Hell ride and yurt night

We had a leisurely morning in Ashgabat and then loaded ourselves into four four-wheel drive vehicles and drove to the “Door to Hell" Crater (https://www.discoverwildlife.com/environment/da… ). We stopped for lunch along the way and then began the hellish drive along a buckled, pothole-ridden road through the desert . Calling it a highway would be laughable. We’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s one of three roads leading to the Uzbekistan boarder and our leader says the other two are no better. (I guess building a vanity mausoleum is more important than infrastructure.)

Before reaching the Door to Hell Crater, we stopped at a water and then a mud crater to lead up to the main act.

Frankly, it was a disappointment and our travel companions felt the same way. The flames were few. We moped up to our yurt camp, settled in, had dinner and went back to see it at night. Wow! What a sight! It was glowing and truly spectacular. More than made up for our earlier disappointment.

It was early to bed for us for an early start.Read more