Centralasia Adventures
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Bakharden cave, without any exaggerations, is one of the most famous and attended touristic places of Turkmenistan. The cave is located in the cave is located in the foothills of the Kopetdag in the Bakharden district of the Akhal region, about 20 km from the village Bakharden, and 120 km from Ashgabat.
Bakharden cave is presented as on big hall with the length of 250 meters and 10 to 50 meter wide. The height of the hall is constantly decreasing from the entrance from 26 meters to 3-4 meters in the far (lake) part of the cave. The volume of the cave is 75 thousand m3. The bottom of the hall is inclined, covered with fragments of limestone and in some places with the guano of bats. Tangently - crystalline formations are insignificant. Air temperature from 20 - 25 ° C in winter to 27 - 32 ° C in summer.
The famous underground lake Kov Ata is located in the depth of 55 meters from surface. The length of the lake is 75 meters, the width from 8 to 23 meters, the depth is 2 to 14 meters, an area of 10 thousand square meters. Warm and mineral hydrogen sulphide water of the lake (37 °C) made the cave famous among the population. This curative water consists of hydrogen sulphide, iodine, magnesium, sodium, sulfate, as well as chlorine, aluminum, bromine, iron, antimony - a total of 27 chemical elements. Bathing in the water has a beneficial effect on the body, improves blood circulation.
According to archaeological data, the cave has been visited by people for more than 2000 years.
In the 60s the cave was equipped for tourists’ visiting. At the present time, a concrete staircase leads to the lake deep into the cave, an observation deck is installed, and electric lighting is provided. It is very convenient for tourists. But unfortunately negatively affected the huge colony of bats that had lived in the cave since ancient times. So in the 40s of XX century. The colony numbered more than 400 thousand individuals of three different species (horseshoe, long wing, giant withered moccasins). Now they are only a few dozen!
Bakharden Cave (Kow Ata) photos
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Centralasia Adventures
Touristic company “Asia adventures” - DMC operator in Central Asia.
Already 26 years, we organize any possible tours in Uzbekistan and other neighbor republics as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kashgar (Western China) and the Caucasian region (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia).
