To Lake Van

The hotel told me to park the bike in the ballroom last night. I was a bit worried about their nice tile floor but they weren't so that was fine. They opened the double doors and I just drove in. made it so much easier to load and unload via the lift. I decided I would head south rather than west over some small roads to see a bit of the non-touristy bit of this country. I can't see when I will get a chance to be here again so thought it best to make the best of it.

After an hour I cam across this couple having some wedding pictures taken in a field complete with some elderly matrons dancing to music from at the car stereo….probably to put them in the mood. I beeped the horn nd they turned the cameras on me so I did a U turn and went back to chat. They were as happy to see me as I was them. A couple of miles later as I was filling the tank, who should I meet but the whole family again, as I was being treated to a cup of tea by the filling pump attendant. Not a word of common language spoken between us and we still managed to have some sort of communication.

A bike passed me going the other way and signalled me to slow down and talk so I met Riz from Finland who is half way through a 2 month trip. He was going wast through Georgia and hoping to cross over to Russia and then back to Finland. I thought the Georgia Russia Border was closed to foreigners but he heard otherwise on a forum and was going to give it a go. I passed on my insurance sticker for Armenia to save him a few quid….not that the insurance is worth the plastic it is printed on. He unlike me had a full set of maps and knew what the roads were supposed to be like. I am still relying on hotel tourist maps and petrol station freebies. It certainly makes it a bit more 'interesting' sometimes.

I passed a sign by the road showing a rock tower with a boulder perched on top. The sign pointed down a dirt track so I followed it. It eventually petered out with no sign of the photo opportunity on the poster. Maybe it has already collapsed. The cliffs around are made of iron rich clay and sand (hence the rusty red colour) and erode easily into these fluted shapes.

The whole day, thunderstorms were passing by but not really doing much, just lots of noise and lightening and rain somewhere else. I think this is the bit of Turkey which is most rewarding to actually ride through. The scenery changes within a couple of miles. The landscape was alternately craggy rocky mountains with steep gorges or high grassy plateaus. This part is increasingly home to the Kurds and the additional security became more and more obvious. No more traffic police so no worries abut speeding. Plenty of fully kitted out soldiers behind sadbags and the occasional armoured car.

The villages were quite poor looking. There are not many trees for much of the route so the locals burn a sort of turf like some people do in Ireland. This turf though is made from animal dung and hay which is spread out to a depth of about 6 inches and left to dry a bit, then cut and stacked into little piles and then they make a little house shaped stack out of it. You can see most of the process in this picture. The drying process is pretty stinky so I imagine the fires must reek a bit.

Eventually, my luck ran out and I was on a dirt/gravel road and the squall hit. Rain wind and the full fireworks display. The lightening started hitting the hilltops around me and I wondered if it were possible for it to strike a bike even if it was insulated by its tyres. I didn't stop to put on my rain gear reasoning that it was pretty warm anyhow even after the temperature had dropped 10 degrees, and descended as fast as I could.

Tonight I am beside lake Van, the largest lake in Turkey and about 430 Km around, more like a small sea really. It is very salty and alkaline and is one of the largest lakes in the world with no outlet. Sadly I have no picture worth damn as I arrived just after sunset so will hope for something tomorrow. The hotel has a hamam so I availed myself of the facilities and even splurged out on a massage. My shoulders are aching from the same riding riding position for so long. I had mentally steeled myself for a massive hairy turkish man who was going to beat me into a pulp but I was pleasantly surprised when a very cute asian girl showed up……hello….I thought….just what have I ordered….the special medical massage I thought….maybe my explanation was unclear….Anyhow, she did an excellent job and I was very satisfied with the results. :-) I can now shrug my shoulders with no ache at a all.