'The Door to Hell' is exactly what you would imagine
There’s a burning pit of fire in Turkmenistan, and a traveller’s recent video of the site will make you understand why it’s been nicknamed “The Door to Hell.”
The Darvaza Gas Crater has been burning since 1971 — back when Turkmenistan was still a part of the Soviet Union. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Soviet geologists had been looking for oil in the desert and believed they’d finally found it. But once they set up their equipment, the ground beneath them collapsed, revealing an enormous natural gas pocket just below the surface. Apparently methane leaking from the crater was killing local wildlife, so the geologists decided to light the crater on fire in the hopes that it would burn off within a week or two. But it didn’t exactly work out that way…
The fire still burns in the massive crater today, attracting tourists from around the world. Australian travel blogger Elliott of Earthnutshell.com recently visited the site and shot some pretty frightening video.
Elliot’s day and night photos of the crater are also quite spectacular.
In fact, they’re almost enough to make you give up that beach vacation in favour of visiting a flaming hole in the middle of the desert! Well, almost.
