Turkey 2

(see dutch version for pictures)





Our last week in Turkey is slightly different than the previous weeks. We started climbing the mountains and now we know why we carried our warm clothes uphill in the desert of Syria. We had snow! But of course we ran again into these kind people who invite us into their houses, like the ones on the picture. One of them is the local imam and all the others were making sure the heater was on and our glasses filled with tea.


Not everything is going as smoothly as you might think, like the ferry in Tatvan. First, the whole village told us various departure times, so we just had to guess. When we were ready for departure, the boat was broken so we had to stay in Tatvan an extra night. The next morning after waiting for four hours, we were finally on our way to Van by boat. An excellent trip I must say, for we were the only ones on board and the scenery was magnificent. So we learnt to just go with the flow!
After two more days of cycling and climbing a 2640 mtr pass, we arrive at the border of Iran, at Dogubayazit. We meet four very nice Turkish teachers who hang out with us in Dogubayzit and help Janneke to shop for an outfit for Iran.
We have a full day of site seeing and relaxing. The Ishakpaşa Palace is our favourite site (see picture). We finish our day in a hot spring of vulcanic water. We are ready for Iran!

Turkey thank you for all your hospitality and tea!