EAST Turkey
Landscape Paradise
13th July - 15th July | 2023
I slept very badly, so when the alarm at 3h30 went, I was quickly up and getting ready. By 4am we both were on my Schimmelchen leaving our guesthouse. About 4h30 we were at the entrance gate where I had to buy the ticket. It didn't cost a fortune, but they wouldn't accept credit cards, even though the same shop sells food and drinks and that you can pay by card. Luckily I had enough cash with me! For the last 600m we had to walk uphill - against a strong wind! That made it really hard to get up to the East Terrace on 2150m. We both were huffing and puffing, arriving there - in time for seeing a magnificent sunrise.
If you ask me if this was worse the effort … debatable! I think I would opt next time for sunset up there!
Back at the hotel we tried to sleep a bit, so we would have a later start today. Today's direction would be towards Lake Van, which is still another 500km away, so we would see how far we will get today. We shortly left after Mount Nemrut the mountains and most of the day was a boring flat (golden brown) landscape! We managed until the area of Çatakköprü, which is North of a town called Batman! On the way there, I was a bit struggling to find fuel as some of the rare fuel stations along the national road have only LPG or diesel! I just made it on the last drops into Diyarbakir. We were planning to put on fuel on time, but as I said, it is not easy to find a fuel station and if so, if it has fuel!
Whilst we had lunch after Diyarbakir James noticed that his left boot was looking greasy. He checked his bike and his front fork was leaking oil! Oh no, that is no good! He got his tools out and we cut a piece of plastic out of one of the water bottles to clean the fork seal of dust. We hope that this will resolve the problem!! However, James doesn't know how much oil he has lost in the meantime as the forks only take about 650ml/each. So we reached out on social media for help and suggestions on workshops.
For the night we found via iOverlander a nice camping spot above a dam, but due to the heat, we only put up the tent very late. By that time the wind had picked up again so we tried to keep our bikes around for shelter. Also, I was a bit suffering from occasional colics. So far James and I had the same food, so no idea where or what I caught or what triggered it. I only can hope it is nothing serious and it will pass …
When I was updating our travelmap I suddenly realised that we have been travelling for a while along the Syrian border; in about 100km distance though. That amazed me really as these are now places you hear about in the news and it seems all so far away, and suddenly you are so close by.
For me, it was another bad night of sleep as the whole night the wind was blowing so strong that I was worrying that we would be blown away! So we got up by 6h30 when the sun was getting up, and it was immediately hot already! When we left by 8h00 it was already over 30ºC!!! It will be another hot day!
We left in the direction of Lake Nemrut, which is a crater lake that can be visited. The original plan was to camp there but after we read on iOverlander that wild bears have been pretty aggressive there, we skipped the idea of camping! However, we still want to visit the place during the day.
It was again a really nice ride, as we started to get back into an area with mountains, so it got a wee bit cooler. The whole trip went along a lovely river, with a winding national road, so pretty nice scenery today. To Lake Nemrut we had to get up to 2500m and then you drive into the crater! That was really amazing. Down at the bottom is a lake and plenty of picnic areas, or places to pitch up a tent. But once you have seen how much the Turkish people, unfortunately, leave their rubbish behind, you cannot blame a bear for being aggressive about food!! It is really a pity that so much rubbish is left behind! Wherever you go! I hope one day, there will be a generation growing up that will take the rubbish back to a rubbish bin and not leave it behind, or just throw it into a river (= problem resolved…).
Early in the day, we carried on along Lake Van, which is a massive lake in the East of Turkey. It seems to be a saltwater lake - James went to test it. Towards the east end, we found a lovely camping spot close to the lake - no shade though, but a stunning view over the Lake and the other side of the Lake with its mountains. Being about 1600m high, it was always a nice cool breeze going so it was really nice sitting outside and enjoying the sunset. During the night we both slept like logs! The next morning, after everything was packed up we drove in the direction of Kars, where we were planning to stay in a cheap hotel for two nights as I needed to get my paperwork for the next leg organised, such as ferry and carnet. It starts now to get a bit urgent, even though it is only in 2 months' time, but these are things that need a bit of work in advance!
It was again such a lovely ride. The landscape was so versatile here in the East. First, we were very close to the Iranian border. That felt so surreal, as Iran sounds back at home so far away! The majority of the time we were around 2200m altitude in lovely 24ºC! We passed a very volcanic area, you could even see one volcano where once the ash had come down the hill. The landscape reminded me very much of Iceland. Further on, coming around a bend there he was: Mount Ararat in his full beauty! WOW, the first 5000er mountain I am seeing! That was really impressive! We were really lucky as most of the time we could admire Mount Ararat in its full beauty. Also, did the landscape change again. And closer to Kars we also passed the border to Armenia. As already on quite a few occasions along the South, there were also along the East military or Jardama stops. At one of them, we both had to show our passports, but after flipping through James, they just took a glimpse of mine and we could go again.
As we arrived early in the afternoon, I managed to finish one more blog. Later we went for a stroll in the busy city centre to find a place for dinner. Not an easy task, but we found something;-) Back at the hotel room, some laundry got done by hand as the hot water only turned on after 18h00. Later that evening was a huge parade of police, fire brigade, ambulance and military along the main road in front of the hotel. Not sure of the purpose but further up the main road was a set-up of a "Festa". So that was probably part of it.
In our next blog, we will enter Georgia! Whilst you wait for it, try a Turkish cafe with some very sweet pastry (Baklava).
Places | Cities:
Mount Nemrut, Kiyarbakir, Lake Nemrut, Lake Van (north side), Kars.
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 13325 km
Information Border Crossings (in July 2023):
./.
Maintenance | Breakdown:
Yamaha SuperTenere:
Leaking front fork of unknown source.
Health issues:
Steffi:
Colics of unknown reason.
Special thanks to:
East Turkey being so stunning and versatile in its landscape.