We'll have a morning briefing, then a quick morning Ashgabat city tour, before we transfer to the main event the Darwaza Crater AKA the Gates of Hell!

250KM through the Turkmeni desert, the Central Karakum Sands, in our private 4WD vehicles. We will arrive at the ancient Unguz line of the desert where we'll explore the various craters. One full of water, one full of mud, then we'll make our way before sunset to the fiery crater. 

We'll pitch up, maybe have smuggled a bottle or 2 to share, and enjoy sunset at one of the world's most unique destinations, the Gates to Hell. We'll camp here all night, so bring warm clothes!

Brekkie in the desert. Then we drive back to Ashgabat.

Our friends at our Ashgabat hotel from the day before kindly allow us to use their facilities to clean up after a night of camping. Hot showers, a gym/pool if you want, even a sauna. Manage your expectations here though, the hotel hasn't been upgraded since about 1950!

Then we have a civilised lunch spot (with real coffee!), before we'll then head to the train station for one of my favourite things to do in unique countries, an overnight train across the whole country towards Turkmenbashi. 

We'll wake up in Turkmenbashy and have a short sightseeing tour where you'll get a chance to have your first sight of the Caspian Sea. 

We'll then hop back in 4WD vehicles and make our way to Central Asia's proud answer to the Grand Canyon, Yangy Kala. This canyon was the former floor of the Tethys sea, and over time, millions of years created the current 'design' of unusual forms and multicolor pictures. We'll chill here for a bit, soak up just where in the world we are, before we head back to Turkmenbashi to overnight in our Caspian Sea resort. 

Back to the airport folks (god it feels like we live in these places!). We fly back to Ashgabat, check out the UNESCO world heritage site of Nisa Fortress, then we check into our hotels once more. 

We have another city tour to properly explore the city, including the iconic Ferris Wheel. 

Then this evening we'll have an dinner at the cities best restaurant, where we'll have a chance to see Ashgabat by night. Overnight at the hotel.

We're out of here. Or more probably, we all left at 2am the day before! We'll be in touch about plans for that.

Now...  Mauritania in December anyone?