//
Desert in Central Asia
Photo: Rastapopulous, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Karakum (Black Sand) Desert is a large, mostly empty desert that takes up most of the central section of Turkmenistan. It is famous chiefly for one destination, the Derweze Gas Crater, also popularly known as the Door to Hell, an open pit lake of fire that has been burning for more than 50 years now.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Jähennem derwezesi, Җәхеннем дервезеси
Getting into the Karakum desert isn't particularly difficult–just follow the only highway north out of Ashgabat or South out of Konye Urgench.
Read in the guideAll getting around is done either in the vehicle you came in or on foot. There's no public transport here!
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Urgench · International · UGC
Loading places around the airport…
Articles and travel topics about Karakum and Turkmenistan.
ItinerariesFor modern-day trade in China, see Shopping in China The Silk Road (丝绸之路 sī chóu zhī lù), also known as the Silk Route, is not a single road, but a network of historical trade routes across Asia from China to Europe.
Wikivoyage
Nature & adventureSince antiquity, humans have been using, living in, or hiding in caves, and our fascination with them is just as old.
Wikivoyage
Travel tipsThis page aims to provide an overview of all the ferry services in the Caspian Sea between Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
Wikivoyage
Travel tipsThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (СССР)), or Soviet Union, emerged as the successor state to the Russian Empire in 1917, and was dissolved in 1991.
Wikivoyage
Every section of the guide. Open one to read it in full.