There are several places around the world that locals believe are a door to hell. Endless catacombs beneath the city of Paris, France for example or Dimmuborgir lava formations in Iceland. When it comes to sheer jaw-dropping effect, however, The Door to Hell by Darvaza in Turkmenistan takes the cake. I would also classify Darvaza as one of the places that should be on the must-visit list of every serious explorer who likes to visit Earth’s most breath-taking sites. Darvaza is a gas crater the burning gates of which have been flaming for upwards of 37 years.
Darvaza Burning Gas Crater
Turkmenistan is very rich in natural resources. Currently a sovereign country, Turkmenistan was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. It was during rule of Soviet Russia, back in 1971 when geologists were conducting gas drilling in Kara-Kum desert and discovered an underground chamber close to the village of Darvaza (known in Turkmen as Derweze, but sometimes also referred to as Darvaz). The discovery of the chamber was accidental and resulted in drilling rig collapsing, leaving giant gas crater filled with poisonous gases exposed to the world outside. The concentration of gases within the crater was high so nobody dared to go down there. It was then when someone came with an idea to light the gas in the crater on fire so as to burn it before the poisonous fumes engulf the nearby town of Darvaza.
The geologists thought the idea of burning the gas was smart and went ahead with lighting the crater on fire. As it turns out, the supply of quality natural gas below the crater is near infinite as the crater’s been burning since. At the time of this post, on June of 2009 the gas crater in Darvaza is still burning and has been since 1971 without interruption. No one can even imagine how much quality natural gas was burnt throughout the 38 years of the crater being on fire. No one can estimate how much more gas there still is. When they first lit the gas crater on fire, they thought the fire would go out after a few days. It’s been more than a few day, it’s been more than a few weeks or months. It’s been decades and the gas crater is burning just as it did the day it was first lit. Putting all economical loses from wasted natural gas aside, imagine the ecological impact this burning gas has cause during decades of non stop burning!
The Door to Hell
The locals from Darvaza have given the burning crater a name that suits it well – The Door to Hell. And everyone who visits Darvaza agrees with the name and finds it appropriate. When you look inside the burning gas crater, you do feel like this is what the door to hell would look like. No one dared to enter the chamber when it was first discovered and no one has dared there since. After all, everyone knows what kind of path a door o hell takes you. And it’s not the path anyone would voluntarily want to embark on. Seeing the door to hell with your own eyes, however is an experience like no other. You will have long stayed in awe after experiencing the viciousness of the fire within the gorge of the burning crater. The Door to Hell would be an amazing vacation experience for the adventurous wonderers. This is a vacation idea that your mainstream tour operators don’t know about. And that’s the beauty of it.
Darvaza Location
Darvaza is located in Turkmenistan but many sources mistakenly mention that it’s located in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is a country next to Turkmenistan and Darvaza is definitely not located there. Which is a good thing as there have been travel warnings for Uzbekistan for a long time, urging all travelers to avoid the country due to high risks of terrorist attacks and/or civil disturbances. But Uzbekistan is not where Darvaza is.
Darvaza and the burning gas crater are located in the central area of Turkmenistan, about 260 km north of Turkmenistan’s capital city Ashgabat. Check out the location of Darvaza on the interactive map below:
Is Turkmenistan Safe to Travel to?
Turkmenistan is located in the Middle East (Central Asia) and is surrounded by countries such as Afghanistan or Iran, which are known for frequent terrorist attacks, war, kidnapping and other crime against tourists. Despite proximities to war zones, the US Bureau of Consular Affairs has no warnings for Turkmenistan at this time, other than a recommendation to exercise normal degree of caution and keep aware of your surroundings at all times. For US Department of State Travel Website with more info and more up to date travel warnings, click HERE.
Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade Office however warns that tourists to Turkmenistan should exercise HIGH degree of caution based on sporadic clashes that occurred in September of 2008 in the outskirts of Ashgabat in the northern district of Khitrovka. For Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade Website with more info on Turkmenistan and more up to date travel warning, click HERE.
Despite its proximity to war zones and a violent clash from a year ago (which country hasn’t had one like that) Turkmenistan seems like a reasonably safe country to travel to at this time. Unless situation changes dramatically, the regions around Darvaza appear safe and friendly. A tourist should however always remain cautious and don’t needlessly attract attention on to themselves. Don’t show off and don’t walk desolate streets alone at night. Just general personal safety advice that should be in place no matter where you’re travelling to.
The Door to Hell Video
Darvaza The Burning Gas Hole Photo Gallery
Photo Source: English Russia
I just went here last weekend and it was amazing. The place we completely deserted and we camped out near the crater. You could still hear the hiss of the burning gas from almost half a mile away. I really like your geo coding too – wish we would have used that before we drove out there.
>The Door to Hell "Gas crater burning for 37 years" sounds far more scary and fascinating than introducing religious terminology in a discussion about human folly and a marvel of nature.
why don,t the enviornmentalists lobby to put that fire out?must be devastating to the ozone.
Well if they put it out it will ustabalize the cave and most likeley cave in.
They could still cap it. put it out by sufficating the fire then cap it. It would be more of a ++ for us then bad.
Even if it does cave in they could still put it to some use. 😉
Not much wonder we can,t stay in the sun long without getting skin cancer.Reminds me of the oil wells in Iraq being set on fire.Not much reverance toward the enviornment or future generations.Where is Al Gore on this?
where,s Al Gore?
lmao…al gore? He’s such a fake.
Methane is a much more serious greenhouse gas than CO2. Burning Methane rather than venting it is better in terms of greenhouse effects..
Thanks for clearing that up wally.I wonder if they have any good ideas for trying to cap the gases.
This looks like the perfect area for a landfill. It is an area that needs to be filled in and will burn the waste at the same time.
Good call, Arthur. Unfortunately I don’t see that happening as Darvaza is one of few tourist attraction in Turkmenistan. Putting it to good use and saving environment would deter potential tourists who bring foreign currency in. Who cares about environment if they can grease up their own pockets, right?
Ahh well, as a geologist I can tell you that natural gas escapes into the atmosphere all the time, there nothing you can do about it. If the gas hadn’t been set on fire, it would have escaped to the surface through natural fractures in the rock anyway. It’s nature, get used to it. Al Gore. Ha!
Good call Arthur, fill it full of burning garbage and really pollute the world! Natural gas is about the cleanest burning thing on earth, so let it burn! It would be virtually impossible to cap it anyway and if you put it out, the H2S would be by far a bigger problem!
Is there any way to use the energy being created. I see it as one of earth’s pressure release valves. Plug it up and something just might erupt. I wouldn’t mess with it. Don’t mess with Mother Nature.
They say that good intentions pave the way to hell. Let’s pretend that Al Gore has good intentions and tell him to take a walk
Should have been used to process other fuels. Cheap oil products refinery.
Could have been used to produce steam, anybody seen a steam engine lately
Good call, Shirley Theis… Let’s tell Al Gore where to take that walk – then maybe he could explain to the hole why it is such a bad thing.
Leaving a flammable gas escape freely in atmosphere could be very risky. It could accumulate in such quantities that it could suffocate entire villages, or ignite and provoke terrific explosions . Therefore, the idea of burning it is not so wild.
Nevertheless, the CO2 pollution it has generated in decades is enormous. I guess it can be compared to a HUGE power plant, and these are by far the most polluting industries on earth (apart cars, which are not easily quantifiable).
Extinguishing such flames is extremely difficult and very risky. Supposing flames are extinguished, and the escaping gas does not ignite anymore (this is another huge risk), it is not possible to seal the gas by simply filling the hole – it would escape from surrounding rock.
I do not know if the gas source can be sealed, but let’s think about big oil companies. They are constantly searching for oil and gas. This location has lots of gas: why don’t they seal the crater and extract the gas? It should be either impossible or very expensive and not worth the try…
Has anyone tried to distinguish the created fire? There must be a way to distinguish!
Yes, it could be nominated for the distinguished service award and then set up in a business selling fire distinguishers.
I call this a man made disaster. As beautiful and interesting as it is this hole needs to be stopped from burning. The heat from it must be contributing to the environmental impact on global warming. Instead of having expensive non-solution meetings in Copenhagen they should be trying to reach a solution on how to stop this thing. I’m no scientist but have always believed in the simplist solutions to big problems. Has anyone thought to fill it in with the surrounding sand by using bulldozers to push it up and into the pit. Sounds reasonable, would it work????
Why does everyone look at this as a problem?! Let it burn. Global warming…that is about as fake as liberals themselves. Over 2000 years of fires and man made catashophies and guess what, the Earth is still here! Next ya’ll will want to be trying to figure out how to plug Old Faithful!
Americans landing on the moon – that was fake. Global warming isn’t.
It is impossible to have a battle of wits with unarmed people. Holy Crap
Obviously the thing to do is put this fire to work producing electricity. In a few years you could build a state-of-the-art power plant right there at the site.
How ’bout a weenie roast? Marshmallows? Kabob ???
You guys are a hoot. Without knowing how much longer the darn thing is burning it is hard to create an energy capture scenario but it certainly seems like a waste of natural/unnatural energy!!!
From the comments it is evident that Americans rank among the stupidest and most scientifically illiterate people on the planet.
Don’t worry, I won’t waste my time attempting to educate you. An education would be lost on you people.
Best to leave the stupid to their talk radio and fox news. Delusions never die.
Anybody seen a overhead photo or heard how deep it is ??
Quote: “From the comments it is evident that Americans rank among the stupidest and most scientifically illiterate people on the planet.”
Comments like these are the basis for shouting down those that don’t bow to the new religions… um… sciences… like global warming (and whacking the not-so-beloved Americans). These are incredibly weak arguments (if it can be called an argument at all) which influence only the weak minded.
It’s fascinating that just as the planet cools, the argument shifts to “climate change” (from global warming). The arguments sometimes change to fit the fact and sometimes do not. There are plenty of fools to buy any bill of goods either way.
Schizophrenia prevails in those uninformed. The folks that know better either deny the lies or benefit from them.
Getting back to “stupid Americans”… It’s understandable that parts of the “non-American world” would criticize Americans. If Americans were not responsible for the most powerful and influential country in the world, there would be no reason to criticize. Many Americans would likely be honored to hear your hollow rant.
Hello John,
The moment that you conflate religion and science you reveal your own glaring scientific illiteracy.
Are there any conservatives who are educated?
The claim that the planet is cooling is a lie, nothing more. Please educate yourself.
Your patriotic claim that America is the best doesn’t coincide with America being the Welfare Queen of nations living on money borrowed from communist China. America is a has-been nation with millions of stupid, uneducated, scientifically illiterate patriots claiming to be the best people in the world contrary to all the evidence otherwise.
I’m not conflating. Global warming has become religion (to my dismay). You make my point.
Whether the planet is warming or not is not the real issue. I mention it only to point out that no matter what evidence is presented, a new “statue of worship” emerges (“climate change”).
The issue often ignored is “what is causing what?”. Many would like to believe that the evil human is devastating the planet and therefor causing the planet to “have a fever”. The specific argument is that increased CO2 emissions cause the planet to get warmer (most agree that there is some correlation between rising CO2 and rising temps). It is convenient but not logical to assume that the CO2 is causing warming. It must be considered that a warmer planet may be causing the presence of more CO2: http://motls.blogspot.com/2006/07/carbon-dioxide-and-temperatures-ice.html.
Further, the timing of rising temperatures and higher concentrations of CO2 don’t “conveniently” correlate well with what is assumed to be the causes (power generation, automobiles, etc.) of CO2.
Making the leap from my assertion that “America is the most powerful and influential country in the world” to your “[Americans] claiming to be the best people in the world” remark supports why you’re not good for your own cause (or any cause), but it is consistent with the logic used to support man made global warming arguments.
To understand what happens financially if global warming alarmists get their way is extremely telling. It’s all about wealth re-distribution. I’m sorry to be the one to inform you, but that makes you a pawn… a pawn waving a lance at a windmill.
John,
I really would like to make sense out of that incoherent mess of an argument you wrote … but cannot.
It seems that you are conceding that global warming is occurring, though. Is that correct?
Also, about “wealth redistribution” … are you really so stupid as to not realize that as a nation with $12 trillion in debt all of your wealth has already been redistributed to the Third World, China and the oil producing nations? You are impoverished and you don’t even know it.
You aren’t going to like the future very much. The future isn’t going to treat you kindly.
There have been accusations of stupidity in all three of your posts without substantiation. Intelligent discourse and debate should be absent of wrecklessly lobbed insults.
Everyone agrees that the planet has had warmer and cooler periods in all of it’s history. The premise is that humans must be responsible. It’s been cooler lately. Have the last 6 years been anecdotal or is the relationship between CO2 and warming not understood? Why accept the premise? It must be proven like any scientific conclusion. If we’re guessing let’s at least be honest with ourselves and admit that.
By definition, scientific conclusions must be verifiable. If the folks that are drawing the conclusions won’t share their data or their methods (they won’t), we are left to conclude there is intent other than science at play. There may be many reasons a scientists would want to hide his data and/or methods. None of them are good. Further muddying the water is the “climate gate” controversy. It appears there is a smoking gun for intentional deception. This angers everyone and will probably cause both sides to more deeply entrench in their positions.
The argument is no longer about science. It’s pure politics. If that’s an accepted notion… follow the money.
I’ll agree with you that the US is doing a slam bang job of increasing it’s indebtedness. The current regime in the US seems dead set on it. China is in a connondrum. They don’t like the debt the US is piling up yet they don’t want to destabilize the system they’re hoping will pay them back. Be careful what you (apparently) wish for. If the US “craters” financially (and they may), the world will pay a dear price. The Chinese are smart enough to realize this and “calling” their loans is not prudent from their selfish perspective.
Hello John,
The correct spelling isn’t “wrecklessly” so I am going to assume that the accusation of stupidity has been confirmed.
You say, “Everyone agrees that the planet has had warmer and cooler periods in all of it’s history. The premise is that humans must be responsible. ”
I must ask: Responsible for what? You must clarify your opinion regarding the heating or cooling of the Earth because you seem to argue on both sides of this issue.
You say, “Have the last 6 years been anecdotal or is the relationship between CO2 and warming not understood? ”
I say: Here is further confirmation of your scientific illiteracy and stupidity. Please do educate yourself about science as it will help you avoid sounding foolish in the future.
You say, “By definition, scientific conclusions must be verifiable. If the folks that are drawing the conclusions won’t share their data or their methods (they won’t) … ”
I say that you are a dittohead drone who evidently knows nothing whatsoever about the scientific method. Please do educate yourself so that you might avoid this sort of stupidity in the future.
You say, “Further muddying the water is the “climate gate” controversy.It appears there is a smoking gun for intentional deception. ”
I say: You don’t even know what you are talking about and you will reject all of science because of your lack of education and gullibility.
You say, “The argument is no longer about science. It’s pure politics. If that’s an accepted notion… follow the money. ”
I say: You know, polluters earn billions of dollars every year. They can afford anti-science propaganda and slanderous lies in order to deceive the stupid public who would rather not know science or accept reality.
You say, “Be careful what you (apparently) wish for. If the US “craters” financially (and they may), the world will pay a dear price. ”
I say: The British Empire and Soviet Union collapsed and the world was fine. Don’t overestimate your importance because the world can live without you. China will dump the USA when it will best serve its own purposes. You are going to lose everything and you will suffer immensely.
Too bad for you. You earned it.
Sounds like david needs to get the hell out of Florida and move back where he came from since the USA doesn’t suit him!! I’m sure myself and a lot of other veterans can get him a plane ticket!
I’d throw a buck in.
Hello TexesFreedom,
Poor Texan, doesn’t your governor want to secede from the Union because he loves pandering to teabagging racists who cannot stand the thought of a non-white President?
Texas isn’t patriotic. Texas is a Christian fundamentalist corrupt oil theocracy.
If I had my choice, I’d give you back to Mexico as reparations for the aggressive criminal war, the Mexican – American War. The Americans were the original illegal immigrants and they seized that territory illegally.
Too bad Mexico didn’t build a wall or prevent illegal immigrants from occupying and stealing their land.
It is not good for a person to have a bug up their bum so deep that they lash out at everyone. It consumes too much energy and you’ll lose all your teeth at a young age.
Take a deep breath and try to see what’s good around you.
I’m in for at least a buck.
Hello John,
Ignorance is bliss … as the uneducated teabaggers demonstrate every day. Except they really don’t seem so happy as much as they seem desperately clinging to their delusions as they prefer a 19th century mindset to scientific reality.
Well David, my opinion probably doesn’t count since I’m just an ‘uneducated teabagger’ but if the U.S is so terrible then how about you go somewhere else?
I’ve noticed that while you keep hurling insults, you don’t do any debunking of the ideas that you’re insulting. So instead of calling people names why don’t you say something worthwhile.
p.s calling someone ‘delusional’ and ‘uneducated’ doesn’t make you any smarter. But please, David. Educate me.
Hello Ally,
Well, Ally, I don’t much respect your opinions or your so-called patriotism since you pollute the planet and destroy America’s future which your lifestyle, unsustainable and already bankrupt.
As far as debunking the ideas expressed by these uneducated delusional teabaggers, it is impossible to educate the willfully ignorant. If these conservative idiots won’t heed the conclusions of science they aren’t going to heed anyone’s arguments.
So keep on waving the flag while you piss on the flag with your pollution and unsustainable lifestyle. God wants you to pollute the Earth because he did create the planet to serve as your own special sewer.
Let me guess, David. You’re an organic vegan and your carbon footprint is miniscule? Spare me. You believe that you are on some moral high ground when you are simply one of the sad individuals who reaps the benifits and freedoms of living in the U.S while simultaniously bashing it. In essence, you are a parasite who isn’t grateful to it’s host. A leech, if you may.
But please, this is the internet and not every internet stranger has to has to agree with your idiocy. Please go and suck up some other countries resources.
David, your comments are stupid…just like you.
Ally says …
* “Let me guess, David. You’re an organic vegan and your carbon footprint is miniscule? ”
Teabaggers should refrain from guessing since they evidently aren’t intelligent enough to actually think.
Ally says …
* “You believe that you are on some moral high ground when you are simply one of the sad individuals who reaps the benifits and freedoms of living in the U.S while simultaniously bashing it. ”
Oh my, yes, the patriotic teabaggers are showing their love and appreciation to their own country by pissing on the flag with their pollution and destroying America’s future. Your grandchildren will love you so very much!
* “In essence, you are a parasite who isn’t grateful to it’s host. A leech, if you may.”
This is precisely the conservative condition relative to the environment which makes their life possible. Instead of loving that thing which makes their life possible they piss on the Earth and wish to leave the planet in order to conquer space. Earth would be happy to get rid of you, too, and it will … but not by you leaving to conquer space, instead Nature will get rid of you by extinction.
* “But please, this is the internet and not every internet stranger has to has to agree with your idiocy. Please go and suck up some other countries resources. ”
What an ironic thing for a conservative to say while you borrow trillions from China and steal the resources of Venezuela, Nigeria and Iraq. Conservatives are so stupid that they imagine that they are doing the world a favor by living like fools with their oil addiction, consumerism and morbid obesity.
“David”
Dave if I may, I feel as though I know you through the vitriol of your posts. I’d like to congratulate you on your rhetorical masturbation. You hurl insults and infer your intellectual superiority to that of the forum without proffering up anything other than your opinion. “John” has done a solid job of substantiating his side of the discussion and your reply hindges on the misspelling of one word. Outstanding…you really told him.
Your consistant replies to those who do not share your outlook indicates you like the attention. Once again, congratulations! You’ve made it, you’re someone!! You are now the Paris Hilton of this thread, so please enjoy the 15 minutes of notiriety you so desperately crave while the rest of us get back to civil discourse.
Cheers
Hello o3,
* “John” has done a solid job of substantiating his side of the discussion … ”
Scientific illiterates complimenting each other still doesn’t amount to much more than obstinate ignorance on parade. Hey, is John the one and only John Galt?
* “Your consistant replies to those who do not share your outlook indicates you like the attention. ”
Wow … I thought my consistent replies were written specifically because someone had responded to me. Someone should read through these comments and check that theory out.