OnTheRoad

So we're reliving the pain that I went through several years ago, attempting to drag visas from the hands of the Consulate here in Erzurum. Currently we know that our visa has been approved, but that somehow some documentation has not been faxed from Istanbul to Erzurum. We call Istanbul and they say they've sent it. We call Erzurum and they say they haven't received it. We call back to Istanbul, they tell us that they'll send it again. We call Erzurum again... Guess what they say?

We're planning on hiking back and forth to Trabzon, close to 300km each way, in the hopes that they're more competent there, if things don't come through tomorrow morning. In retrospect, I should have known better after my last experience here, and just hung around and got it in Trabzon. Bah.

The last week or so we've been into new territory for me; I'd been to Istanbul and Cappadocia last time around. From Goreme, on a rainy afternoon that made us glad to leave, we hit the road in a typically late bus heading to Amasya. The weird scenery of Cappadocia gradually gave way to the steeper hills as we edged closer to the black sea, but we were running well behind schedule. As the storm worsened and an impressive electrical display took place around us the pace slowed further and we eventually rolled into town a little after ten. Lacking a map and any other useful information about the town, we were happy to be taken under the wing of a teacher who got us onto the free service into town and explained that we needed a cheap place to crash. Dropped off right on the doorstep, we dropped off our bags and wandered down to a kebab store to eat our fill. Another teacher helped us out here, actually, translating various things off the menu, with the meal coming to a price that we couldn't quite believe after the costs of western Turkey. It really is like coming to a different country out here, the attitudes and costs are far different.

After a day exploring Amasya (which doesn't take long - there's not a lot to see, although what there is to see is worth looking at) we again hit the road in one of those lovely Turkish busses. The busses have great potential, which is not quite realised due to the habit of turning off the aircon. And because so often the bus staff don't have the same standards of personal hygeine that we do in the west... Anyhow, the trip was a good one, although not as scenic as I'd expected. Along the way I chatted to another guy on the bus, a Turkish soldier on the way back to Trabzon, from his posting in Adana, to visit his family. Like in Amasya, we were again helped to the service to town, and walked around until a suitable hotel was found (although he insisted on finding us a nice hotel, three stars - I think that's the largest number of stars I've seen on any place I've stayed).

Trabzon was a pleasant surprise for me, to some extent. What I'd heard from others had given me some low expectations, but in the spring it's clean, green and pleasant. The meydan, or town square, was filled with trees and tables at which decent and cheap coffee was served. Cheap and tasty food seemed to be available in any direction we looked. Damnit, we should have stayed and got our visas there! We did stay for a couple of nights, and headed out to see Sumela Monastery, where we were completely soaked when the rain closed in. The scenery was enjoyable, but would have been better if things weren't completely covered in cloud. After descending from the monastery down a steep and slippery path, we jumped into the cosy and pleasant looking restaurant at the bottom, where we were treated to the worst service that I've encountered in my life... apparently it's just not acceptable to only order soup and salad, and our waiter was not shy in letting us know. Ah well.

On the trip up from Trabzon to Erzurum my desire for impressive scenery was satisfied in a way that the Amasya to Trabzon had failed to deliver. The road winds its way slowly up from Trabzon through a long valley, with villages nestled high up side valleys, forests climbing almost as high as the snow capped mountains. The first pass climbs past a small skifield, not operating this late in the season, which might some day be worth investigating. A steep descent from the pass, then an hour or so of winding through valleys gets us through the first range and into a wide open valley between the two ranges. Snow capped mountains are visible in all directions, while Spring growth covers the valley. The next pass climbs higher still, with the pass itself covered in snow, although the road is clear.

So now we're back in Erzurum. Waiting. The good news for you out there is that I've managed to catch up on all my photos and other updates on the site. All the photos from almost everywhere we've been in Turkey have been uploaded, specifically from Istanbul, Goreme, Amasya and Trabzon are all up. If you check out those pages, you'll also see that I'm adding information on places to stay and eat, as well as other useful information for travellers.

I also managed to fix up the search page, somewhat, so that it returns more useful results. If you're looking for travel information, or photos of specific things, this is probably the best way to get to it now. Go on, check it out :)