Kov Ata cave, Turkmenistan

Kov Ata cave - darkometer rating : 2 - One of the acclaimed wonders of Turkmenistan and one that most organized trips tend to include. So what is it and why is it dark? Well, a huge cave, some 60 metres (200 feet) underground with a subterranean lake that you can swim in (in medicinal thermal waters) in the damp dark while bats circle overhead … sounds dark and gothic? Sure does. Unfortunately, the appeal to scores of visitors, beginning in Soviet times and continuing to this day, has apparently done some damage, especially to the once enormous bat colony. Only comparatively few remain today. The waters are said to be less clean and healthy today too. But still. Unless fear of dark caverns – or worries about contributing to the damage done by visiting – puts you off, then it's still quite an experience. The descent is via paved and well-maintained steps, so that bit isn't all too adventurous, if a little strenuous afterwards – you still have to climb back up the 276 steps. But the darkness, only punctured by the hole in the cave's ceiling and a few artificial lights along the path, plus the option of going for a dip in the lake at the bottom of the cave, and possibly the added bonus of seeing some bats, makes for a kind-of dark tourism experience. It's typically offered as part of package trips or can be arranged fairly easily as an excursion from Ashgabat . When I visited the place in November 2010, however, I saw no bats at all – and only two people I spoke to claimed to have spotted any. So the bat element seems to have diminished to the point of insignificance. What I did see lots of, in contrast, were pigeons … and their droppings. It was also quite busy with humans. Apart from the group that I was travelling with, there were several further tourists, mostly from other ex-Soviet countries.