Join My Turkmenistan Tour, including the GATES OF HELL!

Turkmenistan Tour time! Ever since I first visited Turkmenistan, and made a very shaky youtube video about the Gates of Hell, I've had people email me asking if I could finally organise a onestep4ward trip there, so after waiting for them to be the LAST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD to finally open after COVID, I did just that, in 2023. And it was f*cking amazing! What can I say? These kinda cool countries attract epic groups of people. So yeah, burning craters, night trains, cheap Russian cognacs, and the trip of a lifetime.

When I did my 'every country in the world' trip, I got rejected multiple times from Turkmenistan. FINALLY, I met a legend who had some contacts and he got me in. I stayed in contact with him, and now we organised a couple of group trips there. And he had a 100% success rate for our visas! So, we're going back, this time for the September 2024 Turkmenistan tour. JOIN ME!

For hardcore travelers, there are 2 main reasons. 

1. It's one of the least visited countries in the world, which is already pretty cool. 
2. And then of course, Turkmenistan is famous for their Gates of Hell. So my Turkmenistan tour, of course, focuses on that. But that's not the only reason to visit Turkmenistan. For me there are 3 epic places to visit in this secretive central Asian nation. 

• The Gates of Hell. Come and see them soon! The rumours are that they're due to close it any time!
• Ashgabat, the futuristic capital city. One of the strangest cities in the world. Just wait and see. 
• Yangy Kala Canyon. Central Asia's answer to the grand canyon, and including a very, very cool old soviet sleeper train overnight, traversing the country (and possibly accompanied by some cheap booze), to the coast of the Caspian Sea, to reach it!

There are some other spots around the country that are historic, and hold cultural significance too. But my trips are more focused on crazy adventures so I've tailored this tour to include the 3 coolest places and try to keep the cost, and time, down. I know a lot of the people who travel with me have the same outlook, so I hope this works for all you guys too!

The Dervaza gas crater, also known as the Door to Hell or Gates of Hell, is a natural gas field in Turkmenistan that collapsed into an underground cavern in 1971, creating a large crater approximately 70 meters in diameter and 20 meters deep. 

In an effort to prevent the release of toxic gases, Soviet scientists set the crater on fire, hoping that the gas would burn off within a few weeks. However, the fire has been burning continuously for over 50 years, creating a spectacular and eerie sight that draws visitors from around the world. 

The area around the crater is now a popular tourist attraction and has been dubbed the "Gates of Hell" due to the infernal flames that never go out.

Don't worry, it's easy.

You can fly via Istanbul or Dubai (maybe there'll be more options by September 2024, but right now, that's it). They all land at horrible hours, between 2am and 4am (similar to my Mauritania tours). 

This makes the itinerary sound a little confusing, but bear with me, it's honestly not! Check our the Turkmenistan Itinerary below to make sense of it all. 

Also, don't worry, my team will be there with airport pick-ups, regardless what time you arrive!

Safe doesn't even come close. One of the safest countries in the world. Perhaps even THE safest country in the world. 

I'll avoid getting political as the permits are hard enough to get, but let's just say everyone obeys the law in Turkmenistan, and leave it at that. As we say in Ireland, "safe as houses"