We are caravaning out into the desert in about 7 4x4 vehicles. Each car has a driver and 3 tour members. Our first stop will be in a village away from the city where we will have a typical lunch that the family will prepare for us. We did this stop in 2006 as well but different village, different family. Pretty much the same lunch though. As we pull into the village, we stop a bit before getting there and look around the village a bit, why I have no clue but it was fun. Some of more intrepid photographers wander off to get shots of camels, old Russian trucks, school buildings, local ladies, local hotshots on motorcycles, and more. I am trying to learn to be a better photographer so I emulate some of the professionals and spend a lot of time trying to get a good shot of the grill of truck. that was hard because it involved using my poor arthritic knees to stoop down to get the shot. I hope the professional shots were much better because I looked at all of my grill shots and wondered why I did that.
On to the local house. We pull into the driveway and there is a young girl standing in the doorway of a yurt in a white dress. This dress is awesome and is probably her best dress for special occasions. As we had passed a schoolyard full of kids, she was staying home especially for us to recite a welcome poem. Poor girl was half terrified of all the weird looking strangers piling out of the cars and started reciting a couple of times before her mom let her continue to the end. Her mom stood to the side to prompt her as needed. Of course we have absolutely no idea what she said but she was lovely doing it. Once finished, she was out of the doorway of the yurt and into the house quick as can be and a couple of minutes later exited the house in her school uniform and took off running. Either she hated being late for school or she had to escape the strangers!
Our hostess was the matriarch of the family even though grandmother was still in evidence bustling around helping to cook the meal and clean as fires were finished and pots were done. Two grown daughters helped with the cooking and serving. We filed into a room with floor seating. Already some veggies and stuff ready to serve were waiting for us. Then as everyone took a seat on the floor (except for me as my arthritis doesn't work that way and our tour leader always finds me a chair! What a guy!) the food starts coming. We get a broth/soup thing-y with a big hunk of meat on a bone in it along with some noodles. It was sort of tasty but didn't much care for the meat and bone. Bread is being passed around as well as the veggies which can be added to the soup. We also got the traditional plov - a rice dish.
After eating, we are allowed to have a look around the home compound but while they said we could look in the house, I don't think anyone did. that's rather invasive. One of the daughters was busy cooking up donuts in hot oil over the fire while the other daughter was busy rolling them out and cutting them up for the oil. these are so simple and yet so delicious. I asked our guide if we could get a scarf tying demonstration as we see the women all over Turkmenistan with scarves on their heads. Mama was happy to show us and to our surprise, the scarf tying consists of two scarfs that are tied onto the head. never would have guessed that.
Almost time to leave but we have a moment to go look at the family's camels. two young camels that are happy to eat leaves from our hands. Nice camels. Then back in the cars and off in our convoy for the water crater first. I believe that all three of the craters were industrial accidents while trying to drill for gas. The water crater is around 35 meters deep (from the top to the water) but honestly I'm guessing at the depth. We were told but I sure don't remember. There are gas bubbles escaping from the water so you see some blurbs as you stand there. Unfortunately, people have thrown in a lot of plastic bottles so there is a debris line crossing the water. We threw in some rocks just to see how deep it was and listen to them kerplunk.
Back in the cars and off to the mud crater. This crater seems to be about the same depth but instead of a deep pool of water, there is a layer of mud across the bottom. there were about 3 or 4 pockets where the mud was on fire. Both of these craters are unstable so you must be careful where you walk and not get too close. That said, we all climbed over the rope barriers and got as close as we dared. Our guide seemed to know where not to walk so he would warn us, we'd stay away from that spot and peer down into the pits for photos. Plus the sun was going down so there were some great shadows displayed on the walls of the craters.
Finally it is back into the cars and off for the last crater. We turn off the main road and head up over some dunes and hills. Argentina climbs out of the window and sits on the edge of the car as we drive up the hills, photographing all the way. What a character. I was watching as we were in the car behind him and I'm thinking, "I could do that, totally!" and then I didn't. Dang it hurts getting old and not so limber!
The cars in front of us are stopping and by the time our car had stopped, the first two cars were unloaded and one of the group members was halfway down the slope heading towards a large hole in the ground. I somehow was expecting leaping flames to come shooting out of the ground but what I saw was a deceptive hole that had a rosy glow and heat waves shimmering off of it. By the time I got out of the car, the first members of the group were almost to the hole and they had become very, very, very small. The hole in the ground was immense, huge, enormous, large, gigantic. Now we are all out of the cars and walking rapidly towards the hole where it gets warmer as we get closer and more magnificent and awesome. The flames are not leaping out of the hole but the hole is so deep that the flames are leaping inside of the hole, on all sides, and down into the middle of the crater. We are warned to stay several feet away as the crater is growing and parts of it slide off into the crater every year. Wow oh Wow!
Cameras are snapping like crazy, videos being filmed, walking around the crater, watching the flames, feeling the heat, watching the heat haze shimmer. OMG. what a spectacle. There are more than a few people who came on this tour just to see this and it's well worth it. The cars have left and driven about 1/2 mile or more away to set up our camp for the night (I brought a blow up mattress for my arthritis) but we are all standing here watching the flames and talking and enjoying this "industrial accident" so very much. There are two hills and our guide points to the one on the right which has a clearly defined path leading to the summit. He says we can oversea the crater from there so a bunch of us start climbing to the top of this hill. It gives us a great view of the crater and the valley around it, our camp in the distance, and more hills and such. Sunset is minutes away so after snapping a bunch of photos on top of the hill, I go back down to the crater and walk to the opposite side so I can get the sunset. really wonderful.
My roommate, Vancouver, and I start for the camp finally and pick a tent and I blow up my mattress along with some help from the youngest member of the group who is a swimmer and runner so she had a lot more hot air than me! We picked a tent on the end so we can circle around it in the middle of the night and not have to go too terribly far for the call of nature. As Vancouver and I are both in our sixties, we know there will be several night time trips to the "outhouse".
The drivers are busy cooking our dinner of kebabs and chicken and potatoes and soon it is ready for a sit down on the sand. Luckily I can take the end and stretch out my arthritic legs and not have to worry about them cramping at the moment. We enjoy the dinner and the company and as the last kebabs are tucked away into tummies and the temperature drops a bit, most of us grab our flashlights and start walking back to the crater which is now a wonderful glow coming from the hole. Certainly not hard to find in the dark. And our tour leader has very wisely placed a blinky light on top of his tent so we can find our way back to the tents.
Almost the entire group has gathered at the crater. We are all snapping away again and videoing again like we haven't taken any photos at all yet. it's just magnificent and each time you look at it, the scene changes as the fires flicker and waver and flare. Argentina has his tripod and he is a master at running around to create effects and then jumps into the photos himself as well. We are having a laughing good time while he is working on the photos and creations and jumping around in the darkness and the light from the fires. The couple from Australia have also gotten engaged! What a night. They were standing off to the side in the darkness and he proposed. She was so excited when they came back to join the group and as luck would have it this time, one of the other members noticed something special happening and turned his camera to the happy couple just as he dropped to his knee and popped the question. What fun indeed.
We spent a couple of happy hours cavorting around the gas crater like it was our own personal "mouth of hell" playground. It was just so impressive and wonderful. And again, it's been burning for 40 years!. Finally, I really had to head back to the camp because I was pretty dead on my feet and could have been in danger of landing in the crater if I stayed there much longer. My roommate, Vancouver, and I started back and zeroed in on the blinky light. Back at the camp, we strolled out behind our tent, far enough I hope, to be discrete while we took care of our business then clambered into our tent. My mattress had me about 8" above my roommate. thank goodness we were on level ground so she wasn't in danger of me falling off onto her and smushing her. The rest of the group strolled in from the crater at various times and there was someone outside having a party until around 2 a.m. before the entire group got into their tents and got quiet. What a night.
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