The Karakum Desert makes up about 70% of the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan. It hardly ever rains, people are few and far between and the even the wildlife is scarce. It's probably most famous for the fiery crater known as the 'Gates of Hell.'
The story goes that a Soviet exploration looking for natural gas inadvertently created the sinkhole that has been venting methane ever since. In an attempt to manage the situation it was decided to burn off the escaping gas. Exactly when and how this all happened is disputed, but it has been on fire for decades and shows no sign of burning out.
Properly known as the Darvaza Gas Crater, it is around 70m across, 30m deep and sits about 260km due north of the capital city of Ashgabat.
It is now probably the biggest tourist attraction in the country and is most spectacular at night when the sky is filled with a beautiful orange glow and the true extent of the flames becomes far more apparent than under the harsh desert sun.
Despite talk of extinguishing the fires from time to time the Darvaza Crater continues to burn year after year and due to its unique and spectacular nature it continues to draw the small number of tourists who visit the country each year out into the desert to witness its fiery brilliance.
There are other craters in the Karakum, including the Water Crater with it's signature turquoise colour and and the Mud Crater, which is now also burning, but with a much smaller fire.
