TURKMENISTAN'S SIZE IS MADE UP FOR BY ITS DESOLATION. Eighty percent of the country is desert and outside of Ashgebad the roads are terrible, relics of Soviet times. Elena accompanied us to the airport and all the way to Dashguz where Roman met us with his Toyota Corolla for the drive to Kunya-Urgench. This World Heritage site dates back to the 6th Century and was the equal of Bukhara and Khiva until it was destroyed by none other than Chinggis Khan. Today its monuments cover an impressive area, much of it a cemetery. The most prominent buildings are the Turabek-Khanum Mausoleum and the towering Gutlug Timur minaret. While the ornate dome of the mausoleum was fascinating, we have seen too many memorials to unfamiliar dead people, no matter how saintly, to care much.
Another mausoleum, Kunya Urgensh
While we were exploring Kunya Urgensh, Misha was back in Ashgebad loading his 4X4 with food and camping gear. It takes four hours to cover the 200+ km from Dashguz to the Darwaza gas crater and Roman would drive us south while Misha headed north. Our road was worse than Misha’s and he was waiting at the turnoff. We offloaded our personal gear into his pickup and drove 7 km on a 4-wheel drive trail to the crater while Roman returned to Dashguz.
Turkmenistan is rich in natural resources, especially oil natural gas. (Note: On January 1, the government doubled gasoline prices in Turkmenistan to the outlandish price of one US dollar per gallon!) Heartened by their success in draining the Aral Sea, the Soviets set out to exploit the gas resources. While it has been generally successful, the well at Darwaza exploded in 1962, carving a crater 60 meters across and 30 meters deep and gas fires reminiscent of one of the deeper levels of Hell have been burning for half a century. When a country has little else to attract tourists, it is likely to give anything a try and Darwaza has become a destination.
Camp Desolation - no toilets, no water
The crater is pretty sensational at night. Warnings not to get close to the edge are pretty much unnecessary — the soaring flames are much too hot. Camping is the only sleeping option and, wouldn’t you know it, the wind picked up, lightning flashed overhead and the skies opened up just as we finished our chicken and tomatoes roasted over a saxaul fire. I helped Misha unfurl our tiny pup tents, one for me and one for Connie, and we dove into our sleeping bags by nine o’clock. I had a good night’s sleep despite the rain and wind but mistook the time for 8:10 when it was only 1:40. The light from the crater reflecting off the clouds gave off a sense of false dawn.
