Cappadocia to Dogubeyazit - 20 Aug to 24 Aug

20th August 2008

Summary: Mustafapasa, Soganli valley, Kaymakli Underground city

Joined a small tour to visit Mustafapasa - a small Greek village, a short walk along Soganli valley stopping at more cave nunneries, monasteries and churches, and the underground city at Kaymakli. Kaymakli was quite amazing - living space for 20,000 people, stables, wineries, a church, all connected by narrow, low tunnels, including a 9km passage to the next underground city, with frequent keystones to block off invaders. Reminded G of his Dungeons and Dragons days. After the tour we bought our onward bus tickets and finally stopped for tea at a cafe where G had promised the enthusiastic waiter the day we first arrived in Urgup that we would visit "tomorrow". While sitting there we spotted an American girl and her mum who were on our tour, and they joined us. Mustafa picked us up part way up the hill on the way back to the hotel. The poor guy had been sent by Eren to buy her a hair styling iron with 7 different attachments. She was very excited to receive it. One of the American guests made cocktails for everyone on the terrace.

Food: soup, rice, veggies, omelette, yoghurt on the tour, beef ravioli and salad at Ziggy's.

21st August 2008

Summary: bus to Kayseri, bus to Sivas

The otogar (bus station) at Kayseri was a bit of a shock - huge, sparkling and new with Mariah Carey blaring over the loudspeakers. That aside we are really getting into the wild east of Turkey now. The tourists have disappeared, as well almost all English-speaking locals, except for the carpet sellers of course. Started off exploring inside the walls of the citadel, now filled with stalls selling clothing. Walked through the covered bazaar. It was very different to the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul with no painted bowls or cushion covers, just normal shopping items like shiny grey suits and bales of wool. Very few vendors hassling us and there were lots of locals doing their shopping. Bought some turkish delight which was shaved off a huge vertical block, much like a doner kebab. At the next shop we tried to buy the more regular variety, chose a few pieces, but the shop owner refused payment, and just said "gift" - amazing! Entered the mosque of the Hunat Hatun complex. A lot of men were hanging out there, either reading to themselves or out aloud, or just snoozing beside a column. Bus'ed to Sivas then had a long walk (4km) to our hotel with lots of locals helping us find the way - again with very little English. Went for a walk to the centre of Sivas only to find all the historic mosques and buildings enclosed by a big fence and under renovation. Sat on some steps in a square opposite the mosques and watched the locals watching us.

Practicalities: 09:00-10:00 bus from Urgup to Kayseri, cab to town (new otogar is quite far from town), 15:00-18:00 bus to Sivas. Stayed at Otel Divan - room 404.

Food: manti - cross between ravioli and gnocchi, topped with yoghurt - yum! (served by a female - very unusual!), iskender kebab.

22nd August 2008

Summary: bus to Erzurum

Had an early morning walk around Sivas - attempted to visit the Gok Medrese but it was also sealed off for renovation! Managed to stick our heads (mine wrapped in a scarf) into Ulu Cami (oldest mosque in Sivas) which was completely empty. Saw some impressive balancing acts (see photo) at the bus station while waiting to leave for Erzurum. Nice scenery again - gently undulating hills became barren mountains which then became a little more fertile with a stream running through. The approach to Erzurum was a little daunting - we had been in bright sunshine for the entire bus trip (entire 6 wks really), but a grey cloud seemed to envelope the town and a wind storm was brewing. Erzurum's main claim to fame is its Iranian Consulate, so unsurprisingly the first tourist we met (at the secret grog shop, equally unsurprisingly) was headed for Iran. Unfortunately we couldn't find a public place to drink so we didn't get a chance to chat properly. Erzurum is also known for it's conservative-ness (hence no drinking in public). Not only did we see our first black chadors but also some women (I assume) with their faces completely covered in brown sacks. At the same time there were enough females in western outfits that I didn't feel too under-dressed.

Practicalities: 10:30-17:00 bus to Erzurum, minibus into town. First time we arrived in a town without a hotel booking (excluding Lecce where we had the booking but the hotel didn't...) - headed to Kral Hotel where they had a Selcuk-themed room (314) and we managed to knock a whole 10 YTL off the price.

Food: soup, chicken, rice at bus canteen somewhere on the way, lentil soup, anatolian rice, turkish pizza at Salon Asya

23rd August 2008

Summary: Iranian Consulate

Erzurum was still grey when we woke up. Headed straight out to the Iranian Consulate, rather nervous as we'd heard lots of stories of people waiting weeks for their visas, even though they had already arranged authorisation codes (as we have). To maximise our chances I walked into the office in my Iranian outfit (long kaftan top + headscarf) only to find other western tourists there dressed "normally", so I ripped off the scarf. Couldn't have hoped for a better outcome - short wait, everyone was friendly, there didn't appear to be any problems and they told us to come back in the afternoon to pick up our visas. A french couple kindly lent us EUR 100 for payment as we didn't have any EUR cash. The french couple's (Ben and Sylvie) itinerary put our trip to shame - they are about to follow the same route as us through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, but on RECUMBENT BICYCLES. They have already been on the road for 4 months, starting in Marseille, and planning to be travelling for 2 years in total. I will add a link to their blog for those of you who want to see what REAL travellers get up to. We had tea with them and then went for a short wander around town to the Cifte Minareli Medrese (double minareted theological school - this is officially the main site, not the consulate...) and through the jewellery bazaar. Had a siesta then met up with B+S again to head to the embassy. All our passports including visas were returned within 5 min - we were all ecstatic. Back in town we picked up their friend, another crazy french cyclist, Bruno, and checked out their bicycles. The boys went in search of beer (cherry juice for the girls) which we had back in our hotel room to celebrate a successful day. We all went out for dinner followed by baklava, where the other patrons asked where we were from and then showed us a newspaper article about Harry Kewell. Had our first rain for weeks and it was quite cold and windy (15C ish) after dinner.

Food: fruit, bread, turkish macaroon, lentil soup, antep kebab, adana kebab, baklava.

24th August 2008

Summary: bus to Dogubeyazit (aka Dog Biscuit)

Decided to make the most of our Iranian visas so hot-footed it to Dog Biscuit (border town 35km from Iran), being careful not to veer too far north (Georgia) or south (Iraq). The countryside and villages we passed were decidedly bleak and impoverished. Seemed to be a bit more livestock around (mmmm kebabs..). Admired Mt Ararat as we drove past (5165m - we were at approx 1500m). Dogubeyazit is a dusty town and most of the streets seem to be dug up though not fenced off. Combined with the black clouds and thunder it was less than inviting. There were lots of tanks and armed police around but G wouldn't let me take a photo :( Some kids were chatting incessantly to G on the way from the bus stop. One boy insisted he was Kurdish but not Turkish. Wandered around town, found the best supermarket since leaving London, the bus stop to Gurbalek (border crossing), and a paved street!

Practicalities: 10:30-14:30 bus, staying at Hotel Isfahan, room 122

Food: rice, beans, vegetables.