Door to Hell!
Sep. 4th, 2014 07:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
motodraconisFew people go to Turkmenistan* (or have even heard of it.) Considerably fewer would ever want to go back having been there once(!) I went last year and returned again last week. Why?
Because of this...THE DOOR TO HELL!
But before that, we crossed the border from Uzbekistan at Nijazov/Shovot. (There's a 5km strip of no-man's land between checkpoints.) Stopping at Dashoguz, we were split into 2 cook groups for the next 2 days camping and sent into the market to buy food. I sort of ended up in charge of my cook group (lawks!) but only because no one else wanted to be responsible for the potential poisoning of the group. We had to buy food for dinner, breakfast and a packed lunch, and having sussed that the truck carried a stash of spices, I resolved to cook a curry (for 11 bods.) Onions, lots of garlic, baby aubergine, fresh tomatoes... only one slight problem. No meat. Due to the excessive heat (35 degrees, likely up to 40) the meat shops all closed in the afternoon. The other group ended up going veggie in desperation. I bought a massive salami, aiming for a fusion french-indian curry-stew dangit, with a big tomato-infused flatbread as a substitute naan. Our truck had a fridge, and foods safely stowed, we were on our way to our first camp in the desert, (there being no where else to stay) with our first sight scheduled for early in the morning... Kunye Urgench. Flattened and massacred by Ghengis Khan in 1221, it regained glory before Timur (Tamerlaine) sacked it between 1372 and 1388. The river changed course, and the place was abandoned in the 16th century.
More or less untouched,
but visited by Turkmen pilgrims...
Our next stop was a natural(?) sulfur-tainted water filled chasm...
Then a natural(?) mud-filled chasm, (our truck, named "Sura" in the background.)
Parts of which were spontaneously on fire, with a smell of gas pervading the air.
Second camp. A suitably appealing site!
Tents are being lifted down from the roof.
And here, I had to cook, helped by my cook-group in chopping, rice and gas cooker wrangling. I find cooking for other people stressful at the best of times, let alone cooking curried salami for 11 bods on a binary gas stove. (URGH!) Thankfully, the curry was edible and no one was poisoned. As the sun started to drop towards dusk, 2 jeeps driven by locals arrived to take us to our final crater of the day, the Darvaza Crater, also known as the Door to Hell. Apparently it was "not safe" to drive the truck to the crater, that and there's no proper road (and certainly no signs.) Our jeep driver drove like a f*cking maniac, bumping nauseatingly over the sand, before tearing downhill in the slippery terrain straight towards the craters edge!
It's an extraordinary sight, and really hot! If you get too close you can really feel the heat burning your face. Not that you should get too close, as the edges can crumble away.
A man-made oddity, in 1971 soviet geologists were drilling for gas when the ground gave way. The rig tumbled in, but thankfully no people. Water gushed out, then gas. Some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to set light to the gas and burn it off.
It's been burning for 40 years.
Weirdness was turning to see hundreds of sheep cantering down the valley straight at the crater, before ambling off, though it was too dark to photograph them.
I'm not very good at camera vids, but click on the vid if you want a bigger view.
We climbed up a nearby hill, and watched it until the sun had quite set.
Article on some mad bastard who went into the crater last year (November 2013) for National Geographic.
After 2 days of camping and one squashed scorpion, we were elated by the crater but glad to reach Ashgabat and some showers!
Now, since I'd been to Ashgabat last year, I knew there was a circus opposite our hotel, but I'd not managed to get in and see a show last time, due to language barriers. Our guide had been really sniffy and unhelpful last year, and we had the same numpty this year. (He recognised me straight away, but then I was wearing the traditional Turkmen dress I'd pushed him into helping me find in the market last year - not many tourists would have done such I'm sure.) The guide was again his usual, unhelpful self, but thankfully G in our party speaks a little Russian, and was able to find out details. Go to the circus at 6pm, pay 2 manat (42p!) to a lady loitering near the door, and go right in! Thanks to G, a group of us managed to go.
To the circus!
Camels and goats...
Dogs, ain't never seen a dog walk so well on it's hind legs and then on it's front legs.
Girl horserider...
Now if you're used to special effects, you might react with disdain, but as someone who has done martial arts, horseriding and yoga the flexibility, acrobatic ability and horseriding skill on display was pretty impressive to me. I'd dreaded the clowns, but actually, their routines involved complex acrobatics that were rather good. There was even a comedy routine using sound effects and a stooge from the audience that was hilarious and very well done. The first half had a lot of acrobatics, Russian style. Cirque du Soleil might be more impressive, but as R pointed out, with Cirque du Soleil you tend to be sat in a huge auditorium, peering at distant figures. This venue was compact and you had a great view. There were many families with their small children.
And rather more surprisingly, clusters of adult army and police cadets on some sort of work jolly. (Obviously, I didn't photograph them.)
Best of all, there was a good display of the famous Akhal-Teke in action. Going to the circus might well be the only opportunity (at least that I've found) for a tourist to see this famous breed. If you do fetch up in Ashgabat, go to the circus - it's only 42p! (Click vid to view big.)
Our last day was spent in Ashgabat, doing the same tour I did last year. However, this time, I knew the score, and made a bee-line for the tribal jewellery in the huge Sunday market, and then wheedling a chance to ride the Stargate again...
Why is the Stargate not included in the tour? It's awesome! This time we explored more of the building, which has fast food outlets (closed) and a coffee shop. The last, with its choice of about 20 different coffees, expressos and mochachinos caused some excitement. Pick a coffee, any coffee...er, so long as it's a spoonful of instant nescafe in hot water. Hmmm.
Ruski Market ladies...
Sunday market hat and scarf stall. You can see the hat the ladies wear under their headscarves to achieve the volume of their head dresses.
38 degrees!
And so to home!
* According to CTNews, "Turkmenistan welcomes just 12,000 to 15,000 tourists from around 50 countries each year." The UK gets about 30 million per year.
Because of this...THE DOOR TO HELL!
But before that, we crossed the border from Uzbekistan at Nijazov/Shovot. (There's a 5km strip of no-man's land between checkpoints.) Stopping at Dashoguz, we were split into 2 cook groups for the next 2 days camping and sent into the market to buy food. I sort of ended up in charge of my cook group (lawks!) but only because no one else wanted to be responsible for the potential poisoning of the group. We had to buy food for dinner, breakfast and a packed lunch, and having sussed that the truck carried a stash of spices, I resolved to cook a curry (for 11 bods.) Onions, lots of garlic, baby aubergine, fresh tomatoes... only one slight problem. No meat. Due to the excessive heat (35 degrees, likely up to 40) the meat shops all closed in the afternoon. The other group ended up going veggie in desperation. I bought a massive salami, aiming for a fusion french-indian curry-stew dangit, with a big tomato-infused flatbread as a substitute naan. Our truck had a fridge, and foods safely stowed, we were on our way to our first camp in the desert, (there being no where else to stay) with our first sight scheduled for early in the morning... Kunye Urgench. Flattened and massacred by Ghengis Khan in 1221, it regained glory before Timur (Tamerlaine) sacked it between 1372 and 1388. The river changed course, and the place was abandoned in the 16th century.
More or less untouched,
but visited by Turkmen pilgrims...
Our next stop was a natural(?) sulfur-tainted water filled chasm...
Then a natural(?) mud-filled chasm, (our truck, named "Sura" in the background.)
Parts of which were spontaneously on fire, with a smell of gas pervading the air.
Second camp. A suitably appealing site!
Tents are being lifted down from the roof.
And here, I had to cook, helped by my cook-group in chopping, rice and gas cooker wrangling. I find cooking for other people stressful at the best of times, let alone cooking curried salami for 11 bods on a binary gas stove. (URGH!) Thankfully, the curry was edible and no one was poisoned. As the sun started to drop towards dusk, 2 jeeps driven by locals arrived to take us to our final crater of the day, the Darvaza Crater, also known as the Door to Hell. Apparently it was "not safe" to drive the truck to the crater, that and there's no proper road (and certainly no signs.) Our jeep driver drove like a f*cking maniac, bumping nauseatingly over the sand, before tearing downhill in the slippery terrain straight towards the craters edge!
It's an extraordinary sight, and really hot! If you get too close you can really feel the heat burning your face. Not that you should get too close, as the edges can crumble away.
A man-made oddity, in 1971 soviet geologists were drilling for gas when the ground gave way. The rig tumbled in, but thankfully no people. Water gushed out, then gas. Some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to set light to the gas and burn it off.
It's been burning for 40 years.
Weirdness was turning to see hundreds of sheep cantering down the valley straight at the crater, before ambling off, though it was too dark to photograph them.
I'm not very good at camera vids, but click on the vid if you want a bigger view.
We climbed up a nearby hill, and watched it until the sun had quite set.
Article on some mad bastard who went into the crater last year (November 2013) for National Geographic.
After 2 days of camping and one squashed scorpion, we were elated by the crater but glad to reach Ashgabat and some showers!
Now, since I'd been to Ashgabat last year, I knew there was a circus opposite our hotel, but I'd not managed to get in and see a show last time, due to language barriers. Our guide had been really sniffy and unhelpful last year, and we had the same numpty this year. (He recognised me straight away, but then I was wearing the traditional Turkmen dress I'd pushed him into helping me find in the market last year - not many tourists would have done such I'm sure.) The guide was again his usual, unhelpful self, but thankfully G in our party speaks a little Russian, and was able to find out details. Go to the circus at 6pm, pay 2 manat (42p!) to a lady loitering near the door, and go right in! Thanks to G, a group of us managed to go.
To the circus!
Camels and goats...
Dogs, ain't never seen a dog walk so well on it's hind legs and then on it's front legs.
Girl horserider...
Now if you're used to special effects, you might react with disdain, but as someone who has done martial arts, horseriding and yoga the flexibility, acrobatic ability and horseriding skill on display was pretty impressive to me. I'd dreaded the clowns, but actually, their routines involved complex acrobatics that were rather good. There was even a comedy routine using sound effects and a stooge from the audience that was hilarious and very well done. The first half had a lot of acrobatics, Russian style. Cirque du Soleil might be more impressive, but as R pointed out, with Cirque du Soleil you tend to be sat in a huge auditorium, peering at distant figures. This venue was compact and you had a great view. There were many families with their small children.
And rather more surprisingly, clusters of adult army and police cadets on some sort of work jolly. (Obviously, I didn't photograph them.)
Best of all, there was a good display of the famous Akhal-Teke in action. Going to the circus might well be the only opportunity (at least that I've found) for a tourist to see this famous breed. If you do fetch up in Ashgabat, go to the circus - it's only 42p! (Click vid to view big.)
Our last day was spent in Ashgabat, doing the same tour I did last year. However, this time, I knew the score, and made a bee-line for the tribal jewellery in the huge Sunday market, and then wheedling a chance to ride the Stargate again...
Why is the Stargate not included in the tour? It's awesome! This time we explored more of the building, which has fast food outlets (closed) and a coffee shop. The last, with its choice of about 20 different coffees, expressos and mochachinos caused some excitement. Pick a coffee, any coffee...er, so long as it's a spoonful of instant nescafe in hot water. Hmmm.
Ruski Market ladies...
Sunday market hat and scarf stall. You can see the hat the ladies wear under their headscarves to achieve the volume of their head dresses.
38 degrees!
And so to home!
* According to CTNews, "Turkmenistan welcomes just 12,000 to 15,000 tourists from around 50 countries each year." The UK gets about 30 million per year.
