For the last few weeks the level of the lava lake at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has been unusually high, meaning it’s visible from the Jaggar Museum viewpoint, 1.1 miles away. This is as close as the Park Service will let you get. So I seized the moment and visited. Unlike Nyiragongo, Kilauea was merciful and […]
Browsing Posts tagged fire
Hawaii: Kilauea Lava Lake
November 3, 2016
DR Congo: Nyiragongo
August 6, 2015
“I survived Nyiragongo, but he ate my camera.” When I was about ten, I had a very clear idea of what a Real Volcano should look like. A steep cone, with a razor sharp rim and sheer cliffs down to an inner caldera with a bubbling pool of lava. Aah, it is to dream. Nyiragongo […]
Tbilisi Ateshgah (Restored)
May 20, 2010
The Tbilisi Ateshgah (aka Atashgah or Fire Temple) was under restoration when I visited it in 2007. That work is now complete and, mercifully, the restorers have been gentle. The old brickwork has been cleaned, and in a few places discreetly repaired, but has largely been left “as is”, without any gross tampering. A perspex […]
Zoroastrian Yazd
October 11, 2008
The city of Yazd is the main remaining Zoroastrian center in Iran. Zoroastrianism is (along with Christianity and Judaism) one of the three recognized and protected religious minorities under the Islamic Republic’s constitution. So worship and pilgrimages are officially tolerated, although probably not exactly encouraged. I hired a car and guide for the trip out […]
The Darvaza Gas Crater
October 3, 2008
The Darvaza Gas Crater is the debris from a disastrously failed Soviet gas well. After the failure, the escaping gas was left to burn itself out. It has been merrily burning for over 30 years now. (More Davaza photos.) Through StanTours, I had arranged a 4WD, driver and guide for the trip, about 150 miles […]
Baku's "Fire Mountain" Yanar Dag
October 30, 2007
After the rather touristy Baku Atashgah, I took a taxi out to see a more modest, but more authentic natural flame, at “Yanar Dag” (Fire Mountain). The story is that several decades ago a wandering shepherd accidentally set light to a small natural vent. And to general amazement, that small vent has kept steadily burning […]
© 2024 The Wandering Scot
Design by SRS Solutions