Gas crater
Darvaza is located in the north along the Ashgabat-Dashoguz highway, straight as an arrow. This is the very heart of the famous Karakum Desert! Just imagine: there is desert all around – and suddenly, among the sands in the ground, there is a huge hole with a diameter of 60 meters and a depth of 20 meters, from which flames burst out! The fire comes out of the ground and divides into hundreds of burning flames, some of them reaching 10-15 meters in height!
There are no fences or railings here, so you need to be extremely careful. An alternative name for this place is “Gateway to Hell.” We will once again have the opportunity to experience the extreme conditions of spending the night in the desert, but before that we will have a delicious barbecue dinner.
Desert Research Center. Repetek.
This is a unique environmental complex, a piece of the Karakum desert. Maximum summer temperatures here reach + 50 C, and the surface of the sand heats up to + 70 C. However, these places are inhabited by many living creatures, among almost a thousand species of the “local population” – reptiles, spiders, rodents, there are very rare species : cobra (“snake queen”), black scorpions, huge tarantulas and powerful “desert dragons” – monitor lizards, reaching 1.5 meters in length. All this natural diversity is not only carefully preserved, but also carefully studied, especially interesting is the species diversity of snakes, the venom of which is included in many medicines and can save hundreds of human lives.
Gurdak. Kugitang Nature Reserve
It is located between the Amu Darya River and the border with Uzbekistan at the easternmost point of the country. The majestic landscapes of the foothills of the Pamirs are extremely beautiful; the area is replete with fabulous gorges with picturesque waterfalls and mysterious caves. The pride of these places is the Kugitang Nature Reserve, a large geological research center located right on the border with Uzbekistan. The tourist “pearl” of the area is a mountain rock plateau dotted with dinosaur tracks. Scientists have proven that 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic period, this mountainous area was the bottom of a huge sea lagoon, which dried up over time, but on its heavy sand there remained, like molten wax, traces of the creatures that once passed through it. And in the rocks mined in the surrounding area, fossilized remains of marine life preserved from Mesozoic times are still found.
Underground lake “Kov-Ata”
The Kov-Ata cave is the largest in Kopetdag. At a depth of 60 m below the entrance to the cave there is a lake. Its water is saturated with hydrogen sulfide. The length of the Kov-Ata cave is 250 m (with a lake), depth is 60 m (from the main entrance).
Turkmenistan also has an extensive network of resorts and sanatoriums that will help you cure or prevent many diseases. Thus, the balneological resort “Turkmenbashi” is located in the city of Bayramaly, which is 25 km from Mary airport. His specialization is cardiac and renal diseases.
Mallagara is a unique multidisciplinary mud resort, located 25 km from the city of Balkanabat.
Archman is a climatic and balneological resort in the foothills of Kopet-Dag, located 130 km from the capital – Ashgabat.