DAY 18: "Turkish Kurdistan and half the journey" - Tabriz - MAKU - Bazargan - DOGUBAYACIT (TURKEY) - VAN. 550 kms
I prepared to leave Iran after a fantastic week. The country has offered me without reservation the best of himself and wander the ancient Persia and part of the Silk Road. Iran is huge and I have left unexplored the east, the cruelest deserts and routes to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Maybe life on another occasion to take me here, I only ask that is not new in summer ....
Before the border needed to change the rest of the Maku Riyals and stopped at any bank but made me change. A businessman who was out there hospitality offered to change the materials for Turkish currency at the same price as the bank. That money-changing people on the street gives a bit of grime (counterfeits and others), but in small quantities once you get used to these countries and see the play hard to get because the penalties are severe. In big cities there is always an area with street money changers with his suitcase of bills sitting on a stool on the sidewalk and the price is sometimes better than the bank itself.
formalities at the border out of Iran, the seal of the Carnet de Passage, etc. Were not at all complicated, and neither re-entry to Turkey, queuing at the counter and bought a visa sticker previously in case (Vezne).
beating in Turkey and then I realized that things had changed dramatically, things that you do not realize you drop at fault until you return to found again. For example, petrol stations were many, and everywhere, and let me pay by credit card. Cool! After four consecutive countries paying cash cost me even find the card in your wallet.
The second thing that changed dramatically were the shops and most of the supermarkets. In Dogubayacid went into a mini mall and spent a whole hour wandering eyes out of their sockets from hundreds of varieties of all products. In addition to friendly air conditioning throughout the hotel, for example had more than thirty different kinds of cookies from different brands, and I had trouble deciding horrors, but that yes, all very expensive for me. I had become accustomed not only to the short supply of food in Iran, but also super cheap prices.
And now I got fully back into the consumer society, and supermarkets in Turkey are quite the same as here, and down the street fast food places (shawarma, etc.), are at every turn.
Another thing that changed in Turkey was the landscape, and that although the Iranian deserts and mountains had their charm, to see green meadows and grazing animals stopped me many times on the shoulder of the highway to enjoy the views.
Dogubayacit addition to the side on Mount Ararat (the one which the Armenians claimed), it also has the Palace (Sarai) of Ishak Pasha which I addressed and that comes up much of a mountain which dominates the territory.
Trade Center had abducted me for an hour wandering the aisles to overflowing baba ...
Leaving the main road that goes to Ankara opted for various local roads towards Lake Van. Must stay alert because for a couple of days I was ready to explore part of Turkish Kurdistan, PKK stronghold, pro-independence party that has been featured in several bloody attacks and kidnappings of Westerners. In particular, a few days before my arrival had kidnapped a German family. This immediately meant that the military controls were gradually happening in various places on my route to Van, but no more hassle than the loss of time and having to walk all day with your passport handy. Landscape with
mixture of volcanic debris that inevitably reminded me of Lanzarote where I spent six months of my life.
Women washing wool in the river to hit cane.
When the road began to go around the Lake Van the road was both very pleasant and the other a little slower, because in my eyes this is what he found.
Indeed. This is absolutely a lake of turquoise waters, as if on a beach of the Caribbean. After a week in Iran's vision as clear as much water and I was absolutely ecstatic.
The secret of this deep blue is in the chemical composition of water and would soon find out. So, as I found a track that is closer to the lake and could not take it anymore and I noticed a dip in the company of a family who was walking nearby.
And as I got inside I found the toll to be paid for a blue so deep is that water has an unpleasant taste, like soap. They explained that the chemical composition of lake water was perfectly good to wash the clothes as they were in the region.
I came to the city of Van (about half of the planned trip), ready to find a BMW dealership because they had to change the oil in the Black Panther who had already passed the 10,000 kms. Van no dealer as such, but service workshop, although I took some finding. Following the tradition of accumulating all the shops in the same style, in Turkey garages (Oto Servis) are prepared in the same industrial area consists of streets and unpaved streets of workshops, all apparently equal (many multi). The streets are filled with broken parts, scrapped cars and pools of oil. Also workshop meantime hardly know each other. At the end I get to that is assigned to BMW service and when I tell him what to do tells me that he serves no motorcycles (even though I already took the oil filter and necessary tools). But before you insist a local rider who was out there grabs the phone and offered to fix the problem and gave me a rule throughout the city looking for a motorcycle dealership (Yamaha), which actually made me change the oil.
Shell.
Filling
.
The poor thing was a little slut and put my choice (well, I put the "clean" while I drank a cup of chai).
She and I then give us a tour of the city center and following the festive waste could find a good hotel for the night, and a cyber café which connect to the outside world. The casting, again hanging around the room. The bike slept at the hotel door
.
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DAY 19: "The blue waters." Van - Bitlis-Dyarbakir - Nemrut Daguia. 550 kms
Following therapy still relax later I got up and had breakfast, and went to see the citadel of Van which was certainly not worth it. This done I took
westward around the lake to Tatu. Apart from lost time and hassle at checkpoints, was again the blue of the water who also turned to force me to stop and enjoy the scenery.
More Smite wool wash clean.
I love the feeling of seeing a mountain immersed in water as always happens in Greece.
Mega-landscapes to remember.
This is the only rider adventurer who met on the trip (up to Cappadocia), was German and Turkey already knew before.
Wow!
chafardear I came to Bitlis in a while. It is a winter resort and the old are at the foot of a castle (Kalesi).
forces stopped to replenish it from time to time must also feed the spirit body.
Madraza Ihasiye Serafhan.
Some critters.
I feel sorry, I could not make the bat on Batman.
Once in Diyarbakir visited the famous black basalt walls that surround the interesting part of the city, and the Ulu Camii mosque and a caravanserai nearby where people stopped to spend the evening with a drink.
Ulu Camii Mosque.
The national pastime is to sit in the shade.
The sun sets "On road."
My goal was to get as close as possible to Nemrut Dagi, or if you could even sleep on it, but for this we must take a ferry and did not know the timetable. When you reach the town of Siverek there are clear indications in the detour to get to the ferry ("ferrybot"), and there is a panel with the same hours later a few miles of repeats. It happens but as the first poster had a last ferry at 21.30 that could still arrive, but according to the second poster the latter was at 20.30 h. (!). Driving at night and things got all clear to get to the pier in time to catch the last ferry from 21.30 without problems. While waiting
before and during the trip I met a very nice family with good friends we made, even the great-uncle had a BMW motorcycle in the 60's. I explained that I was heading to Nemrut Daguia and they confirmed that a number of camping sites, however they offered to stay at his house that was closer if I wanted to do as many miles at night. But once past the pond and nothing could stop until you reach the magic mountain, so it was grateful for the invitation, but went on my way.
Daguia Nemrut I arrived with the intention of camping at the top (in the morning would check that today it is not possible), but there is a barrier to entry and was closed. Below there are several hotels and campsites, and I could pick a hotel that in addition to your tent area offered me a small swimming pool that I really wanted despite the time it was.
also established a lively conversation with other hotel guests were officials of the embassies in Ankara Denmark, Germany and Italy, and a English man who worked for the European Community.
When they went to sleep I still took the opportunity to give me a dip in the pool (although in the morning I could see was a pair of huge and loathsome beetles floating in it ...).
The bike fell asleep again beside the store.
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DAY 20 - "The mountain of severed heads." Nemrut Daguia - ADIYAMAN - Gaziantep - Aleppo (Syria). 350 km
leave the tent pitched and I head to the summit for sunrise at Nemrut Daguia, the burial mound of King Antiochus I. Once up the road I notice that officer is a time and can not continue with the bike, even off road, and we must continue to walk down a long staircase.
Arriving must choose between the two sides.
The West is the side that fires the sun, and it's famous stone heads are arranged in a somewhat more scattered and anarchic.
The slope of this royal thrones are empty ready to receive the rising sun, and the heads aligned in front of each throne as king paying tribute to the sun, the most powerful of the universe.
Views of the Taurus Mountains.
After collecting the tent at the camp I went to Gaziantep, the center of my back for a few moments to any European city, with avenues of fashion shops for expensive clothes, and even a pizza parlor design, temptation I could not resist taking into account that I ran into another challenge: the Middle East. View
Gaziantep.
The Kalesi of Gaziantep on Naib Hamam.
Pizzeria design.
So with the casing and the fuel tank full I got ready to enter Syria, another country of the "axis of evil" American.
Along the way I was involved in some sort of army raid near the border had taken a village, and when I passed by there were about 20 men in a row with their hands up and soldiers being interviewed in and out house in the middle register. It was a strange feeling, like a movie, as soldiers that the roadblock had let me in and for the moment that the bike rode past the scene seemed that everyone had stopped to watch me especially, officers, soldiers, suspected terrorists and women and children attending separate record for the soldiers across the street. Salgo
well as Turkish and Syrian border formalities were not going bad, they are a little "burrocráticos" but relatively organized. I had to take out insurance for the motorcycle accident.
When I prepare to go through customs (baggage screening), there is a problem. Me at all delicate borders and remove the GPS and put it on the top case, and no one had ever done any reproach. But the rogue customs officer noticed the support of memorabilia just in time for me to open the top case and asks: GPS? I had two choices. The first was lying, but if you open the suitcase is the GPS among other things the same charge me seriously and did not enter the country. The second was to tell the truth and endure the rain. In a split second I decided to tell the truth ... and it was the last time I did throughout the trip. And when I confessed to the officer who had one, but it was very old, I instantly said that the GPS was banned in Syria and had to stay there and you would pick around.
started a give and take him to the GPS and I was left without the equipment that I would lose, would have to ask everyone and my safety and personal integrity were very committed to seeing both in Syria and Jordan and Lebanon, and also I had planned to enter Syria for another boundary differently. I used all my strategies, even to see if "pay something" could solve the problem, but it crept, it was a matter of national security (the Syrians are very picky about military matters, and is a well used can send GPS a missile at the door of a Ministry).
The talks on the wrong track and I saw me lost at each crossing of roads that were marked in Arabic. But being almost land of Ali Baba, in a moment of lucidity involuntary uttered the magic word that opened the door of Sesame: I told the man that many phones today are GPS, and the man turned to my GPS in hand and said: Is the phone?, and I tell him yes, that phone can also be used (another filthy lie ...). Also tell him that I will use it only when you get lost and abandoned dog a face that would have given me half Academy Award for interpretation. Finally the man makes a phone call to his superior, look me up and down, tell the boss something like "this mindundi I do not see emaciated face super-secret agent, and the back says I have permission to enter the GPS, but check when leaving the country to take him out again. HALLELUJAH! Allah is great. He made sure his words by typing the GPS in the Carnet de Passage, and let me go, which I did not rushing the case to repent. I'm in Syria!
spent so nervous that instead of going to San Simeon as planned I went straight to Aleppo was well marked, as the GPS spent a few hours in a suitcase hidden, lest some highway patrol decided to seize them. So I got
smooth Aleppo.
Al Rahman Camii, a mosque quite different.
I went into the old part where they are very near the Grand Mosque, the famous Citadel and above the souk (Suq-as-Saghir), which has been the most I liked the whole trip, labyrinthine really huge and not westernized. I do not know if power was gone, but the truth is that I went through numerous interior streets where the shops were almost in darkness, in light of the candles was even afraid to walk out there, yet was a souk purely Islamic and ancient, authentic and different from others that have already been modernized. It's something that can not be photographed, a must see.
famous ramp entrance to the citadel of Aleppo.
Madrasa (religious school) Al-Kashrofiya
Aleppo Souk.
Minaret of the Great Umayyad Mosque Zekeriya Camii.
found in the center of town cheaper and cutrecillo a small hotel, but on one side the room was very warm, and on the other bike had to sleep on the street between parked cars. Yet while the stores remain open were well guarded by several merchants with whom I spoke and whose children left photographed sitting on the Pantera.
After a few showers out to explore the city center and plugged into a cyber future. In some of them must be identified with the passport (no censorship but content control, I think), and are the perfect place to find and talk to all Western tourists in the city.
Before getting to sleep I could park the bike on the street a little closer to the door of the hotel.
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