GA-AH-LEE

Turkmenistan is a central Asian country settled by Turks and was once called Turkmenia.  In 1925, it became part of the Soviet Union.  With the fall of the USSR in 1990, it was again an independent country. 

In Derweze (also known as Darvaza), Turkmenistan in 1971, there was a depression in the ground like a crater.  It measured about 230 feet across and 100 feet deep.  It had the bad smell of a gas oozing out of it which bothered the locals.  Soviet geologists were brought in and it was determined it was methane gas.  The easy solution was to set it on fire and quickly burn off the gas.

You guessed it!  Forty-seven years later and it is still burning.  It is like a huge eternal flame.  The locals call it "The Door to Hell."  Now the area is a tourist attraction and a camping site.  It's warm in the area all Winter.  Maybe you can roast your marshmallows without starting a new fire.


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