.