Ancient Ani, Kars and over the border! (11.08.2014 -12.08.2014)

Our last attraction in Turkey was the armenian medieval capital of Ani. This former city on the silk route had its strategic location secured by canyons on three sides and a mighty wall at the front.
It nevertheless got captured and sacked multiple times. The Arabs, Mongols and last the Russians all where once master of this spot.

Because of these changing rulers there are now ruins of mosques and Armenian churches next to each other. Besides some key buildings and the wall most of it is in ruins and heaps of stone.
We climbed the fortress and had a good view over the border river to the modern Armenia. 
On the parking a little girl approached us to sell some handicraft. We declined but Genti gave her the Barbie make-up set he had bought back home :D Worth mentioning is that this is one of the more conservative spots in Turkey. We hope she didn't get into too much trouble ;)

We then returned to the city of Kars for the night. Here we ate the local delicacy, another form of kebab ;) 
The next day we crossed the mountains once more to the Caspian Sea. The woods and and wooden chalets reminded us of back home. Once at the sea we followed the highway to the border to Batumi in Georgia. Exit procedure took almost an hour. We weren't billed for speeding despite the many speeding cameras, nor for use of the motorway even dough we hadn't bought a sticker... ;)

Stats about our epic road trip!

Hard data about our trip ;)

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To the Black Sea and back over the mountains (09.08.2014 - 10.08.2014)

From Tokat we headed further north and finally reached the Black Sea near Ünye (after climbing the local fortress/ruin). We had "planned" to spend some relaxing days on the coast but alas the Turks had other things in mind.

Mysterious Cappadocia (06.08.2014 - 09.08.2014)

We arrived just in time in Göreme to see the Cappadocian landscape painted by the setting sun.

Our camping for two nights wasn't called Panorama Camping for nothing. Just meters from our tent was an overlook with view of the valley. On the first morning we got woken up by a constant humming sound. It was the hundred hot air balloons getting filled! The entire valley was full of them. The already special landscape got even better! Some the balloons came pretty close to the stone formations or the ground. Wouldn't be surprised if some of the overloaded baskets sometimes crash into something... Besides being crowded these balloon rides are quite expensive as well, so we decided to skip them.

During the day we visited one of the many underground cities in the region. Built as a retreat from raiders (not Twix) they had space for thousands of people and livestock. For some reason this seems to be on the itinerary of visitors from South Korea o_O There were bus loads of them...

The rest of the day we spent at the pool and enjoying the sunset once more.

Early next morning I got up to snap some pictures again. Later on we visited one of the popular Fairy Chimney sites. These stone pillars are created over time when the top consists of a more durable formation but the rest around gets washed away. They look quite surreal, our pictures just don't do it justice.

After this we drove up north to the Black Sea. Because of our late start into the day and little visit on the way did we make it only to the town of Tokat. The only attraction here (beside another mediocre fortress) is the local Hamam built in 1572. Genti refused to join me so I went by myself. I think he is still mad at me because of the ayuverdan massage which I talked him into in India :D Getting an oily massage on a wooden plank by two hairy men marked him for live ;)

Luckily there was a group of French Turks which explained the different rooms and procedures. I declined the massage but got a good rubdown/peeling. Haven't felt as clean for a while!

To Ankara for another visa (05.08.2014 - 06.08.2014)

On Monday morning we dropped of Melanie at the airport and returned to the Iranian consulate a third time to pick up Gentis visa. With this done we crossed the Bosporus and made our way to Iznik. Another ferry ride took us across the Marmara Sea and closer to the ancient Roman town of Iznik. Sadly not much besides part of the city wall remain.

The following day we drove to the Turkish capital, Ankara. Initially we had "planned" to acquire the visa for Iran and Uzbekistan in Istanbul. But because of the delay on the Iranian side (and the sparse opening hours of the Uzbek consulate) forced us to rethink our options. That's why we ended up in Ankara. Having read online you get the Uzbek visa on the same day in Istanbul made us assume the same for Ankara. Sadly it wasn't as simple. The guy at the counter only spoke Turkish and Uzbek :S With some local help translating we got that it would take 5 days for the whole process... =/ It seems every embassy/consulate does things a bit differently. With some more talking we managed to tell him we would pick up the visas in Baku, Azerbaijan. For Azerbaijan we plan on getting the visas in Georgia ;) Without a visa for the countries coming from and leaving to it is even more complicated (to impossible) to get a transit visa for Turkmenistan. We still gonna trie our luck in Tbilisi and again in Baku.

After the paperwork was done we returned to the city centre to visit the Atatürk museum and mausoleum. The name meaning literally "Father of the Turks" is still remembered everywhere. Not a city without a road or square named after him. He was the founder of the Turkish republic and initiator of many reforms. For example it was on his behalf that the Turkish alphabet was introduced, having used the Arabic letters before. He wanted to transfer the remains of the Ottoman Empire into a modern republic. Not sure he would approve where the country is heading at the moment...

We then continued on to Cappadocia for the night. On the way we stopped at the Tuz Gölü (salt lake) for the view and some pictures!

Fail ;)

Gigantic Istanbul (29.07.2014 - 04.08.2014)

After leaving Greece on a new and empty motorway we decided to take the scenic route along the Sea of Marmara. Our hopes of finding a nice camping to stay for the night were unfulfilled and we ended up in a giant half finished 5* hotel.

The remaining distance to Istanbul was soon covered and the one way street madness had us engulfed. Finally we reached our destination to soon leave again and pick up Melanie at the airport.
The following two mornings we visited the Iranian consulate for our visa. I got mine but Pasqual got told to return on Monday a third time :S

The rest of the time we visited the usual attractions: Galata tower, Spice Market and Grand Bazar, Sultan Palace, Hagia Sofia and other mosques (from the outside), Taksim square, the Beyoglu quarter with its shops, restaurants, cafes and clubs. We also took the ferry to the Asian side, but as there wasn't much to see returned by train trough the new (leaky) tunnel to the Golden Horn.
Diving into the Turkish cuisine we tried all kind of kebab, shish kebab, ayran (buttermilk), lahmacun, köfte, different pide, many appetizers and even overpriced ice cream (including show) :D

On Monday Melanie flew back home and we got the second Iranian visa, yuppie! We don't know yet how to get in with our car, but one problem at the time ;)
As we had planned to get the Uzbek visa in Istanbul as well (and haven't due to the delay) we decided to visit Ankara for that. So we continued eastwards to the city of Iznik. Another ferry ride and scenic route later we arrived in this town which once was the capital of a kingdom at the Marmara Sea.

Genti + Mussels

Genti enjoying some mussels from the street vendor ;)