Gas crater located in Darvaza, in the middle of Karakum desert, is the surely unusual touristic attraction. If you depart from Ashgabat afternoon, you will arrive just on the sunset, the best time to see the flaming fire from a sinkhole with about 70 m diameter and 30 m depth.
Tens of tourists from Japan, China, Europe and many other regions of the world come and go. Usually, the guest stays overnight in tradition yurt, which is set nearby.
Japanese professional photographer is recording this attraction from the nearby hill. He goes down, walks around the crater trying to find the best spot. Warm wind splashing to the face in the cooling desert evening.
This time we had a special guest from Malaysia, Mr. Jamaludin. I say special because Mr. Jamaludin is a senior oil and gas engineer. He has worked for Petronas Carigali company for 30 years. This is half of his life.
Mr. Jamaludin didn’t look surprised seeing the Darvaza crater. Because it is his profession. He can precisely analyze what and how has this landslide happened.
When I asked him to give a short interview, he just talked about the technical stuff, which I didn’t understand much.
Yet, Mr. Jamaludin is sure that, this crater can attract many tourists from his home country.
The guests hired the tour service of the Trawelco Travel Agency. Mr. Jamaludin and his colleague decided to see the crater in the evening and go back to Ashgabat, instead of staying overnight. Because they had a flight to catch in the morning.
Merdan Atayev
merdan.projects@gmail.com
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