“Darvaza Gas Crater“

The settlement is located in the Central part of the Kara-Kum desert/ 260 km from Ashgabat to the north west. On the way to Darvaza one can admire the Kara-Kum desert, its moving sands, the saksayl trees and kandym. The population of Darvaza is 350 inhabitants. Most of them are Turkmens. Ho-wever there are 3 Russian families. The word Darvaza is of the Turkmen origin. It is translated “Gates". At the Darvaza settlement people still live in Yurt. Yurt/ AK Oyis a traditional Turkmen dwelling. It’s round shape construction made of wooden framework covered with felt carpet/koshma. Diameter of a common yurt is from 4 m “GaraOy" till 9 m “AkOy". Yurt has a round hole in the middle of roof for ventilation. Lighting is natural/through this hole, by lamp, candle or by generator. Yurt is very handy. It takes 3-4 hours to assemble or disassemble yurt. The Turkmen nomads have been using yurt since the 6 century. It matches well with local climatic peculiarities. The microclimate in yurt is favorable. It is chilly in summer and warm in winter. Staying in Yurt one can feel life style of Central Asia nomads, traditional Turkmen hospitality and kindness and taste traditional Turkmen cuisine, mainly based on meat – pilav, Turkmen bureg, chorba/ lam soup and refreshing soft drink Chal.Darvaza is rich in high quality sulfur. In 1928 sulfur factory was founded here. At that time Darvaza was connected with Ashgabat only by air. Due to costly transportation in 1961 the factory was closed. This area is also rich in gas and oil. In 1978 all gas deposits have been preserved here.