Off to Syria to see if we can blag our way across the middle east to Dubai sans visas! Ship from Dubai/Abu Dhabi to Mumbai. Fingers crossed.
Probably away from technology for a few days, but it would be great to have some feed back from you lot. You know tick the reaction boxes or leave a comment. Let us know that you're all still there!
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Saturday, 30 May 2009
New countries
The lovely people at the Iranian consulate told us this morning that our apllication for a transit visa has been rejected. So that's £300 in Irans pocket and a big change of plans for us.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Erzurum, the town of broken dreams and promises. It seems the only reason people come here is for an Iranian visa and after lodging our application (170 euros thankyouverymuch!) and being told it would be 5 days at least, we settled into Otel Dede to ride out the doldrums.
We lasted 4 days. After a trip to the cinema (by way of the hospital... well it looked like a cinema to me) and a couple of walks around the town we'd had it. Luckily for us the local tourist chief had dropped off loads of info about the area just North of Erzurum known as the Georgian valleys, so we said our good byes to the Dutch couple we'd met, who had succesfully collected their visa, and the French guy who was still waiting, and took off North to escape the vortex of despair that is Erzurum.
Just when you think Turkey can't have much left to offer it chucks another curve ball. Wowweee, what a place. Soaring mountains, deep river gorges, egyptian vultures, high pastures blanketed in spring flowers, waterfalls, derelict Georgian churches and dirt tracks criss crossing the whole area. Why didn't we ever think of coming to Turkey before? Perhaps if they changed their name or played down the kebab as the national food (which I confess is probably the only thing that Turkey is let down by). See it now before they join the EU I urge you. Three nights free camping in the wilds and eating fresh vegetables and salads and now we're back in Erzurum to get an answer tomorrow on the visa.
So lovely people you are bang up to date with us. And on that note, so sad to hear of the Balloning accident in Cappadocia today. As they said it's the first in 20 years of ballooning there but none the less sorry news. I'm glad we weren't there.
Hopefully good news tomorrow.
We lasted 4 days. After a trip to the cinema (by way of the hospital... well it looked like a cinema to me) and a couple of walks around the town we'd had it. Luckily for us the local tourist chief had dropped off loads of info about the area just North of Erzurum known as the Georgian valleys, so we said our good byes to the Dutch couple we'd met, who had succesfully collected their visa, and the French guy who was still waiting, and took off North to escape the vortex of despair that is Erzurum.
Just when you think Turkey can't have much left to offer it chucks another curve ball. Wowweee, what a place. Soaring mountains, deep river gorges, egyptian vultures, high pastures blanketed in spring flowers, waterfalls, derelict Georgian churches and dirt tracks criss crossing the whole area. Why didn't we ever think of coming to Turkey before? Perhaps if they changed their name or played down the kebab as the national food (which I confess is probably the only thing that Turkey is let down by). See it now before they join the EU I urge you. Three nights free camping in the wilds and eating fresh vegetables and salads and now we're back in Erzurum to get an answer tomorrow on the visa.
So lovely people you are bang up to date with us. And on that note, so sad to hear of the Balloning accident in Cappadocia today. As they said it's the first in 20 years of ballooning there but none the less sorry news. I'm glad we weren't there.
Hopefully good news tomorrow.
Oblivion
The road to Erzurum passes mainly through Kurdish regions and whilst sat in the comfort of our room in Erzurum (no place to camp) I happened upon a blog of a German couple that passed through here very recently. They also headed to Erzurum from Mt Nemrhut and were told in no uncertain terms not to take the road between Diyabakir and Bingol because of Kurdish bandits and unrest. Ahh.. that'll be the road that we came up and camped overnight on then!! In actual fact it's a pretty high pass that follows the course of a river which we took a random track off the side of the road to go and camp by. It was pretty obvious that tourists and travellers don't often venture into these parts from the welcoming commitee of pretty much the entire local village walking down to the river to see what we were! It was great to start with but by the time their numbers had swollen to about 40 and Kym was bustin for a pee and we were both starving, it stated getting a bit much! Fortunately the local police man picked up on it and ordered everyone to leave us alone. He thought it was alright to come back himself though bringing with him the local doctor and some old bird. None spoke English so we happily chatted amongst ourselves until they got bored (or didn't like our tea) and went home.
Paranoid?
Another crazy geezer in Tehran by now had decided that us two were not allowed into Iran. This came as a bit of surprise to be honest. One of those situations where we knew of rejections but didn't think it could happen to us, well it bloody well did. We were heading to a town called Erzurum anyway (the last town in Turkey with an Iranian consulate close to the border) to collect our anticipated visa, and after some research discovered we might just be able to get a transit visit from the consulate without going through an agency. So off to Erzurum.
Mount Nemruht
So this crazy geezer decides he should build a palace and a shrine kinda thing to help him become mates with the Gods when he dies, now of course the Gods live way up high so he has to build it on top of a mountain but the mountain isn't pointy enough so he transports all theses little stones from the river in the valley and makes a pointy bit then builds 10 meter high statues of him sat with the Gods looking at the sunrise on one side and the sunset on the other. Now I'm guessing because he was quite an important geezer that he didn't do all this himself and it's probably fair to say that the people that did the grafting probably didn't volunteer for it, but gee wizz they made some monument! And this was back in the 6th century BC! The heads have fallen off due to earth quakes but I think you get the idea?
Monday, 25 May 2009
Click on photo.
For all those who don't know this if you click on the photo's in this blog you can see them full screen, then click back & you go back to the blog. Big smiles & love to all who are enjoying our blog.
Cappadoccia
Much driving punctuated by a card swallowing ATM moment, fruitless trip to local bank, and night on a beautiful peninsular (another pat for the truck), we drove into the most amazing scenery we have clamped eyes on. You think you've seen most of what Earth has to offer if not with your own eyes certainly on TV but nothing had prepared us for Cappadoccia. It's just an un-worldly landscape. The phot's don't do it justice. Not only were we blown away by the sights but then we arrived in Goreme which is just the most chilled out village going. Locals on horse back riding down the main strip hippyish back packers lounging on cushions smoking water pipes and surrounded by mind boggling rock formations! Stayed on a small campsite where we heard that the thing to do was take a dawn balloon ride, we said we'd sleep on it and possibly do it the following day. 5am we were woken by what we quickly deduced was the roaring of the balloons burners, really wasn't expecting about 40 of the things lifting off all around us! Was bloody good to watch though.
Had a great day lounging about (felt like we were on holiday!) and got back to the campsite late afternoon to find we'd been invaded by what can only be described as a seriously low budget Czechoslovakian camping/coach holiday for middle aged men!! The coach looked like it wouldn't make it to the end of the road let alone Czec, and the campers all had these tiny little pup tents. It was pretty bizzare. All of them cooking tinned food on tiny gas stoves and drinking warm beer. Still, as Kym said at least they're on holiday.
Spent a day exploring in the truck (getting ouselves in more sketchy situations) then off to check out an underground city. 10 stories deep and capable of sustaining a whole village for 6 months underground, got a bit claustrophobic at times but still a feat. Dragged ourselves away from Cappodoccia and vowed to came back again another time. Oh yeah, didn't do the balloon ride, no regrets just couldn't really justify the expense. Bcak to driving and driving and driving and more and more stunning scenery. Really can't emphasise how diverse the geography is in Turkey, drove from hot flat plateaus through huge canyons followed by mountain passes and back down to flood plains, phew.
Had a great day lounging about (felt like we were on holiday!) and got back to the campsite late afternoon to find we'd been invaded by what can only be described as a seriously low budget Czechoslovakian camping/coach holiday for middle aged men!! The coach looked like it wouldn't make it to the end of the road let alone Czec, and the campers all had these tiny little pup tents. It was pretty bizzare. All of them cooking tinned food on tiny gas stoves and drinking warm beer. Still, as Kym said at least they're on holiday.
Spent a day exploring in the truck (getting ouselves in more sketchy situations) then off to check out an underground city. 10 stories deep and capable of sustaining a whole village for 6 months underground, got a bit claustrophobic at times but still a feat. Dragged ourselves away from Cappodoccia and vowed to came back again another time. Oh yeah, didn't do the balloon ride, no regrets just couldn't really justify the expense. Bcak to driving and driving and driving and more and more stunning scenery. Really can't emphasise how diverse the geography is in Turkey, drove from hot flat plateaus through huge canyons followed by mountain passes and back down to flood plains, phew.
On the road
First night back at the coast was a weird one. Had our first sketchy stuck vehicle in soft sand moment. Not helped by the fact that upon letting air out of the tyres with a special gadjet I managed to remove the gadget before re-inserting the valve which promptly shot out and dissapeared leaving the tyre deflating rapidly and me scrabbling to get the cap on to stem the flow. So I did what any bloke would do and found the instruction manual and read it. Any way got us out but still had a tyre with no valve so after Kym stated to get the dinner on I took it upon myself to walk 500 metres back down the beach to search for a 1cm long valve. Yeah.... of course I found it. I'm such a jammy git sometimes. It was buried aswell!
So where we parked was a locals beach and they've built loads of summer beach houses but because the season hasn't really kicked in yet, all of the houses are just wooden frames then we guess they turn up and just cover them in plastic for the summer. It was pretty weird and made even more so by the juxtaposition of a massive new holiday resort less than half a mile away. Check the photos.
So where we parked was a locals beach and they've built loads of summer beach houses but because the season hasn't really kicked in yet, all of the houses are just wooden frames then we guess they turn up and just cover them in plastic for the summer. It was pretty weird and made even more so by the juxtaposition of a massive new holiday resort less than half a mile away. Check the photos.
Friday, 22 May 2009
The people.
THE PEOPLE, are great they chat away to you in Turkish even when they know you don't understand, they will go out of there way to help you one example was when we had filled up the jerry cans in Albania as we knew the fuel in Turkey was going to be expensive, while filling up with our Halfords jerry can spout that leaked and then snapped we thought the best option was to buy a funnel, a very large funnel. So the first town we come across that has a shop that looks like it would sell that sort of thing, Straight away the old chap in the corner is there to help, we look around followed the whole time by him but can't find what we are looking for, Gary draws on his hand a funnel, the guys face lights up & he nods goes out the shop and down stairs into the cellar, about 5 minutes later bless him he comes up carrying a ceramic sink, it was so funny & says alot for Gary's drawing. We did eventually get across what we want and he sent us up the road to another shop where we managed to get one for 75p. There are so many stories I could tell about so many helpful people but I have to save some that we can tell you all in person for the next 40 years.
The older Turks dress so smart, one town we went through all the guys had big baggy Turkish trousers on with white shirts, waistcoats, jackets and a little hat it was amazing to see, but the Turks seem to love a suit, they wear then for everything doesn't matter what their job, we have seen dustbin men driving the cart in a suit, digger drivers, gardeners even some of the kids, they'll be a group of kids all in Western clothes then a couple will be in smart suits with pointy shoes. On the long haul buses the waiters are dressed in white shirt & dickey bow. It seems in Turkey that almost anything goes, in Istanbul so many of the woman wear head scarfs & yet it's really western & in places that felt far more eastern lots of woman don't. Most woman wear a really long coat that nips in at the waist & comes to the ground mostly black, denim or beige but they wear these really brightly, gaudy coloured scarfs it's all a bit odd for me really. Some wear T-shirts and heels, so some are comfortable to show some skin but nobody I mean nobody shows even the slightest bit of clevage. I actually had a little girl very sweetly point to some older boys then to my top (which I have to say was a vest top with a hoody zipped up over it) and she gestured that I should zip it up further, bless her I felt like a floozy.
The older Turks dress so smart, one town we went through all the guys had big baggy Turkish trousers on with white shirts, waistcoats, jackets and a little hat it was amazing to see, but the Turks seem to love a suit, they wear then for everything doesn't matter what their job, we have seen dustbin men driving the cart in a suit, digger drivers, gardeners even some of the kids, they'll be a group of kids all in Western clothes then a couple will be in smart suits with pointy shoes. On the long haul buses the waiters are dressed in white shirt & dickey bow. It seems in Turkey that almost anything goes, in Istanbul so many of the woman wear head scarfs & yet it's really western & in places that felt far more eastern lots of woman don't. Most woman wear a really long coat that nips in at the waist & comes to the ground mostly black, denim or beige but they wear these really brightly, gaudy coloured scarfs it's all a bit odd for me really. Some wear T-shirts and heels, so some are comfortable to show some skin but nobody I mean nobody shows even the slightest bit of clevage. I actually had a little girl very sweetly point to some older boys then to my top (which I have to say was a vest top with a hoody zipped up over it) and she gestured that I should zip it up further, bless her I felt like a floozy.
The garages.
THE GARAGES, the service in the garages here is second to non, every time we pull up we get given a little glass of tea, in one service station we started making our lunch & the manager comes over & shows Gary where there is a kitchen and a shower that we can use, he insisted that we sat at the picnic table & promptly brought us more tea. The next garage we fill up in we have tea and leave with boxes of tissues that we're given. It's great they fill up for you, wash all your windows & smile constantly while doing it.
Bits & Bobs about Turkey.
I want to explain some of the idiosyncrasies of Turkey, and some of the funny things we have seen on our journey so far.
THE TOILETS, well I have been in toilets that from the outside look like shacks then inside they are like a plush hotel & there's a Little man sat in a both to take your money & give you paper towels. Then there are the toilets that when you get off the seat it springs back up & sprays antibacterial wash all over the seat, another toilet I came across had a little leaver on the side and when you pulled this it dispensed a cover over the toilet like a sock.But most of the time our toilet is the open air type & I'm really getting over the fact that if someone See's my bottom well they see my bottom big deal.
THE TOILETS, well I have been in toilets that from the outside look like shacks then inside they are like a plush hotel & there's a Little man sat in a both to take your money & give you paper towels. Then there are the toilets that when you get off the seat it springs back up & sprays antibacterial wash all over the seat, another toilet I came across had a little leaver on the side and when you pulled this it dispensed a cover over the toilet like a sock.But most of the time our toilet is the open air type & I'm really getting over the fact that if someone See's my bottom well they see my bottom big deal.
Inland
So to Pummakale the travertines as they're known or to me and you those crystal white pools that spill into each other that were all over Turkish brochures in the 80's and 90's. Well let me start by telling you they've right royally f****d them... Where the mineral rich water used to spill out from springs at the top of the hill and cool to for the calcium deposits, they've now diverted the natural water flow into channels where they try and manage it. They've stopped people stomping all over the pools (not a bad thing) but they've built concrete imitation pools that the water is fed into resulting in all the natural pools drying up! It's a major cock up. Left us feeling angry and dissapointed. There are still some small remaining areas where they've left the flow alone which only serve to show you how beautiful the whole place could be. Spent less than 24 hrs there, the only highlight being Kirsty from Newcastle who persuade us to stay in the hotel she works at for £9 for the night. Back to the coast.
Catch up....
Gonna try and speed through a bit to catch up. As you've probably guessed already we have both been bowled over by Turkey and if it had surf I'd sign up for a job on their tourist marketing board any day.
After Troy we headed further down the coast to the ruins of Ephesus which were a revelation after Troy. The Austrian archaeological society have taken it on board to try and re-build bits of by piecing together the jig-saw of bits lying around. As you can see from the photos they're not doing a bad job. They're using some kind of resin that closely matches the original colour of the local stone and isn't at all obvious.
Kym-I'd just like to say that this for me was one of the highlights and a definite must see. It was so fantastic. We spent the whole morning wondering around & could of stayed longer if it hadn't been for our belly's.
Great camping on a 2 mile long beach accessible only by 4x4 and the temperature is getting hotter. Popped into Kusasdasi where there was the biggest cruise ship we'd ever seen and the first shops they see as they step of the boat are Gucci, Prada and a burger king! We ate Koftie (meatballs) & Gozleme (Turkish bread type pancake with spinach & chesse) for about £3 in a terraced cafe with the locals overlooking the harbour just yards away.
After Troy we headed further down the coast to the ruins of Ephesus which were a revelation after Troy. The Austrian archaeological society have taken it on board to try and re-build bits of by piecing together the jig-saw of bits lying around. As you can see from the photos they're not doing a bad job. They're using some kind of resin that closely matches the original colour of the local stone and isn't at all obvious.
Kym-I'd just like to say that this for me was one of the highlights and a definite must see. It was so fantastic. We spent the whole morning wondering around & could of stayed longer if it hadn't been for our belly's.
Great camping on a 2 mile long beach accessible only by 4x4 and the temperature is getting hotter. Popped into Kusasdasi where there was the biggest cruise ship we'd ever seen and the first shops they see as they step of the boat are Gucci, Prada and a burger king! We ate Koftie (meatballs) & Gozleme (Turkish bread type pancake with spinach & chesse) for about £3 in a terraced cafe with the locals overlooking the harbour just yards away.
Monday, 18 May 2009
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Ruins
Caught the ferry over from Eceabat to Cannakale & drove south wards to Troy, which to start with didn't seem much except a pile of rocks but got better as it went along, but still I htink we are getting a bit spoilt & picky .Forunatley we had the place to ourselves & just as we were leaving there was a huge queue of coaches coming in.It was really hard to appreciate Troy as it was all rather overgrown & they had only just started strimming areas for the imminant tourist season.
Moving on
Set off the next day for the Gallipoli penninsular after stocking up on Baclava,Turkish delight, photo film (yes you can still buy it), and petrol.
We spent a couple of days around Gallipoli visiting lots of the Anzac memorials & cemetries, Turkeys being the most impressive as you would imagine & quite rightly so. We had a very humbling couple of days. It's hard to imagine what it was like back in 1915 for these soliders & what was the point now of so many deaths, 50,000 in just the first few days.
The Gallipoli pennisular is beautiful & we found a perfect off road track right on the beach camping spot where we chilled for a day in the sun & both had our first open air showers & hairwash.
We spent a couple of days around Gallipoli visiting lots of the Anzac memorials & cemetries, Turkeys being the most impressive as you would imagine & quite rightly so. We had a very humbling couple of days. It's hard to imagine what it was like back in 1915 for these soliders & what was the point now of so many deaths, 50,000 in just the first few days.
The Gallipoli pennisular is beautiful & we found a perfect off road track right on the beach camping spot where we chilled for a day in the sun & both had our first open air showers & hairwash.
Day 2
We spent the day queueing but are quite naughty because at any oppotunity we queue jump ( well life is definitely too short to be wasting it standing in queues) we're getting pretty good at it now & can generally get 2/3rds ahead. Topkapi palace, so much to see but so many queues,the Harem was thought provoking but too many people & very hard to really submerge your self in it.
Visited the Basilica Cistern, a massive underground water store built 1500 years ago, again an awesome sight to see, if you didn't know where the entrance was you would walk right past & not even know that the cistern was under your feet while walking the streets. The Turkish tourist board really need to do something about the cheesy supermarket music they were playing though, surely part of the whole atmosphere is hearing the echo's and the water.
Headed for The Grand bazzaar after a lunch break of Turkish pizza & Baclava for dessert, bite size layered filo pastry drenched in honey & ground pistacio's, so good. Had some fun wondering around the bazzaar then spent the evening down by the waters edge eating a fresh fish baguette & Gary had a Donner.
Visited the Basilica Cistern, a massive underground water store built 1500 years ago, again an awesome sight to see, if you didn't know where the entrance was you would walk right past & not even know that the cistern was under your feet while walking the streets. The Turkish tourist board really need to do something about the cheesy supermarket music they were playing though, surely part of the whole atmosphere is hearing the echo's and the water.
Headed for The Grand bazzaar after a lunch break of Turkish pizza & Baclava for dessert, bite size layered filo pastry drenched in honey & ground pistacio's, so good. Had some fun wondering around the bazzaar then spent the evening down by the waters edge eating a fresh fish baguette & Gary had a Donner.
Istanbul
So, enough of Gary's waffling.
Treated ourselves to a bit of luxury, a double with ensuite in a brand spanking new hostel right in the heart of the old city.The great thing about Istanbul is that all the sights are conveniently within walking distance of each other.
We spent the next two days strolling around, taking in the Blue mosque which we didn't think was very blue & smelt of smelly feet really badly as of course you have to take your shoes off but I really think they should also make the tourists wash their feet like the locals do before entering the mosque.
The Aya Sophia was much more impressive inside than out & I stood in amazement & wonder of how it was built, it was so vast, very very impressed, google it. It was built in about 500 AD and was originally a cristian cathedral before being converted into a mosque before being converted into a museum by Attaturk who didn't do religion. (I'll let Gary tell you about Attaturk, he was pretty cool we reckon)
Spent the evening in the new part of town in a little back streets buzzing with lively bars & resturants.
Treated ourselves to a bit of luxury, a double with ensuite in a brand spanking new hostel right in the heart of the old city.The great thing about Istanbul is that all the sights are conveniently within walking distance of each other.
We spent the next two days strolling around, taking in the Blue mosque which we didn't think was very blue & smelt of smelly feet really badly as of course you have to take your shoes off but I really think they should also make the tourists wash their feet like the locals do before entering the mosque.
The Aya Sophia was much more impressive inside than out & I stood in amazement & wonder of how it was built, it was so vast, very very impressed, google it. It was built in about 500 AD and was originally a cristian cathedral before being converted into a mosque before being converted into a museum by Attaturk who didn't do religion. (I'll let Gary tell you about Attaturk, he was pretty cool we reckon)
Spent the evening in the new part of town in a little back streets buzzing with lively bars & resturants.
Monday, 11 May 2009
More indulgent waffle
There have been alot, really alot ( Hi Wouter, again) of wars in Yurp, too many. It sometimes freaks us out when after all the battlefields, castles, cemetaries etc we've seen, how many people there would be here now if they were all suddenly alive. (We've just been to Galipolli aswell but more of that later). It's actually been quite humbling seeing how many people fought and died for our freedom in only the last century. But I think how old this continent is pervades. I know the rest of the world has it's ancient civilisations and heres the thing.. I think they are still intouch with their past some still living in it which, don't get me wrong, is great. The fact that they still follow ancient traditions and still use ancient techniques for going about various things (building, cooking, praying etc) is awesome; but Yurp has moved on, mixed up and got jiggy with it to the extent that we now move things forward on a global scale and this I think more than anything makes it seem old because we can relate to history because we see it taking place so recently. Phew, am I making sense? And; we can see our history.. it's all around us from the 17th century coaching inn we call our local pub to Stonehenge to Bath to the Uffizi to.. to .. to.. and Europeans? Who can say we have an identity when we are so mixed up, and that's great! So there. I'm going to bed.
Indulgent waffle
Just before going into to detail about Istanbul ('cos I know you all love details!?) I'm gonna jot down a few thoughts about the countries known collectively in the West Country as Yurp.
England is crowded, really, really crowded... alot (Hi, Wouter:)) why don't more British people take advantage of the fact that you can live anywhere in Yurp and stop being so scared that they don't speak the same language or you might not be able to read a menu? We think we've got some nice country side in the SW of the UK and we have, but, man.. the mainland has got stacks of it!! There are still forests.. real ones with trees that grow randomly not in straight lines and people chop wood and stack it for fires in the winter. (It seems to be something of an obsession actually. We kept seeing these amazingly well stacked piles of logs all over, especially through the Alps). There are real wild animals, not just deer, badgers and foxes but scary ones like wolves, bears and boars aswell. Most of Yurp loves kids and are more than happy to let them stay up and do grown up things like go to restaurants. Saves loads on babysitters.
England is crowded, really, really crowded... alot (Hi, Wouter:)) why don't more British people take advantage of the fact that you can live anywhere in Yurp and stop being so scared that they don't speak the same language or you might not be able to read a menu? We think we've got some nice country side in the SW of the UK and we have, but, man.. the mainland has got stacks of it!! There are still forests.. real ones with trees that grow randomly not in straight lines and people chop wood and stack it for fires in the winter. (It seems to be something of an obsession actually. We kept seeing these amazingly well stacked piles of logs all over, especially through the Alps). There are real wild animals, not just deer, badgers and foxes but scary ones like wolves, bears and boars aswell. Most of Yurp loves kids and are more than happy to let them stay up and do grown up things like go to restaurants. Saves loads on babysitters.
Turkey
Istanbul, Constantinopol, Byzantium whatever it's fantastic. Kym fancied a drive before arrival in the city which I'm sure she regretted when we hit the city at knocking off time. Mayhem... but with skill, determination, no help from me (she kept repeating the mantra "stay calm, keep going" over and over) and the fact we're in a very big tough looking truck we made it to camping Mistik. The truly mystic thing about this campsite was the fact it had a huge website with great photo's and lot's of facilities and turned out to be a big back yard with spaces for about 20 campers all on top of each other. Plus it was too far from the center to make public transport an easy option, so in the morning (Sunday less manic traffic) we drove into the heart of old Istanbul and stumbled across a hostel with parking outside and a really warm reception not only from the hostel owners but also the parking attendant who would keep an eye on the truck for a couple of days at a knock down rate(it was supposed to be 3tl (turkish lira approx 2.3 to the pound) per HOUR but the hostel owner negotiated 10tl per day!!)
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Turkey
May 2nd Turkey!! First thought... they don't do bends. The road from the border to Istanbul was arrow straight which was a nice change from the tortuous mountain bends we'd been getting used to (while I remember, how bloody mountainous is Greece!). Somebody asked about the borders, so far it's been pretty hassle free. Keeping in line with border guard stereotypes, most tend not to smile much but after a bit of disarming banter and once they find out we're driving to Oz, they're pretty helpful. Paying for 3rd party insurance for countries not yet fully in the EU is the only expense so far with the exception of Turkey where we had to pay 15 euros each for visas. We haven't had to use the Carnet de Pasage yet as most countries have put a little car stamp in our passports and on exit obviously a car out stamp. Iran though I'm sure will be a different matter.
more Greece
In fact, when we do discuss what we've seen and favourites etc it seems that Nature keeps on winning and more often than not it's a view or the intimidating mountains that make us feel humblest. That said, for all it's faults and the problems it causes (and of course the fulfilment it gives the faithful) Religion has chucked up some pretty spectacular buildings.
Onward and Eastwards, after a truly miserable weather day we pitched up in Andruopoli right on the border with Turkey. Not a spectacular place but the spinach pasties were good also met some Kiwis/Aussies that had shipped a load of historic military vehicles to Istanbul and had commemorated ANZAC day at Gallipoli on the 25th April and were driving through Europe to Commemorate D-Day for June. All they'd had since arriving was rain and their sunshades and awnings just weren't up for the job, honestly, they didn't look like they were enjoying themselves! More photo's as soon as we get a faster link (the one below took 12 min to upload!!)
Onward and Eastwards, after a truly miserable weather day we pitched up in Andruopoli right on the border with Turkey. Not a spectacular place but the spinach pasties were good also met some Kiwis/Aussies that had shipped a load of historic military vehicles to Istanbul and had commemorated ANZAC day at Gallipoli on the 25th April and were driving through Europe to Commemorate D-Day for June. All they'd had since arriving was rain and their sunshades and awnings just weren't up for the job, honestly, they didn't look like they were enjoying themselves! More photo's as soon as we get a faster link (the one below took 12 min to upload!!)
Unexpected Greece.
Corfu was wet and grey but Mum's hospitality more than made up for it. On the Sunday we celebrated Kym's birthday again and on Monday regretted it. We all did pretty much nothing all day apart from feel sorry for ourselves. Caught up with more friends on Tuesday night and all too soon were on the ferry back to mainland Greece on Wednesday.
Mum had mentioned a place called Meteora which was on our way and boy are we glad she did. Arriving late afternoon in the sunshine we set up in a campsite and got everything opened up/spread out for a freshen up. Even from the campsite the rock outcrops looked pretty spectacular especially as they the were changing colour with the diminishing sun, but the following morning when we drove up for a closer look we were blown away. The pictures don't really give you a grasp of the vastness of it all. That and the backdrop and the fact that a thousand years ago they managed to build monastries on top them, made Meteora the most memorable site so far.
In fact, when we do discuss what we've seen and favourites etc it seems that Nature keeps on winning and more often than not it's a view or the intimidating mountains that make us feel humblest. That said, for all it's faults and the problems it causes (and of course the fulfilment it gives the faithful) Religion has chucked up some pretty spectacular buildings.
Mum had mentioned a place called Meteora which was on our way and boy are we glad she did. Arriving late afternoon in the sunshine we set up in a campsite and got everything opened up/spread out for a freshen up. Even from the campsite the rock outcrops looked pretty spectacular especially as they the were changing colour with the diminishing sun, but the following morning when we drove up for a closer look we were blown away. The pictures don't really give you a grasp of the vastness of it all. That and the backdrop and the fact that a thousand years ago they managed to build monastries on top them, made Meteora the most memorable site so far.
In fact, when we do discuss what we've seen and favourites etc it seems that Nature keeps on winning and more often than not it's a view or the intimidating mountains that make us feel humblest. That said, for all it's faults and the problems it causes (and of course the fulfilment it gives the faithful) Religion has chucked up some pretty spectacular buildings.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Macedonia
So another country ticked off and into Macendonia! It was starting to get late by the time we arrived at the lake near Ohrid. We took the road round the lake as advised and went in search of the campsite, an hour later it was pitch black and we still hadn't come across the site. Then the raod ran out and lo and behold a camp site...... the two guys in reception were a worry.. both wearing camoflage fatigues and both looking pretty serious. Kym hopped out and had a quick chat and quickly ascertained, yep campsite no couldn't stay it was an army barracks. Bugger. Well we had a laugh but by now it's getting late and we still haven't found any where to stay. In the middle of no where we turned down a dirt track into the woods and stuck the truck in low range, after a brief descent we spotted a clearing and drove in, pitched up and cooked dinner. I confess, I was a bit twitchy, you see I'd read the section in the Lonely planet book about wild life but I didn't think it was a great idea to impart the knowledge that bears, wolves and even mountain lynx were roaming free in Macedonia!! Until we were tucked up in bed anyway. Of course she wasn't happy... she needed a wee... bravely I offered to hang upside down from the entrance and illuminate the area only I dropped the torch which hit the ladder and Kym's wee was suddenly over with much cursing. Whoops.
Albania
There is of course the small matter of another country in between Montenegro and Macedonia but it turned out to be more than just a drive by. Albania is light years behind eveywhere else we'd been so far, Sheep hanging by their back legs in the village square having been put to sleep with a big sharp knife, butchered on the floor and hung in the, open air, non refrigerated, "mish derri" (butchers), a definate lack of bin men or any sort of organised rubbish collection altogether and Mercedes everywhere. Don't know what the story is with the Mercedes but they make up 98% of all the vehicles on the road. But the people are great!! Almost everyone stopped and waved as we drove past, at one point even to the extent that we kept hearing a whistle while in a town centre and there was this guy in a suit jumping up and down thumbs up grinning his head off! Weirdo's. Bunkers is the other notable standout in Albania. It seems the old ruler Hoxa(?) was a bit paranoid and so covered the whole bloody place with these little concrete humps. Some are bigger than others but most are about 1.5m high by about 3m in diameter and really they are every where, peoples back gardens farmers fields just really random places. Of course they're all obsolete now and they seem to have been recycled as mostly sheperds toilets!
More Montenegro
Figured out while we were there that Montenegro seems to be being taken over by the Russians. Lot's of bad taste apparent in almost everything from clothing to appartment developements. What's weird though is that the infrastructure developement seems to be partly funded by the EU (big signs up by the side of new roads and tunnels), so this begs the question why are the Euros paying to make it easier for the Russkies to drive there flash cars around an, essentially, tin pot little country? Anyway left the coast and headed inland to try and get to Ohrid in Macedonia where we'd been told there was a great campsite on the side of a beautiful lake that would be a great place to wake up on Kym's birthday.
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Saturday, 2 May 2009
Thursday 23 April.
We spent the morning sat in the sun looking over the map, we had too many choices of where to go next & with my birthday just around the corner we wanted to make sure we were somewhere half decent. After meeting a fellow traveller Fred who himself had done a similar route to what we were about to do, but the otherway around, we took his advice & decided to head for Ohrid in Macedonia where there is a big lake to relax next to for a couple of days in a campsite he recommended.
Well with clean clothes, drinking water & a clear plan of where we were heading we set off for Macedonia, first arriving in Kotar in Montenegro after a small ferry crossing. We thought we would do the coast road & drive to Kotor but once we had turned a corner & realised just how far it was to drive, it maybe would of taken us about 2 hours as opposed to 15 minutes on the ferry, we turned around & joined the queue for the ferry.
Arrived in Kotor to sunshine so we strolled around the walled town grabbed ourselves a beer & sat by the fjord while a Montenagran old man talked to us, we didn't have a clue what he was saying except that he kept pointing at the town & saying Montenegro. Fortunately we had crossed the border so were already aware of where we were (although looking back now some of the countries we have been to are starting to merge in our memories).
We spent the morning sat in the sun looking over the map, we had too many choices of where to go next & with my birthday just around the corner we wanted to make sure we were somewhere half decent. After meeting a fellow traveller Fred who himself had done a similar route to what we were about to do, but the otherway around, we took his advice & decided to head for Ohrid in Macedonia where there is a big lake to relax next to for a couple of days in a campsite he recommended.
Well with clean clothes, drinking water & a clear plan of where we were heading we set off for Macedonia, first arriving in Kotar in Montenegro after a small ferry crossing. We thought we would do the coast road & drive to Kotor but once we had turned a corner & realised just how far it was to drive, it maybe would of taken us about 2 hours as opposed to 15 minutes on the ferry, we turned around & joined the queue for the ferry.
Arrived in Kotor to sunshine so we strolled around the walled town grabbed ourselves a beer & sat by the fjord while a Montenagran old man talked to us, we didn't have a clue what he was saying except that he kept pointing at the town & saying Montenegro. Fortunately we had crossed the border so were already aware of where we were (although looking back now some of the countries we have been to are starting to merge in our memories).
Croatia
Had a little bonus at in the Dubrovnik campite, we decided to get all our washing done as they had a washer & dryer but alas the dryer didn't work so first thing in the morning I went to complain to the manager he promptly gave me my money back & took my washing to the nearest hotel to dry it all, fantastic
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