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Published: April 12th 2010
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Poor Road
A section of highway under construction. A great effort is being made by the Turkish authorities to upgrade its road infrastructurer. Friday 9 April
Since writing to you from the relative calm atmosphere of Amasya and the delightful pension we were staying in, we are now poised to enter Iran, 35 kilometres away. We have come a long way in one day to reach and spend one night in Erzurem, after a long and bumpy ride along these roads in Eastern Turkey that make life interesting for all motorists. After asking the way to a certain hotel in the centre of Erzurem and causing a fracas between students, a policeman and other passersby trying to be helpful, we did eventually find somewhere to rest weary heads.
The chosen hotel in Erzurem, the Hitit Hotel, was comfortable, cheap and the people were most kind in their assurances that the car, parked right in front of the hotel, would be looked after by them all night. And they did. Erzurem boasts a university and is the largest town in Eastern Anatolia but was not one that we felt kept us back from our journey eastwards. Today, we have only covered a relatively short distance compared with yesterday because of the road conditions. We did not arrive in this town of Dogoubayazit until late afternoon.
The road to the border
Our road to the border and Mt Ararat, rising to over 5,000 metres in height. It is a growing town but you will see from the pictures quite a poor one with infrastructures straining to keep up with the provisions of sewage, electricity and water supplies. Our hotel called Hotel Nuh is basic but warm and comfortable. I should have said earlier that since leaving Erzincan we have been travelling on a plateau approximately 5000 feet above sea level, reaching 6000 feet in places, so this morning I guess was no surprise to us when we saw that it was snowing. Fortunately, the winter snows have left the roads although they sit on the surrounding mountains we have driven through to this town. The country is very wild and beautiful; rock formations are of all colours and textures. We have been following wild and wide rivers for most of our journey. It is a desolate place for all its natural beauty. Fortunately we have made it to here without being detained in another road block. I hope some of the pictures too will convey the sort of lifestyle people are living out here - cow herdsmen, young boys and girls who look after their cows and sheep all day and night in all weathers show
Dogoubayazit
Another street scene. just how important their live stock are to their own well being. Many houses look as though they are just a jumble of rocks or deserted - until you see the Sky dish stragically placed somewhere on the roof!
My phone has broken - no screen - and so I am taken to a mobile phone shop and there they promise to repair it and bring it to me in the hotel (I thought the young man had said tonight at 8.00 pm - I am still waiting so think it might be 8 in the morning). John and I are sharing a small ensuite room that is adequate! The view though from our window looks up at the 5165 metre high Mount Ararat , which is presently covered in snow - the town is some 2000 metres above sea level so temperatures here are quite cool at this time of year. However the proprietor speaks a little English and is very kind. Our evening meals have been usually some form of meat, lamb or beef, with rice, salad and yogurt. Choice is quite limited in these parts. Another very noticeable feature of the society in this part of the
Meteorite crater near the Iranian\Turkish border
This was an amazing site to see - yes really - to think that such an enormous hole had been made by something flying in from outer space! world is the lack of women insofar as John and I seem to be permanently surrounded by men at the dinner tables - a feature reflecting the very different social structures existing out here compared with back home.
Tomorrow we intend visiting the impressive Ishak Pasa Palace and then on towards the border where we also hope to see one of the largest meteorite craters in the world, which is just a few kilometres short of the Iranian border.
Sunday 11 April
PS. They have repaired my phone! A similar repair in the UK took over three weeks!
What a 48 hours! We left our hotel in Turkey and did see the Palace which was not seen at its best because it was snowing! The we set off for the Iranian border arriving to see so many trucks that we thought we would be there for days getting through into Iran. Then we saw the sign for the meteorite and went down a track to see it only to be confronted by a very nice young Turkish soldier who asked if we were going to see the meteorite hole and if so please hand over your passports!
Border Crossing
Lining up to cross the border these trucks looked as though they would be there for days. Fortunately our progress did not depend on that line of trucks. We did as we were told - John even offered him a sweet - and off we went. A hole is a hole, isn’t it? Well, this was a mightly big one, and so so deep - the second largest hole made by a meteorite in the world. Then back to the task facing us - crossing the border.
Interesting experience that took in all about two hours, where ‘3rd parties’ were facilitating people like ourselves in getting us through the process. We seemed to have gates closed on us, then open, then close, before getting through from the Turkish side and then on the Iranian side we were escorted away from the car for the formalities of being welcomed into Iran - full finger printing, customs asked us to empty our car! Well, you can imagine after starting on that small task, when we had got half way through I think they even saw that we were just a couple of old guys travelling and camping in a very glamorous ‘Paykan’, the equivalent car to ours that is everywhere in Iran. So once packed we were almost done but not quite. There was a matter of insurance and of
Paykans everywhere
Departing Tabriz yesterday morning. The second biggest city in Iran it proved to be very difficult to find our way out - taking two hours to do and many questions asked of taxi drivers and pedestrians who too seemed not to know! course payment to the ‘agencies’ who had helped us through the complicated process. So once we had discussed figures and settled on an amount, we all shook hands and John and I began the drive to Tabliz. Because we had to put a further hour and half on our clocks, we didn’t start the long journey until just after 4.00pm local so our arrival at night in the second largest city in Iran certainly tested stamina and nerves. I am able to say that having driven through hail stones, driving rain, sleet and snow, the small cheap hotel found was a little oasis for us in the city. Both of us have been astounded at the number of Paykans on Iranian roads and more to the point how wonderfully friendly the people have been, welcoming us to Iran at every opportunity - quite disconcerting having your photo taken by a passing car when we too are doing around 120kph down the express way, but all smiles and laughs and hand waves and off they go with their pictures.
Today leaving Tabliz was rather a nightmare as it did take John and I two hours to find our way out of
Our accommodation in Tabriz
We could not leave the car outside this hotel so the receptionist who had done a degree in modern english literature accompanied John to a car park for the safe keeping overnight. John's sense of direction is not the best as he admits and the following morning we thought the car was 'lost'! Fortunately he remembered he had been given a receipt for parking which enabled a passer by to give directions to the car park. Phew, back on track. the city to the express way that eventually brought us to the capital. Fortunately I had written directions to our hotel here, and thank goodness too. John and I swapped driving to allow me to navigate into the city using the directions and apart from a couple of mistakes managed to fight through the traffic to this small hotel in an alley close to the city centre.
What has struck us since being in Iran is the helpful attitudes, friendliness and warmth of the people in cars, on bikes, pedestrians and people we have stopped to ask the way. English is quite widely understood and spoken which is a relief because neither of us can read the street signs, unless they are in English. We have some media lined up tomorrow and at the moment we intend spending two nights here to do the basic cleaning up and preparing for the next stage of this epic adventure. The car is going well although I thought the police had it in for me again today when they stopped us, but they wanted to check our spare tyres were secure. As John said, they probably thought that they were tied on by
Traffic in Tehran
Following the very directions given by Hamid from Iranianvisa, who had booked a hotel for us in Tehran, we soon found ourselves having to negotiate through traffic that seemed to have no road rules to follow. But between us we did get to the hotel, Hotel New Naderi in Goharshad Alley! pieces of string, as that seems what most things are secured by over here on overloaded lorries and trucks. We have seen the results of some nasty accidents as well, which emphasises that this is one of the worst driving places in the world - we both can understand why.
So more later once we have had a chance to see a little of the capital of Iran.
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Elaine
non-member comment
Iran
Your adventures continue to be of great interest and are getting more exciting. Perhaps John needs a label attached to him a little like Paddington Bear!:-) Glad you keep finding each other and the car...phew! Stunning photos...we all want to see lots more. Keep up the good work and safe motoring. E x