Dogubayazit to Maku

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On the bus to Dogubayazit I met to not so young guys speaking german. I haven't met anyone speaking german since ages! Quite soon it was clear that I had met two of Jehova's Witnesses. So I got the usual discussion and the brochure...
But still they were very friendly and did not insist on to much talk about my fate. So I shared a room with them in Dogubayazit. The next morning I left quite early when they where still sleeping.
In the minibus to the actual border I met my first iranian friend, a young guy who was very helpful. With him the price for the minibus droped from 10ytl (~7$) to 2.5ytl, later the border crossing was hassle free and the ongoing taxi quite cheap. Maybe to cheap. During the ride to Maku on the iranian side at a hair-raising speed the taxi started shaking violently. The driver opend the door at full speed and leaned out of the vehicle to look at the rear axis. We had a flat tire. But no problem for him, the spare tire was ready in the boot together with a 'very special' car jack. The whole thing was sorted out in less than fifeteen minutes.
The landscape in this corner of Iran is very desert like. Maku is build just along a street through a narrow desert valley. Near Dogubayazit on the Turkey side is mount Ararat, a huge vulcano. On one of the pictures you can see its snow covered top in the backround.
From Maku I took a direct night bus to Tehran.

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Photos

Ararat
View on mount Ararat from Iran back to Turkey.

Flat Tire
On the way to Maku the taxi had a flat tire. But that is no problem at all for an iranian taxi driver...
On the right you can see my iranian friend. He was really helpful.

Landscape in North-West Iran
During the daytime it gets very hot. Thus everything is very dry and dusty here. But in the evening light the colors of the different layers of earth can look very charming.

Village
Houses of sheepherds build from clay.