It is rare for an industrial accident to become a tourist attraction.
But when a Soviet exploration team drilled for natural gas in Turkmenistan more than 50 years ago, they are said to have set off a chain reaction that created the Darvaza gas crater – a giant, fiery hole, which eventually became the most sought-after sight in the country, writes dariknews.bg.
Also called “The Gates of Hell” and the “Karakum Glow”, the phenomenon is caused by methane-fueled flames emerging from dozens of vents on the crater floor and walls. Standing around the edge, you can feel intense heat emanating from the hole. It is especially dramatic at night, when tongues of fire blaze under a dark sky.
Surrounded by dunes and cliffs in a remote part of the Karakum Desert, the crater is the most desired stop on almost any tour of the Central Asian nation.
When travelers first started going to the Darwaza, there were no services or amenities - everyone carried everything they needed for an overnight stay. Today there are three permanent camps with overnight stays in yurts or tents, as well as food and motorized transport to the rim of the crater for those who don't want to walk.
The crater is approximately 230 feet (70 meters) wide and 100 feet (30 meters) deep, with vertical walls that drop precipitously into a rocky debris field strewn across the floor. A safety fence was added in 2018 to prevent visitors from getting too close to the flaming hole.
“It's a collapsed gas cave that sounds almost as interesting as an old gas stove," says author Ged Gilmore, who writes about the crater in ” Stans By Me: A Whirlwind Tour Through Central Asia.“
“But actually I find the crater quite eerie.”
Despite the intense search, the flames in the crater may soon be extinguished. On several occasions, the government of Turkmenistan has mentioned the possibility of somehow sealing the crater. Meanwhile, those who have been visiting the Darwaza for years say the flames are much smaller than they once were.
"I would say it is burning at about 40% of the level I first witnessed there in 2009," says Dylan Lupine, whose agency Lupine Travel was one of the pioneers in bringing tourists to Turkmenistan .
“A much larger area of the crater had flames burning in it then. Now there are fewer and they are not as tall as they were.”
“There used to be more flames than now, probably because the gas pocket is wearing out," a local guide told CNN.
No one is quite sure when the gas crater opened.
“There is a lot of disagreement about how it started," says George Kourounis, a Canadian adventurer and TV host who is the only known person to have ejected into the gas crater.
“I don't know what to believe. There is so much history and mythology with this place.”
According to Kourounis, the main general theory is that the crater formed in 1971 and was ignited shortly thereafter.
For now, the Darvaza gas crater continues to amaze visitors who make the long and arduous trek across the Karakum Desert to see Turkmenistan's accidental natural wonder.