Iran 1

We crossed the border from Turkey all dressed up in our hejabs and loose clothes and met up with our guide Muhammad who we are required to have by law, no problems getting through. Our first night was a busdcamp in a fairly baron area and we immediately got our first camel sightings as 2 herds of 50-60 animals passed our spot, there were several babies in the pack being slowly moved along by their herder. We got our first real Iranian culture experience in the city of Tabriz where we found the people quite relaxed about their dress-code and so most of the girls dumped their tight hejabs for lighter looser scarves. The people are very friendly and make an effort to talk to us and offer their services should we need anything. We drove next to the Caspian sea to dip our feet in the water, we might have considered cooling down further but the ladies would all face a walk further up the beach to reach the women's section which is most likely covered in some way so we decided just to sit in the shade of the trees near the public access section, the place where only men and children can swim. Further along the road we camped at the top of a mountain pass with stunning views of the surrounding tree-clad mountains, we had a pretty wild night up there with the wind howling all night long, we were fortunate not to lose any gear although a couple of people had to sleep on the truck as not all tents were happy to stay atop a mountain. Further down the valley we spent a couple of nights in a gorgeous little mountain village of Masouleh which is quite a tourist haunt for Iranian. The quirky little place has houses terraced up the hillside, each using the roof below for seating maybe for their picnics or for their tea house or restaurant, very quaint and cute with really friendly locals.

We carried on driving east through mountains which then turned into flat wet lands with paddy fields all around us and then on to the drier lands of dust and sand. As Trucker Emily turned 21 we celebrated with some party games to entertain us at our bushcamp, as alcohol is banned here it was more of a kids birthday party which was a great deal of fun.

As we drive through the country we have regular 'comfort' breaks which have never been a problem but here there are a lot less public toilets here and we have been treated so well by the lovely locals who have taken us into their houses to allow us use of their bathrooms, as if this is not enough they then offer tea and watermelon, so kind. I will write more about the people and culture in a separate blog.

hiya

here's the next instalment of my blog - it'll do for now, it's the end of my turkey.  i havent thought of a name for it yet. erm... end of turkey... tail end of turkey.... east end turkey... leaving turkey... turkish farewell... you make one up if you like.

We drove from Olympos towards Goreme in the Cappadocia region and the scenery changes from trees and mountains to stacks and rocky cliffs which used to be home to villages of cave dwellers. We took a walk through the Ilhara Valley which not only has lots of cave houses but also a selection of beautifully decorated churches. These caves come in various forms, some much deeper than others, some have shelves dug out or even entire rooms branching off, most are inaccessible as they are situated high in the cliff face. There may be some foot holds or a chimney dug out to climb up to the cave.

We also visited the underground city of Derinkuyu, a far more impressive show of excavation where an entire village could exist underground when the area was under attack. The city consists of 8 levels in varying depths with some long tunnels and staircases connecting the different floors. Cave sizes also vary, sometimes we were on our hands and knees crawling into the darkness or we could be in the deep underground meeting place and church with a ceiling of 8 or 9 feet high. The furthest we could reach underground were the graves, it appeared as just a small empty room to us so presumably the rest is blocked from the public or buried even deeper. I found it interesting how fresh it felt so deep below the ground and in such confined spaces but all passages and rooms are also connected to their ventilation shaft. 

Cappadocia is a very touristy place and high on the bucket list is the hot air balloon rides around the area, viewing all their stacks and rock formations and mostly their interesting 'fairy houses' which are caves excavated from the stacks, they look very much like a cone castle made by dripping wet sand into piles and are now home to hotels and restaurants. I got up to watch the balloons at 6am and watched as around 75 hot air balloons glided around dipping in and out of the valleys. Its a very picturesque area and the rock formations remind me very much of the Grand Canyon where you can see the different layers of coloured rock stretching through history.

Before leaving we had to take part in the obligatory Turkish Night with all the food, drink and dancing needed to keep our spirits high over the following alcohol free countries. As we continued east we visit Nemrut Dagi, a mountain over 6000ft with huge statues at the top dating back to 1000BC. Some of them have suffered from the weather but all are in remarkably good condition and are made up of huge boulder bases, bodies and then heads on top. They're massive versions of a child's toy where they have to match up the right body with the right head and shoes.

We've driven through Gule Gule and near Batman and camped at Lake Van, high in the hills and surrounded by mountains which played host to our night's entertainment. Around 11.30pm the thunder and lightening began and it bounced around the mountains all night, still going strong when we left the lake at 7am the following morning, we didn't get much sleep but at least there was something to watch.

We drove through Kurdish towns and cities including one which had been devastated by a large earthquake within the last few years, some are still living in temporary housing and rubble takes the place of what used to be homes and shopping centres. The landscapes are still very beautiful, especially in the mountains but it's sad to see the rivers and streams lined and clogged up with litter. The fields are worked by bent over locals, sheep and goat herders are dotted around the landscape with their flocks. The friendliest looking people in the east are the soldiers manning their posts, I've never seen so many tanks as I have since I arrived in Turkey. Our final stop in Turkey is fairly close to Mount Ararat, from here we go to cross the border into Iran. Say goodbye to alcohol, goodbye to Facebook, BBC, Google and blogging, say hello to our hejab and being covered from head to toe day and night. We also have to give the truck a good clear out to make sure there are no offensive items left on board, several books and magazines have been thrown out for mentioning religion or bad words or having pictures deemed risque, decks of cards binned or hidden. It's going to be different.

Turkish kebabs

Leaving Istanbul I took the plunge and offered to navigate the way to Gallipoli. This means I leave the main part of the truck and sit up in the cab with the driver for the entire day reading out the pre-printed directions, keeping an eye on the road signs, chatting to the driver and not falling asleep! Luckily enough when we neared the campsite the driver recognised it from last time and knew the way leaving me delightedly idle for the latter part of my directional duties. Half of the truck went to the overnight Anzac memorial for the dawn service and the other half of us stayed behind and reacquainted ourselves with our tents, a most enjoyable reunion after 3 nights in a 30 bed dorm with drunken Germans waking us up at 3am!! Who would have thought that I would rather be in my tent than a dorm bed.

Over the last couple of weeks we have had a couple of leisurely days in some relaxing beach campsites as well as some bushcamping in a couple of lovely spots. Wherever we go the locals always come to say hello, some just do a slow drive by but others are very friendly, we were given a big bag of fresh eggs by a lovely man who couldn't speak a word of english, another bush camp saw us being serenaded by 2 men and their guitar who arrived, sat near us singing and strumming and then left. We've also had plenty time driving around the country and enjoying some of the stunning scenery that Turkey has to offer. From snow tipped mountains to tiny mountain villages with tight roads that we had to drive through very slowly causing traffic delays where they have probably never existed. As usual the locals stop what they're doing and gaze at us open-mouthed as we meander by, one old lady was sitting my the roadside and casually pulled her feet out of the way of the back wheels as they sliced off the tightest part of the corner. The truck also commands extra attention as it slowly makes its way up the tight meandering roads that guide us through the mountains and along the coastal hillsides.

We have visited various Roman ruins on our travels, first up the ancient city of Troy (Troia) which consists of 9 layers of buried cities dating back through varying eras beginning as early as 3000BC. The most impressive ruins were at the site of the city of Ephesus. Here we could walk through streets of the ruined Roman city and admire what remains of their amphitheatre, library, church, tombs, hall, statues and my personal favourite being the public latrine. This consisted of a large public bath in the centre of the room with benches along the surrounding walls features holes dotted every half-metre or so which dropped into a trench below. All of this was made from marble and I found it interesting that these parts of Europe began with a sit down toilet facility (albeit shared with 20 other people!) and yet somehow progressed to the squat toilet, a form of toilet which just reminds me of the horrors of learning to use these as a child in France, while wearing flip flops! If anyone has not yet experienced the delights of a squat toilet imagine trying a bush-wee into a bathroom sink!!

While staying at a beach resort in Oludenuz most of us took the opportunity to go paragliding which is where you are strapped to a parachute and you jump off the top of a mountain. The wind conditions weren't ideal so our flights weren't as high or as long as we would have liked but the views were incredible and we still managed a good 15 minutes of gliding around in the sky above the hills and the sea. It's not as scary as it sounds, the drive up the mountainside was far scarier than the parachute journey back down!

That's us four weeks into our trip and we are still in Europe. One more week in Turkey and then we can head off into Iran. Tomorrow we have a 6am start and a 14hour drive to get to the next point of interest, lets see what goodies await us in Cappadocia!