Welcome to Hell! Turkmenistan eyes turning infernal gas pit into tourist attraction

Heaven-sent hotspot? The Door to Hell could be the secret to a Turkmenistan tourism boom AFP June 20, 2014 2:00PM Door to Hell LOCALS call it the Door to Hell, a giant burning pit that has spit out angry flames for more than 40 years, casting a yellow-orange glow into the evening sky. “It takes your breath away,” said Gozel Yazkulieva, a 34-year-old visitor from the Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat. “You immediately think of your sins and feel like praying.” Few foreigners have seen the crater in the heart of the Karakum, one of the world’s largest deserts, although Turkmen authorities are hoping to change that as they seek ways to bolster tiny visitor numbers to the former Soviet republic. FIRST IN: Incredible places tourists don’t know about yet Still one of the world’s most isolated countries almost quarter of a century after the fall of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan welcomes just 12,000 to 15,000 tourists from about 50 countries each year. The Door to Hell is a huge burning gas crater in Turkmenistan’s Karakum desert. Picture: AFP WHAT A VIEW! The swing at the end of the world Tourism officials say the Door to Hell, also called the Derweze crater after a nearby village, could be developed into a key draw for adventure tourists. “The burning crater ... is attracting more and more interest every year, especially among foreign tourists,” an official on Turkmenistan’s state committee on tourism said. “The ‘lifeless’ desert could soon become a hugely interesting destination for different types of tourism - from eco-tourism to extreme sports.” HEAVEN ON EARTH? Stunning shots from Mt Kilimanjaro The Karakum, or Black Sands, covers 80 per cent of the Central Asian republic. In summer, temperatures soar to more than 50C, while in winter they plunge to -20C. There are no road signs to the pit in a natural gas field some 270km north of the capital, but guides know where to turn on to a track leading to a fantastic view. Flames dance out of cracks in its floor and around the sides, and a burning blast of air emanating from the pit shifts with the wind. The extreme heat and the roar of the flames have a mesmerising effect. Tourism officials hope the fiery pit could be the key to a tourism boom for the country. Picture: AFP The phenomenon was the result of a simple miscalculation by Soviet scientists. “Soviet geologists started drilling a borehole to prospect for gas at this spot in 1971,” said Turkmen geologist Anatoly Bushmakin. “The boring equipment suddenly drilled through into an underground cavern, and a deep sinkhole formed. The equipment tumbled through but fortunately no one was killed. “Fearing that the crater would emit poisonous gases, the scientists took the decision to set it alight, thinking that the gas would burn out quickly and this would cause the flames to go out.” EERIE SIGHT: Inside the mysterious ‘cave of death’ But they never did, and now serve as a potent symbol of Turkmenistan’s vast gas reserves, believed to be the fourth largest in the world. Despite the obvious danger, the pit is not fenced off and those looking for extreme thrills can stand right on the edge. But this is very risky since the sandy soil often crumbles away. The fire was started by Soviet scientists in 1971. They thought it would burn out within hours. Picture: AFP “Foreign tourists who visit the burning crater feel mixed emotions - awe at the sight but also at the profligacy of the Turkmen people, who have simply let the gas burn for so many years,” said 40-year-old Begli Atayev, who works at a travel agency in Ashgabat. Last year Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov created a state nature reserve in the Karakum desert covering an area of 90,000ha, including the Derweze crater. “The main task of the new reserve is to preserve one of the largest deserts on the planet and solve its environmental problems,” said Ovez Kurbanov of the National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna. TOURISM REVIVAL: Star Wars boost for Tunisia The region’s diversity of flora and fauna also made it ripe for scientific and eco-tourism, he added. “Landmarks such as the burning crater are hugely interesting both to people who love to travel and to researchers in various areas,” he said. Travellers could go on safari in jeeps and quad bikes or ride camels along the shifting sand dunes of the Karakum, the state tourism official suggested. “Our main task is to create an attractive image of Turkmenistan as a tourism destination,” he said. VOLCANO INSIDER: Underground in a magma chamber ================================================ Published time: June 21, 2014 19:59 Edited time: June 22, 2014 11:12 A picture taken on May 3, 2014, shows people visiting "The Gateway to Hell," a huge burning gas crater in the heart of Turkmenistan's Karakum desert. (AFP Photo/Igor Sasin) Accident, Central Asia, Gas, Tourism An ominous gas crater that has been burning in a Turkmen desert for more than 40 years is a perfect site for boosting tourism in the country, local officials and academics say. The man-made pit, known as “the Door to Hell,” earlier faced backfill. Tourism may not be the strongest side of the Central Asian republic’s economy, as only around 10,000 visitors come to Turkmenistan yearly, according to official stats – most of them from Iran, Germany and the US. However, local tourism officials say they found a promising tourist attraction – and it is really hot. Amid the arid Karakum desert, covering most of the country and known for its extreme temperature changes, one can find a huge sinister-looking pit known as Derweze or Darvaza – commonly referred to by the locals as “the Door to Hell.” The pit is filled by what seems to be a hellish fire, but is in fact an enormous blaze of natural gas coming from under the ground. No one is really sure, when the fire in the 60-meter wide, 20-meter deep crater may go out, but it is known for certain that it was started after a drilling accident in 1971. The ground at the site collapsed when Soviet geologists were exploring a natural gas field – one of the many reserves in the gas-rich country, which used to be a Soviet republic. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident, but fearing that poisonous gas fumes may pose a danger for the local population and animals, the geologists decided to set them on fire, thinking they will soon burn out. The guys apparently miscalculated – and the gas is still burning, creating a surreal otherworldly scene. AFP Photo/Igor Sasin In 2010, the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov decided that Derweze has burned enough, ordering the crater to be filled up or somehow isolated. Four years later, however, Turkmen officials have seemingly found a better use for the infernal pit. “The burning crater... is attracting more and more interest every year, especially among foreign tourists,” an official on Turkmenistan’s state committee on tourism was quoted as saying by AFP. Moreover, it is a nice attraction for eco-tourists and researchers visiting the newly-formed 90,000-hectare nature reserve in the Karakum desert, Turkmen academics believe. “Landmarks such as the burning crater are hugely interesting both to people who love to travel and to researchers in various areas,” Ovez Kurbanov of the National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna, told the agency. “Our main task is to create an attractive image of Turkmenistan as a tourism destination,” he added. Those visiting Derweze, however, experience mixed feelings about the site. “Foreign tourists who visit the burning crater feel mixed emotions – awe at the sight but also at the

profligacy of the Turkmen people, who have simply let the gas burn for so many years,” a Turkmen travel agency employee Begli Atayev told AFP. Others, like a 34-year-old local Gozel Yazkulieva say that the site “takes your breath away.” “You immediately think of your sins and feel like praying,” Yazkulieva said.

Thus far, getting to the crater located some 270 kilometers from the capital Ashgabat has been no easy task, but those seeking extreme thrills can hire a guide to get right to the spot. YouTube is filling up with videos of the site, which many observers film from the brink of the pit, ignoring the possibility it might collapse. Meanwhile, bloggers’ reviews of Derweze claim that “nothing that falls in [the crater] makes it out alive.” Being still relatively unknown, the site even caused some embarrassment for Russia’s Channel One, which last February aired it in the aftermath of Chelyabinsk meteorite’s fall, tricked by some YouTube user. Surprisingly, the Turkmen “Door to Hell” is not the only man-made fire that has been burning on for years, not even the record-longest. In Pennsylvania, US, a coal mine fire that has been ablaze since at least May 1962 has forced whole towns to be deserted and leveled. The fire started in the borough of Centralia presumably from burning trash and has since expanded. All attempts to contain the huge underground blaze have so far failed.