29/08/2015
So as you may well be aware, most of these posts are being backdated due to our disorganisation so we are actually writing you this from the border to enter Russia from Kazakhstan but we will fill you in on what has been happening.
After our stressful border crossing into Turkmenistan we aimed for the capital city Ashgabat which took us down from the mountain crossing to a point where we looked over the city and at that point we realised why it was referred to as the white and gold city. From our elevated view we could see miles and miles of baron land and in the middle was a white metropolis of tall, perfectly white buildings. Things only got bigger and whiter as we drove in to the city. The roads were immaculately clean, as were the other cars which made for a funny picture as we cruised in with our muddy, red wagon covered in writing and stickers. The locals seemed interested and excited at us being there as they have been in most places. There was a loose plan to meet the rest of the Iran convoy at the Sofitel in the city, apparently one of the only places that had WiFi (a luxury not often passed up whilst on the rally). After a quick and open mouthed drive around some of the city we found a group of other ralliers. Whilst half the group left to push on for the doorway to hell, we stayed with the other half in search of a party. Unfortunately the strange 11pm curfew in the city snuck up on us and so after a quick scramble to the shops for some drinks and food we headed out of the city to camp. We found a nice sandy spot (or so we thought) just outside the city and set up camp. The next morning, as we crawled out of our tents we had a moment of realisation that we had camped in a rubbish tip/landfill but after a quick kick around with the Aussies who had brought with them one of their so called footballs we headed back in to find money and a supermarket as we had big plans for a party dubbed 'the sharty' at the doorway to hell. A little explanation may be needed. One team, 'Team Mong Direction' had, regrettably for the effect it had on their car's speed, mounted a huge steel barbeque and shower in the back of their Nissan Micra which hadn't seen use yet. So the plan was born to have a shower and barbeque party at the doorway to hell.
For those who don't know, the doorway to hell is the name of an open burning pit about 70m across in the middle of the Turkmenistan desert. The short story is that whilst drilling for gas/oil the ground collapsed and natural gas started leaking out of the huge pit. To avoid the gases spreading over the local area, the pit was set fire to and it still burns to this day creating an absolutely awesome site apparently perfect for a sharty.
The long drive to the site through the desert was a fun filled convoy with plenty of car surfing. We arrived to the turning off as light was fading and were met by locals in huge 4x4's who would taxi you across the dunes to the pit. However a bit of dutch courage meant we were going to try go on our own in our cars. Long story short, picture a long line of rally cars stuck at staggered points up the side of a dune with us at the front. With a big pushing effort from the boys we managed to get the Nissan up over the top of the dune and Ali slid of into the darkness with a determination. About 200m further on the car was stuck once more and we admitted defeat, getting lifts from the locals to and from the pit as well as a tow back down to the flat ground afterwards.
As we drove towards the burning crater, the glow in the sky became nearer and nearer until we were greeted by the awesome site of a huge pit full of flames giving off unbearable heat. After a vodka melon, paper airplanes, a couple of frisbies and a massive n**e group photo we moved back down the road to start the party (in hindsight it was probably a very good thing the party happened very far from the pit!).
The party was very eventful with the booze and burgers flowing as freely as the questionable water coming out of the Micra's rear mounted shower. Our car provided some beer pong entertainment and some Elvis Presley classics. That is probably where the night blurs for the most of us until we woke up with some serious hangovers in the middle of a desert with scorching 40C heat and very little water. This made the drive back to civilization pretty much a test of survival through the desert. This was perhaps optimized by the manner in which we stormed some poor mans shop next to a long awaited garage, diving in to his chest freezers to dig out bottles of water and tuck in. One of the cars in our group also broke down and so as we pushed on back to Ashgabat, another car ran back some water to them and eventually ended up towing them pretty much across Turkmenistan. We made it back to the eerily quiet Ashgabat in a sorry state, hit up a 'British Pub' and checked in to a 5* hotel for the night, job done. The next day we cruised up towards Farap to cross in to Kyrgyzstan, got the car stuck in another desert where we camped and then coincidentally bumped back in to the other two cars we left and crossed in to Uzbekistan together.
GUAP
