OnTheRoad

Something on the marked tendency of foreign languages to a) translate new into their own language (e.g. novy, nova for slavic languages, yeni for turkish, nouvelle in french) and b) tack an 'a' on the end of Zealand for some reason. The first is understandable, given it's not just a name but a word which actually has a direct translation in most, if not all, languages. The second one can only be understood, as far as I can see, by admitting that Zealanda just sounds cooler than Zealand.

Anyhow, meandering thoughts aside, my last few days in Turkey were good fun. The mountain was great after all the extra snow, although a little sticky. I managed to greatly improve my (completely lacking) powder skills, much more work to be done there. But honestly, crashing in powder is so much fun I'm not sure I want to improve! Palandoken shares the same bizarre ticketing system as Uludag (one ticket for one lift) but the lifts are longer and the runs you can do much more varied. Unfortunately the upper mountain was closed due to avalanche risk (not that there was anyone up there bombing it anyway), so it was the more simple runs; the powder made it worth it, easily though.

From Erzurum I headed to Dogubayazit, last stop before the border with Iran. Not knowing the bus timetable, I just turned up at the terminal and waited for three hours. I think my time sense has become well distorted, as it didn't seem so long... The roads were in appalling condition, party due to... well, just being shite and partly due to the recent snow. The scenery coming through was stunning again, mountains, steep valleys and small villages clustered near the road.

In Dogubayazit the prices were again crazy cheap as well; seven lira got me my own room, although there was no hot water. I decided to pay for a taxi up to the Ishak Pasha Palace above town, as I wanted to get on the road ASAP to get to Tabriz before nightfall. Great place with awesome views, it would have been nicer to walk up and down if I had the time though, as I was rushed through the palace with only half an hour to explore.

I was found by a happy Kurdish guy as I walked to the minibus "terminal" (read: side of the road near a gas station) who was heading to Dogubayazit, so got there nice and easy. Walked through the border (first time I've done that since Thailand to Cambodia actually... it's all been night crossings by train lately) and demonstrated the excessive weight of my packs to some Turkish soldiers while my passport was examined. The guy thought my snowboard bag wasn't that heavy (or so his looks told me) so I handed him my backpack... That face changed pretty quickly!

I had to rattle the gate on the Iranian side so that someone would come to let me through, but the rest of the process was simple enough. My passport (looking a little shady now, coming apart a little... Maybe I'll replace it in India) was very throroughly examined, with the official a little confused about the existence of NZ. He kept asking "Australia?" to which I tried to demonstrate a line with China - Australia - New Zealand... Eventually I suspect he just put me down as from Australia. I must learn the appropriate Farsi name for NZ or this will be as bad as Turkey; once I figured out Yeni Zealanda, everyone knew what I was talking about again!

After some negotiation (first guy tried to charge me $US30 to Tabriz) I ended up getting a taxi from the border to Maku and a bus to Tabriz; cost 32,500IR, or about $NZ5. Much better :) Now I'm comfortably ensconsed in a 40,000IR room in Tabriz and planning to figure out if I can get to Mt Sahand for some snowboarding. I didn't know it was possible, but I met some folks who helpfully suggested it. Actually, I crouching down reading my guidebook trying to figure out where I was when I was approached by a group of people very keen to help me. After a bit of discussion, they told me where I was, how to get where I was going (but they thought it was closed - it was) and went so far as to try to arrange transport for the mountain for me with their friends! Unfortunately today is a public holiday and the skifield was closed, but maybe tomorrow? Who knows! However, the people of Iran are easily living up to their reputation for hospitality, most people are very curious and happy to meet you. And be photographed with you, of course!