Your Mileage May Vary

Adventure

Category: Turkmenistan 🇹🇲

Israel opens embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

2023.04.21 /

Rina Bassist, Al-Monitor »

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen visited Turkmenistan on Thursday to inaugurate Israel’s embassy in Ashgabat, as the country considers opening an embassy in Israel.

Cohen arrived to Turkmenistan Wednesday evening after a two-day visit to Azerbaijan, and was received at the Ashgabat airport by Turkmenistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Berdyniyaz Myatiev. It was the first visit in 29 years by an Israeli minister. The first and last such visit took place in 1994, a year after the two countries established diplomatic ties, when then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres traveled to the country.

 

The Gates of Hell are in Turkmenistan’s Karakum Desert

2021.03.23 /

Canadian George Kourounis descends into the Gates of Hell (Darvaza Gas Crater)

The Darvaza Gas Crater, aka as the Gates of Hell.

Kristine De Abreu, writing for Explorersweb »

This fiery pit has been burning since the 1970s when Turkmenistan was still under Soviet rule. In the distant past, the Karakum Desert was an obscure corner of the Silk Road, but its modern economy is much more robust, thanks to rich deposits of oil and gas. Although there is some dispute about the origin of the crater, the most common explanation states that in 1971, a drilling rig broke into a giant underground gas chamber, which collapsed, taking the rig with it. That initial breakthrough caused other areas to crumble, eventually making a crater 70m wide and 20m deep.

The only people in the area live in a tiny community of 350 camel herders and rug makers called Darvaza.

Read the whole article at ExWeb »

Location on Google Maps »

Wikipedia article »

The Turtle Expedition – Turkmenistan

2017.01.14 /

Follow Gary and Monika Wescott as they drive through Turkmenistan on their quest for the Pacific Ocean via the Silk Road in 2014.

The Door to Hell

Okay, we were now driving in Turkmenistan. Oh Boy! It had been a long night and a long frustrating day. Since our five-day transit visa had already expired we were essentially driving in the country illegally. We knew that fuel in Turkmenistan was a dollar a gallon. Even though we had to pay $100 fuel surcharge, we had arrived with empty tanks. After a quick drive around town to change money we found the only gas station had run out of diesel. Thinking there must be other stations outside of town, we headed for Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, some 324 miles away.

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Please tread lightly, pack out your trash, and treat every person and location with respect.

Please do not bury waste or wipes – even those that are biodegradable. Always pack out bags, sanitary wipes, and feminine hygiene products to minimize impact on the environment and the spread of disease.

If you find any errors, have any tips, or see anything that might need improving, please let me know.

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