Erbent

Erbent is a settlement of a few hundred people in the middle of the Karakum desert, halfway along the road north from Ashgabat, and it exists because there is water beneath it. Camels are kept, wells are worked and yurt frames stand alongside concrete houses. Almost every vehicle going north stops here because there is nowhere else, and the tea houses along the road are where drivers break the journey to Darvaza and beyond.

What you actually see

• The desert setting - a settlement in the middle of the Karakum sand.
• The camels - the herds kept and watered at the village wells.
• The yurts - frames standing alongside the concrete housing.
• The road stop - the tea houses where every vehicle north breaks the journey.

When to go

April to May and September to October are the tolerable months. Summer temperatures here are extreme. Winter nights are very cold.

Honest expectations

There is very little to see and half an hour covers it. Summer heat is genuinely dangerous. Facilities are roadside tea houses and nothing more.

Nearby

Darvaza is north, and Ashgabat is south.