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‹ Previous (31/08/2009) MONTH Next (2009-10-30)› ‹ Previous (2009-09-19 - Pakistan) COUNTRY Next (2009-10-08 - Turkey)› Iran Teheran (see on map) 30/09/2009:
We reached Kerman mid-morning, but our friend (I will maintain the names in anonymity just in case) had a lot of work at his company and his nice girlfriend, immediately took us to apply for the visa extension in the office of foreign affairs because we have only 7 days visa. But unfortunately, they announced that our visa was of transit and that we could not extend it, although we could try in Esfahan. Pressed to leave because we had few days in Iran, we met with our friend in his company. And it was worth, because an Iranian friend is the most valuable thing that there is in this world. During the meeting, our friend commented us that as in the rest of the world, the Iranian economics is also in crisis. On the other hand, he also explained us that during the subsequent demonstrations after the Iranian ellections, Kerman remained quite calm, on the contrary to Esfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz or Tehran the was no death. After being invited to eat with our friend, we put ourselves in the excellent Iranian roads (generally with 2 or 3 lanes) and I tightened the accelerator in depth in order to reach as soon as possible Esfahan and later Tehran. I was little worried with the price of the diesel, because this continued costing 0,01€/litre, and besides, on three occasions (along all Iran) they did not let us pay, obtaining the free fuel. However, yes that we were worried with the numerous speed controls in the roads, although the autocaravan did not run as to surpass the limits in most of the cases. On the other hand, we also had time apart from the speed to enjoy the landscape, because on this occasion the sky of Iran was much clearer, leaving in sight some images much more interesting, with wild mountains behind the desert plains. We reached Esfahan on the following day at noon, addressing directly the office of foreign affairs where definitely they denied us the possibility to extend our visa. So, with haste we directed ourselves to the big bazaar of Esfahan (quite empty of tourists) where we were comparing prices and finally we buyed different exquisite wooden boxes that we think to resell in Europe (http://www.globetour.org/products/). We also call one more friend that we have in Esfahan, but in the end could not present himself because the appointment that he had with a girl stretched out of the account. Naturally I excused him because in no place of the world, but less in Iran, an appointment with a girl can be wasted. After another day and a half of driving, we arrive to Tehran, the fourth day in the afternoon, where we had to meet with another good friend. Our friend had told us by telephone that she had to comment to us on something (severe) related with her husband. We were worried that something has happened during the unsuccessful post-electoral revolution, but it was in the end to be a little much more international: her husband had left her recently for another girl. Anyway, our friend is of a strong and very positive character, and the advantages of living without him, as the possibility to travel much more around the world, already started to be suggested. When asking her about the great demonstrations in Tehran, she commented us that she did not go to any, but yes her husband, who returned hit in the leg. As she explained, the government had brought many people original from rural areas, armed them with big bars of iron that were dedicated to hit anybody, but especially the women. On the other hand, our friend was worried because the heads of her company had done campaign for Mussavi and the government was now pressing them so that they sold their part of the company to the army. If that happened, it would provoke a hardening of the working norms, but the leak of international business would be much worse (the company would enter in the black list of blocked companies), she would lose the opportunity to do businesses trips to Europe. After resting a day at the house of our friend in Tehran, on the sixth day we got back on the road to finish covering the last 900 kilometres of Iran. We have arrived today, (the seventh day) to the border, but a hundred meters before this, in a hut, a corrupt policeman has asked me if my car was diesel or gasoline, showing me a paper that supposedly the diesel cars needed for circular for Iran. Remembering that they had commented us on the diesel card that cost 300€ I have commented that the car was gasoline. But the policeman has not believed me and asked me to inspect the entry of the diesel while I pretend not to understand. Finally, the policeman has located the entry of the water in the autocaravan (fortunately, the entry of the fuel is half dissimulated with the adhesives) and asked me to open it. Showing reluctance, I have opened the opening of the water and the policeman has put the nose to sniff, but as it did not smell at all, has started to laugh confused and has been convinced that the autocaravan was not diesel. The following formalities have been very fast once on the border, although I have continued with the tremor of the legs provoked by the previous policeman. Next we have had to wait for a couple of hours for the queue of cars that entered to Turkey, coming back to this country, equally marvellous, although unlike Iran, the diesel costs 1,3€/litro. Turkey Sanliurfa (see on map) 08/10/2009:
After spending over a year travelling through Asia, in Turkey we have felt more relaxed than ever, with a culture much closer to our countries. After shopping in Dogubayazit, which included cheese and olives, the first night we parked near the road, in sight of Mount Arat. It was long time since we did not sleep outside a town or gas station with the certainty of not being disturbed. And so it was for the first time since Tibet, that we enjoyed a fresh night and we took out the covers from the closets. We were scheduled to arrive in Romania in mid-November to visit the family of Alexandra, and in Catalonia at the beginning of December, thus having one and a half months to enjoy the road, we started towards the south of Turkey, with the intention of visiting Anatolia or Kurdistan region and then Syria. I wanted to visit this country, because many travellers have explained its wonders, but also to pump my spine that I still dunk when the authorities forbade me the entry from Jordan. Anyway, though Alexandra said so openly, in my mind also frightened me the possibility of going to have problems to get in (well, Alexandra needed to obtain a visa in advance) or have problems once inside and have difficulty leaving the country with the motor home. In any event, we were still far from Syria and we were captivated enough by the northern Turkey views to think about the possible difficulties ahead. We spent a couple of days around Lake Van, being invited to tea at any time by Turkish families. After two days of calm, blue lake views, some small islands and a mysterious snowy mountain in the background, we resumed our way, unhurriedly towards Mardin, a town wrapped around a hill overlooking the endless plains of Syria. Along the way we stopped at the monastery of Mor Yaqoub (without much interest) and just before entering in Mardin, in the monastery of Mor Hanany, founded shortly before AD 500. The latter monastery was for 800 years the seat of the Patriarch of the Syria Orthodox Christian religion, that the region has many other monasteries, some of them founded before the year 400 after the birth of Christ. After a morning stroll through the narrow streets of Mardin, Syria went down to the plain (without going into Syria) and drove to Sanliurfa, a traditional city with a vast bazaar, old buildings and a large mosque next to the cave where Muslims believe that Abraham was born, the father of abrahamiques religions (Jewish, Christian and Islamic), the prophet whom God asked to sacrifice his son but an angel prevented at the last moment (perhaps betraying the will of God). Just before arriving in Sanliurfa and take a nice walk around the old town, we spent the night in a closed gas station where they very kindly let us park. Unfortunately, at about 8 pm, a new security guard came and told us with very bad manners that we had to go, but I ignored it and in seconds I started to scream out the window to let us in peace (I had disturbed their evil ways, but on the other hand at that point we did not have Internet wifi and left). My cries should calm the guard, who left us alone all night, but early in the morning, the same guard accompanied the first guard who had given us permission to park, we were asked to leave, also in bad ways, and I also,with bad manners screamed them again to be patient and leave us an hour. But no, they took a baseball bat, and after many more screaming and threats just gone well moody. It was this incident which caused my decision not to try to enter Syria (Alexandra had previously expressed her little desire). i was tired of problems, including small ones, and I wanted to get home to rest a while before resuming the journey and adventure into America. I counted the miles we had left to come to Catalonia, estimating about 5,000 km. I have had the feeling there were many, but looking at the mileage from Nepal (about 8000 km) I have realized that in reality we are much closer to home than I thought, especially Alexandra, who just is at 2000 km from Romania. Mont Memrut (see on map) 10/10/2009:
After deciding not to go into Syria and start making way to Ankara, we deviate by small roads to visit the summit of Mount Nemrut, of 2134 m, one of Turkey's most mysterious tourist attractions. During the first century BC, flourished briefly the Commagene kingdom, during which one of their kings built a shrine at the tomb of the isolated mountain top. This mausoleum was composed of several large statues, one looking east and others west, which lost their heads due to earthquakes. Currently, these large stone heads of the king and various gods lie on the floor, as if it were an intriguing setting for a fantasy film or mythological. The mysticism of the place makes for the sunset and leaving, the place was crowded with tourists, but outside these times, you can also enjoy the solitude in the midst of these giants. Ankara (see on map) 22/10/2009:
The next stop after the beautiful Mount Nemrut was Cappadocia, which we had visited the previous time. We spent a few days practically doing nothing, spending much of the day connected to the Internet, besides devoting a morning to walk through the mountains and another to meet a man from couchsurfing, Zili Kilim. Zili had lived much of his life in France, allowing you to analyze the Turkish society with a different perspective. He explained that in Turkey people are very hospitable, although sometimes it can be a problem, for example, to visit his family driving for 24 hours, friends or relatives do not take into account the fatigue and keep him awake for another 24 hours . In fact, his mother is still worried about him, he already being 40 years old, and always has to watch what was done in order not to upset the family. In any case, Zili criticized much more acute loneliness with which people live in Europe and France in particular. For example, his girlfriend refused to go for salt to a neighbour the first time he came to France and had to cook without this essential ingredient. On the other hand, in France, people pay too many taxes, limiting personal freedom, along with laws, economy ... After spending a day at a Fiat changing the front window of the autocaravan, we got to Ankara where we wanted to change a battery that was still under warranty and meet a friend. Unfortunately we could not find the friend and the battery could not be changed instantly, having to wait six days to make all the proofs. During this wait, we passed the time while we were parked in a large shopping mall where we got wifi Internet. We acted as if it had already finished the journey, or as if after a long summer, now we had no choice but to hibernate. In any event, we were not entirely inactive, because I also spent many hours editing the diary of four years, when travelling in Europe, with an eye to possible future publication. ‹ Previous (31/08/2009) MONTH Next (2009-10-30)› ‹ Previous (2009-09-19 - Pakistan) COUNTRY Next (2009-10-08 - Turkey)› |
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