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!

Turkey

Temperatures are far more friendly here and the landscape is less rough (in the beginning), so it is easier to make some kilometers. Everybody is just as friendly here as in Lebanon en Syria. The 20 cups of tea are a the daily proof of that. Sometimes a car stops to offer us a sweet treat and sometimes we get a complete meal at a petrol station. If we would stop for every offer, we would still be cycling near the Syrian- Turkish border after two weeks! We travel from Gaziantep -> Sanliurfa -> Siverek -> Diyarbakir -> Tatvan -> Van -> Dogubayazit.

Unofficially we enter Kurdistan when we cross the Eufraat, so we meet a lot of Kurds. Of course they are just as kind as everybody we have met so far. Interesting fact is that during our trip we always get warned for the next country. In Lebanon we get warnings for Syria, in Syria warnıngs for Turkey and the Turks warn us for the Kurds. And of course now we get warnings for Iran. The only conclusion we can draw is that all the people we have met so far are unbelievably kind....

We crossed the Eufraat and the Tigris, see old castles, bridges and Khans (places where the caravans used to spent the night). We see big herds of cattle and really a lot of sheep in the big planes we cross.

We spent our first night in the tent, for the hotel in Silvan did not exist. A beautiful spot at the secured schoolground is organised by the police.

So far we haven`t had any problem with the big wild dogs in Turkey. We are able to spot them in time, than jump of our bikes and wait. Most times somebody helps us with a stone or the dog lost its interest when we stop cycling.

In Tatvan we cross the Van lake (at 1770 mtrs) after a day of waiting for the ferry boat. Unfortunately now we can not say we have cycled every mile to China, but then again: Marco Polo was sitting on a camel half the time!

Syria `Welcome`

In Syrië we start in Damscus, where all the sites are a real treat for our eyes (like the cave of Ali Baba). Parfume, gold, silk and everywhere the smell of spices. Small streets, hidden courtyards with fountains en beautiful restaurants. We feel like we're part of the Arabic faiytales (1000 and 1 night). People are at least as kind as in Libanon and everywhere we come we are greeted with a nice 'welcome!'. Whenever we stop people are gesturing to come insıde to drink tea. Sometimes we feel like a royal couple when people are running to the streets to wave to us en to shout 'welcome!'.The image we had about a man dressed in green and wearing a red and white scarf on top of his head, is completely different than what we see in reality: a friendly farmer waving to come and drink tea in his house... We travel north to Homs. The scenery here looks more like a desert. When we climb for hours and hours on end I (Janneke) sometimes dispare, but Maarten is able to cheer me up everytime (a true Marco Polo). In the direction of Craq de chevalier (a huge crusader castle) the scenery turns green and cycling next to the highway is finally finished. In Apamea we visit the old Roman street and together with some sheep we are the only ones. Due to the many tea offers we get, we visit peoples houses quite often, which we think is very special. In Aleppo we have a day of rest. We visit the old citadel and relax. Temperatures are pretty high for a few days in Syrıë. After 12:00 we cycle ın 40C, that's pretty demanding. We leave Syrië though ın rain, when we depart from Azzes in the morning. Turkey here we come!

Lebanon

At fırst we feel a little bit uncomfortable for it is impossible not to look like a tourist with our bike-clothes (It's almost written on our foreheads). But soon Beirut seems a friendly city where tourists are very welcome. We see a lot of new luxurious buildings on one site, but on the other hand you can still see a lot of buildings with bullitholes. Unfortunately there is not really a view of the city because the huge amount of smog. A colleague of Maarten gave us a brilliant evening in Beirut by taking us out for dinner at a great place. We learnt to smoke the Hubbly-Bubbly (argileh), had plenty of terrific food, great laughs and some good advise for our trip. Our bikes have arrived well from the plane and are ready for take off. My stomach hurts when I take a look at the highway we have to ride.....It's going to be a terrible fırst etappe: 35C, 35 km of climbing between trucks and inhaling smog. We expected about 800 altitude meters, but it turns out to be over 1600 mtrs. Some men put there heads out of the window to scream 'Why?!' At this point we're unable to answer that question. But even more men scream 'Bravo!' and give us an applause. The long descent to Zahle (almost) makes us forget about the demandıng climb. From Zahle we bike up and down to Baalbek to see the famous temple. It's certainly worth the effort. We have to go through the Beekaa-valley and everywhere we meet friendly and helpfull people. If we stop for a drink, immediately people pull over to ask if we need any help or to give us a cheer. After Baalbek already our last etappe in Libanon; Zahle to Damascus (80 km).

Funniest questionst so far:

- How many wives do you normally have in Holland?

- Like to buy a Hezbollah shirt? No...? How about the flag?

- To maarten: is that your wife? yes, is she already pregnant?