Driving across Eastern Turkey


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Middle East » Turkey » Eastern Anatolia » Dogubeyazit
August 12th 2010
Published: August 15th 2010
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From Goreme we headed East towards the Iranian border. It took 2 long days of driving to get to Lake Van. In the morning at Lake Van we went to visit an Armenian church that was on an island in the middle of the lake followed by another long drive to the frontier town of Dogubeyazit. The mid-day heat is quite intense by our standards. We passed a sign at 10:30am that read 40 degrees C. I'm sure by mid-afternoon it was pushing 45. With the windows down on the truck trying to get air, it felt like someone was blowing a hair dryer in our faces. It's amazing how vast these countries are. Even a short driving day is 6-7 hours.

In Dogubeyazit we visited Ishak palace in the evening light and then headed back to town for dinner. It's now the month of Ramadan where the muslims fast between sunrise and sunset. For some reason we seem to always pick this time to travel to Islamic countries. At about 7pm we found a local restaurant that seemed pretty busy and the food looked good. It was a set menu of various meat and veggie dishes. Anyways about half way through our soup we realized that no one else in the restaurant was eating. They were picking at their food and staring at their watches. Apparently the fast was not yet over as we had thought. We stopped and waited until the mosque sounded the end of the fast at 7:15. Simultaneously everyone at the restaurant began to eat. After we finished we apologized to some guys that wanted to chat and they smiled and said there was no need for us to wait since we are travellers.

Next stop, Iran!



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15th August 2010

Looks amazing!
I love your Turkey blogs! There are some interesting buildings. Look forward to your next installment! Best wishes, Dawn
15th August 2010

Big Country
Your photos bring a sense of the country, so thanks for sharing. One question: Can you grow potatoes there? :-) All the best on your continued journey.
15th August 2010

Great photos
I'm in Amasra Turkey right now on a drive from Istanbul along the Black Sea Coast to Trabzon. Was very much impressed by your photos. Just beautiful!
16th August 2010

wow very nice
There are greatest histrocal building in the turkey.the turkey bloog saw mindblowing.teg the photo its for many many thanks but we want more details in your nex added.
16th August 2010

Gorgeous photos! You seem to have found some amazing architecture to snap on this trip. Looking forward to your further travels. :)
19th August 2010

Stunning photos and a great post. Can't wait to read about your next destination.

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