The Gateway to Hell

Far off the beaten path in the middle of Turkmenistan's Karakum Desert lies the gateway to hell. The gateway is positioned close to the small village of Derweze. The gateway opened up following a drilling accident in 1971. While some geologists were drilling, they hit a large cavern filled with natural gas. Weakened by the hole and weighed down by the heavy drilling equipment, the roof of the cavern collapsed. This created a 70 meter crater in the ground with poisonous gas leaking out of it. To avoid further disaster, the geologists set the gas on fire figuring it would run out of fuel within a matter of days. The fires have been burning ever since.

Getting to The Gateway to Hell is easy enough as long as you don't mind long drives through the desert. To get there you have to travel north from the city of Ashgabat for about 150 miles. Luckily, you can fly right in to Ashgabat via the Ashgabat International Airport.