The Bazargan
border crossing for my exit from Iran looked extremely busy on approach, queues
of mostly semi-trailer trucks and vans had me thinking I’d be in for a long
afternoon. I parked adjacent to the building with the most people coming and
going, and no sooner had I removed my helmet I was greeted by a fast talking
young man asking for my passport and carnet, a so called fixer I assumed. I
told him straight up I had no money to pay for his assistance and I could
manage the formalities on my own. As expected he was not deterred by my refusal
of his services and he told me to follow him, so with passport and carnet in my
hand I followed. Over a forty (40) minute period we entered, exited, re-entered
and exited the main building returning to the same officials each time, filling
in my carnet, inspecting my motorcycle and finally completing the requirements
of my carnet. I now had to join the queue of vehicles at the Iran exit gate,
and it was a long one, the fixer said if paid him money he would speak to the
guard and I could by-pass the queue, I pulled out my wallet and showed him my money,
all 15.00 Turkish Lira or the equivalent of $AU7.50, the fixer said 10.00 TL
would do, I said 5.00 TL, he said 10.00 TL and walked to the border guard and
asked for the gate to be opened and for me to be let through, to my surprise
the guard opened the gate. The fixer returned and asked for his 10.00 TL, I
said no, I’ll give you 5.00 TL, he had a whinge, said that will only buy me a
packet of smokes, I said that was better than nothing which is what I
originally offered you, he took the 5.00 TL and left. I then had my passport
stamped and I exited Iran straight into another gated area. Once in the
compound I realised there was no “no-man’s land” between border posts and I was
in fact in the Turkey immigration and customs compound, I then thought to
myself the fixers assistance was worth $AU2.50 and it would have been a long
afternoon without him.
There were
no officials in the small compound I shared with about a dozen vans and cars,
so I asked a vehicle driver what we were waiting for, he said it was lunch time
and we had to wait. After only about five minutes there was movement in the
compound with Customs officials inspecting goods carried in the vehicles, one
official inspected the contents of one (1) of my panniers. All vehicle drivers
and passengers then placed vehicle documents and passports on a desk in a
booth, the young lady in the booth shuffled through the pile of document and
picked out mine, called me over, completed the formalities and returned my
documents, I put on my jacket and helmet, moved forward to a closed gate,
showed the guard my passport, he then opened the gate, so after a cross border
exit and entry that took about two (2) hours I was on my way, on the road in
Turkey.The first thing I had to do was get cash and fuel for my bike, a thirty (30) kilometre ride had me in the town of Dogubayazit, I rode into a petrol station, extremely relieved when the attendant said I could pay for fuel electronically using my bank card, I filled my bike with petrol and decided to continue to the next town before calling it a day. The town of Agri was where I spent my first night in Turkey and accommodation came at a premium, there was 6000 graduating student teachers in town throughout the week and hotels were mostly full, I eventually found an over-priced room for the night.
Back on the road the following day I skirted rain showers throughout the morning before riding over a 2,409 metre pass where the temperature dropped from 19 degrees to 14 degrees with rain. Thankfully the rain was brief and soon enough I was in the town of Bayburt, I settled into a newly constructed and very nice hotel for a two night stay, spending my time wandering the streets, visiting the town centre and Bayburt Kalesi (castle).
Leaving Bayburt the
temperature was a cool 9 degrees, rising to 14 degrees as I continued north.
After about 150 kilometres I rode over a mountain range, then another 30
kilometres further on as I approached the northeast Black Sea coast and the
city of Trabzon the temperature rose to a pleasant 22 degrees. Trabzon is
located on the historical Silk Road and became a melting pot for religion,
languages and culture for centuries and a gateway for trade with Iran in the
southeast and the Caucasus in the northeast. My hotel was situated opposite the
city port, cranes were active loading and unloading container ships, while the
street vendors outside were busy selling fish from the local fleet’s daily
catch.
The
following morning I took a short ride out of Trabzon, where nestled on a steep
cliff in the Pontic Mountains overlooking the Altindere valley I visit Sumela
Monastery, founded in AD 386 the buildings have been restored several times
over its long history and these days the primary function of the monastery is a
tourist attraction.
Moving on again I continue
my ride westward along the Black Sea coast to the city of Samsun, on arrival
the weather was cool and windy with drizzly rain but I walked the streets regardless,
visiting several local attractions including a replica of the cargo ship SS Bandirma
which was used to transport Mustafa Kemal Ataturk from Istanbul to Samsun,
arriving May 19, 1919 he established
the Turkish liberation movement against the Allies, the date traditionally
marks the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence. I also visit a Statue
of Ataturk by the Austrian sculptor Heinrich Krippel in Samsun's city center. Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk was a Turkish army officer, reformist statesman, and the first
President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of
Turkey. His surname, Atatürk (meaning "Father of the Turks"), was
granted to him in 1934 and forbidden to any other person by the Turkish
parliament.
Sticking to the Black Sea coast I rode further west to the seaside city of Sinop, my days in Sinop were spent visiting the local sights including Sinop Fortress, Sinop Fortress Prison, Pasha Bastion, Aladdin Mosque and Balatlar Church.
My next Black Sea port of call was Amasra, and after a five (5) hour, three hundred (300) kilometre ride along a winding road surrounded by forested mountains I settled in for several days. Amasra is a picturesque little town and a popular tourist destination, while visiting the Amasra Castle I happen upon a group of fellow Australians in town on a bus / cruise ship tour of Turkey, they were on their way eastward, where I had already been once back on the ship later that day.
It was now time to head inland, I had a short ride day in drizzling rain before reaching the city of Safranbolu early afternoon. The name of the town derives from ‘saffron” and the Greek word 'polis' (city), since Safranbolu was a trading place and a centre for growing saffron. Today saffron is still grown at the village of Davutobası which is 22 km east of Safranbolu and is regarded as probably one of the best quality saffron in the world.
Safranbolu was added to the list of UNESCO heritage sites in 1994 due to its
well-preserved Ottoman era houses and architecture. So with the rain passed I
visit the “Old Town” sites including the Ottoman quarter, the Clock Tower, the miniature
replicas of Anatolia Provence clock towers, Kazdagliglu Mosque, Ulu Mosque,
City History Museum, the Bazaar and the Cinci Haman (Turkish Bath).
Clear blue skies were a pleasant sight the following morning so I was back
on my motorcycle for a visit to the nearby Incekaya Aqua duct, Crystal Terrence’s
and Tokatli Canyon before riding back to Safranbolu via the Bulak Mencilis
(cave).
While stopped for fuel at a service station in Osmancik
on the way to an overnight stop-over in Corum the following day I met a Russian
guy by the name of Uri riding a Yamaha FJ1300, he was on his way home after a
six (6) week tour of Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy. He was riding
long days of up one thousand (1,000) kilometres to make it home before the winter
snow prevented his return. He was a little concerned after having spoken to a
home town friend earlier in the day who said it was already snowing and he’d
best hurry up.
After a ride
around the site I continued on to one of the most popular tourist destinations
in Turkey, Cappadocia.
The Cappadocia region has many areas with unique geological, historic, and cultural features. The most important towns and destinations I visited in Cappadocia are Urgup, Goreme, Ihlara Valley, Selime, Guzelyurt, Uchisar, Avanos and Zelve. Sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams and ignimbrite deposits that erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately 9 to 3 million years ago, underlie the Cappadocia region. The rocks of Cappadocia near Goreme eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars and minaret-like forms. People of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out houses, churches and monasteries from the soft rocks of volcanic deposits.
During my week long stay in Goreme I caught up with Daniel, a German guy travelling the world by plane, train, bus, ship and car. I first met Daniel in Uzbekistan, again in Turkmenistan and then once more in Turkey.
Daniel drove us around in his hire car, we visited Derinkuyu and Kaymakli underground cities. The region also has a couple of underground cities worth seeing, so I took a break from riding while.
We also
visit the town of Mutafapasa, Keslik Monastery, Sobessos Ancient City
Excavation area before returning to Goreme.
Daniel was now heading to Iran, to get there he was to endure a fifty two (52) hour trip that included a train ride and an overnight lake crossing on a ship, I on the other hand loaded my motorcycle and rode at my own pace further south to take in more terrific sites in Turkey.
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