The Door to Hell and the Path to Health - Turkmenistan : Detlef Palm

I had put my alarm to wake me every hour. I didn't need to. I was awake all night, listening to the demons hissing,...

I was on mission to Turkmenistan, to throw my five cents worth into the preparation of the next UNICEF country programme document. As always, Gabi had come along and we had taken a few days leave to see something about the country.   Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov was the UNICEF representative, and it took no effort to convince her and Elbek to come along. We rented a Toyota Landcruiser complete with a Tartar driver, who only spoke Russian. We threw our sleeping bags and tents into the car, and headed for the Karakum Desert.  (click or tap on any image to enlarge)

The Karakum Desert is the fourth largest desert in the world, and makes up 80 percent of the surface of Turkmenistan. There are several ways to define a desert. A scientific measurement-based definition of a desert is where there is significantly less precipitation than evapotranspiration. Our aim was the gas crater of Darvaza, commonly known as the Gateway to Hell. It takes a few hours to get there, but we left early enough to set up camp during daylight. 

Oyun brought a mongolian picnic. It was October, and the Speck helped us to to brave the cold.  

The crater emerged during some botched drilling operation in a large gas field, more than 50 years ago. It is not known whether it was intentionally set on fire, or started burning on its own. One story has it that a shepherd threw a burning tire into the crater, to prevent his animals falling into the hole. Others maintain that scientist ignited it, to limit the release of poisonous gases into the environment. We had put up our tents in safe distance from the roaring fire.  

Darvaza has been burning for more than 50 years. It is not the only crater in the area, but by far the most spectacular.

We were planning to stay awake for as long as we could. We had bought  firewood and a chicken,  which the Tartar driver skillfully turned into chicken soup. 

Most visitors to Darvaza come during daytime. They may wonder what this is all about. You have to be there during the dark hours. 

The colours and their intensity continuously change.

It is freezingly cold and quiet, except for the continuous whiff of burning gas. The fire of Darvaza is illuminating our camp and the surrounding hills. The sky is clear and stars are shining bright.

When the night is the at its coldest, a foggy glow appears over the crater. 

Dawn at the Gateway to Hell

Time to warm up

Oyun and Elbek at the far end

Sunrise in the Karakum desert. Karakum is a word for black sand.

Elbek, or is it Lenin ? greeting the sun

While the door to hell shrinks back into nothing, we prepare our morning tea...

...before we pack up. The door to hell in the background becomes inconspicuous. In January 2022, the President of Turkmenistan set up a commission to find a solution for extinguishing the burning gas crater. 

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While Oyun and Elbek returned to their regular business, Gabi and myself set out to walk the Saglyk ýoly - also known as the Path to Health. It has been built by the order of the president for the better health of the Turkmen people, so it should be good for us, too.

The Saglyk ýoly is not a walk on the wild side, and neither a leisurely walk in the park - the total length of all its parts is 37 kilometres. The trail circles Ashgabat on the mountaineous side. The first 8 kilometers are illuminated at night, so the Turkmen can walk whenever they feel like doing so. However, we did not meet any of them on the entire hike, which took us two days.

After it was built, the first President of Turkmenistan, Niyazov, ordered all ministers, members of parliament and civil servants to hike the first stretch of the walk once a year. He also expected the population of the city to do so.

Niyazov himself watched his staff start the walk, and later flew in his helicopter to the final stage of the walk to greet them at the end. He argued, that his heart condition would not allow him to do the walk himself. He probably was right. He died in 2006 of a heart attack.

Following the annual health march, many employees took sick days off of work.

Entertainment along the hike is provided on the first 8 kilometers, with countless golden statues of wild  animals. Here, a Turkmen shepherd and his flock.

A particularly steep part of the trail, where braces are installed to prevent fatigued hikers from accidentally rolling down.

A very dangerous stretch on the path to health: The fence is interrupted and hikers may be at risk of getting lost.

Having walked for quite a while, today's objective comes in sight: The television tower (not the flagpole) in the very far distance.

On the Saglyk ýoly

Hedgehog, Apple, Ashgabat

The television tower and public broadcasting center is the endpoint of our first day of hiking the Saglyk ýoly. In spite of its grandiose appearance, it is closed for visitors. 

The second part of the Saglyk ýoly, which we hiked on a different day, was less interesting - but we made it!

Turkmenistan is one of the major cotton exporting countries, and cotton is after gas the second most important source of revenue. In 2019, the Government of Turkmenistan acceded the 1976 Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention with the International Labour Organization. However, reports continue to be published about the use of forced labour, where teachers and other civil servants are obliged to work on the cotton fields during harvest.

*****

In sun-scorched Turkmenistan finding a place to swim can be a challenge.

Köw Ata is a subterranean thermal lake fed by a spring in a cave that is 65 meter deep. It is easily reached by asphalt road, 150 km west of Ashgabat. A visit to Köw Ata is said to be a unique experience. Elbek and Gabi at the inconspicous entrance.

Swimming enthusiasts must brave the traces of earlier visitors, bats and birds frequenting the cave. The path to the warm water is modestly lit, and there are basic changing facilities.  At the bottom awaits a lake - or rather a pond - of clear water. The waters have a temperature of 36°C - like a bath at home. They contain a high amount of different salts and minerals, most notably sulfur, which is responsible for the distinct smell within the cave. The water is said to have medicinal qualities. I did take a bath and can attest to the uniqueness of the experience.

It took us a while to figure out the name of this brainy fruit, which we found nearby Köw Ata. It is a Maclura pomifera, commonly known as the Osage orange, or hedge apple tree. Its distribution was originally confined to the area inhabited by the Osage Indians in what has been invaded and appropriated as Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas. The fruit is edible but not preferred by neither man, woman, nor beast. Its wood is very hard, and it was used to make bows or tool handles. Until the invention of barbed wire, the Osage orange was mainly cultivated as a natural fence. It eventually found its way to Central Asia.

*****

There is a cable car, from Ashgabat up to a promontory of the Kopet Dag Mountains that separate Turkmenistan from Iran. We had planned to hike up to the top station, and take the cable car down. As hiking was not allowed in the area, we had to take the ropeway both ways.

It soon became clear why hiking is not allowed. We are crossing the death strip, quite smilar to the one built by East Germany to separate Easterners from Westerners. The fence seen here is more likely to keep Iranian refugees and drug traffickers away from Turkmenistan.

Gabi is not sure what to think. We were the only guests on the ropeway, both ways. The ride costs a few cents only, the same as the bus in Ashgabat, which doesn't instill a lot of confidence into the contraption. Turkmenbashy - the first president - was the first passenger. But that was many years ago... 

Everything went as it should. Here the view from the top station, towards the peaks of the Kopet Dag mountain range and the border to Iran.

*****

According to the Guiness Book of Records, the Turkmen City of Ashgabat has the highest concentration of white marble buildings in the world. Much of the capital was the brainchild of the longstanding totalitarian president Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashy), who has become most famous for the bizzare  decrees like his ban on dogs in Ashgabat or lip-syncing in concerts. He also supposedly banned beards and the use of makeup by television presenters. Often, overly zealous officials enforced casual remarks, such as the ban on gold teeth. In the time from 2002 to 2008, the month of April was renamed after Niyazov's mother, Gurbansoltan.

We lodged right next to to the Gakynysh Square with its imposing column. This was the only photo I could take of the presidential palace then occupied by the second president of Turkmenistan,  Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. I was immediately yelled at by strategically placed soldiers, who made it clear that taking photographs nearby was not good for my health.

The streets of Ashgabat, at least in 2014, were eerily quiet. It is virtually impossible to do sightseeing on foot. 

There is a well-functioning bus service, with the most extravagant bus stations we ever encountered anywhere. They came complete with electronic time tables, airconditioning, and televisions that broadcast presidential speeches in continuous loop. There were no instructions on how to buy a ticket or which line to take, but local ladies merrily hurried us into the correct bus and threw  the required coins for us into the designated metal basket inside the bus -  indicating that paying for the fare might be a completely voluntary affair. 

This is apparently the world-largest indoor ferris wheel. It doubles as an entertainment center.

This rocket is actually the Monument of the Constitution

Given that Ashgabat receives its water from the 1500 kilometers long Karakum Channel, it holds a rather dubious Guiness record of having 'the largest number of fountains in a public place'. The Karakum Channel drains the Amu river, which used to be one of the main sources of water for the Aral Lake, the site of an ecological disaster. The largest volume of water from the Karakum Channel is, however, not used by the city of Ashgabat but by the cotton plantations.

The "House of Free Creativity", which houses media organizations. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Turkmenistan is #3 on the CPJ's list of most-censored nations, after Eritrea and North Korea. When we were in Turkmenistan in 2014, access to the internet was only by wire. 

A spaceship from Mars has landed near the 'Palace of Happiness'. This is a wedding place where 7 couples can simultanously register their love. There are banquet halls for 1000 guests, and - according to the official guide book to Ashgabat - a place that specializes in 'car decorating' for the auspicious events.

The statue of Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin in Ashgabat is testimony to the Soviet ties. Pushkin is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.

The quality of this image is not great, but this is my only photo of Ashgabat by night, depicting the Monument of Independence on the left, illuminated in green. Cognocenti identify the monument as 'The Plunger', because of its obvious similarity to the devices used to repair clogged toilet drains.

The Turkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque was built by order of Saparmurat Niyazov, the thoroughly peculiar first president of Turkmenistan.  As you would expect, it is said to be the largest mosque in Central Asia. We were informed that there is a service only once a year, on the national holiday. Turkmenistan received its independence in 1991, and each of the four towers is 91 meters tall. The mosque can hold 10,000 people and has an underground parking for 500 cars. Our car was the only one parked there.

Whether or not you are allowed to take any picture from inside the mosque, depends on the weather or  other factors. Our guides were gracious. Unlike most mosques, the walls of Turkmenbaşy Ruhy are inscribed, controversially, with scriptures from not only the Quran but also the Ruhnama.

Next to the Mosque is the mausoleum of the late Niyazov. His legacy will continue, at least for another good 100 years. In 2005, a Russian Dnepr-1 rocket left the Baikonur Cosmodrom carrying among other cargo the flag of Turkmenistan and the Ruhnama - a sort of spiritual and moral guide book for Turkmen, written by Niyazov himself. Knowledge of the Ruhnama was also once part of the exam during driving tests. Since 2005 the Ruhnama orbits around earth, and will burn up in 2132, as space debris identified with the number 2005-031C. 

Other photo-stories by Detlef:

• Lunae Montes - a journey to the source of the Nile, in 1980
• The Somalia Experience
• A Walk on the Wild Side (New York)
• Rudaki, a Wedding and Proto-Urban Sarazm (Tajikistan)
• Into the Midnight Sun (Journey to the North Cape)
• Top of Mexico
• Magic South (Southern Africa)
• Azhdahak (from Germany to Armenia, by road)
• Operation Lifeline Sudan, the first years in pictures
• At the edge of the bog - where we live

Detlef can be contacted via detlefpalm55@gmail.com