17th century Zoroastrian fire temple - the holy flames were fuelled by a vent from a gas field below the site...

...but the priests apparently sold the extraction rights at the start of the 20th century, now it is piped in!

Adam sitting on one of the so-called sacrifice stones

Yanar Dag - a steady seep of gas means that the hillside has burned continuously since it was accidentally lit in the 1950s

As with the tourism industry generally, the Yanar Dag visitor centre could do with some investment!

Nodding donkeys are a common sight along the roadsides

Level crossing

The mainline to Georgia

Sheep crossing

Crude oil seeping straight from the ground, not an uncommon sight

Scrub, pipelines and old plastic bags are the typical landscape

Picnic

Qobustan petroglyphs, the oldest date from over 3,000 years ago - this one shows a boat and people

The two Emmas and George in front of some petroglyph buffalo

Honeycomb wind erosion

Exploring the amazing cliff edge formations

Copyright © James Howard 2017