Muddy fields decorated with volcanoes that don’t produce lava but mud, that is the Qobustan area close to Bakı. Every now and then a large bubble appears in the mud and disappears again – that is because of natural gas streaming out of the ground and through the mud. While the rest of the world tries to get methane to heat their homes it is popping up here uncontrolled and vanishes into the atmosphere.
What comes to everyone’s mind first: yes, you could set it on fire if you want. Rarely major eruptions appear in this region that can create flames as high as 600 meters, but most times it is only some minor bubbling that can be observed. Qobustan is the region with the most mud volcanoes on earth but they don’t really use it for touristic purposes yet.
While I visited the region the visitors center was still under construction. Our guide led as to a supermarket on the way to Qobustan to buy some plastic bags to protect our shoes and to be able to get really close to the mud volcanoes. In the future, visitors will explore them on walkways and they can’t get as close anymore. But that will protect their shoes as well as the volcanoes.
Mud volcanoes
Qobustan
Azerbaijan
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