Cyprus represented a significant change up from our usual travel routine. Typically heavy on sightseeing, or activities, with significant driving in between, we anticipated doing almost none of the above in Cyprus. While the country does have its share of worthy sights ( and is loaded with history given its central Mediterranean location ), our purpose while here was pretty much to relax, enjoy time in a few hotels or AirBnb’s, and let someone else do the cooking and cleaning ( I’d still be driving, but not nearly so much ). We’d promised something like this to ourselves, had been remiss in not actually doing it, so with Lois’s birthday falling in the middle of this week it seemed like the perfect excuse – and Cyprus was close, just a short ferry ride away from Mersin where we had just arrived.
It felt really weird to be ( temporarily ) parting company with our van. We were assured Tasucu port was safe ( and it was ).
Having secured our van in the gated and manned Tasucu port parking lot, we boarded the ferry for Girne ( Kyrenia ) the main ferry port in Northern Cyprus. Here some explanation is required for those readers not familiar with the politics and geography of Cyprus. Ostensibly an independent country since 1960, in 1974 a conflict arose between the predominantly ethnically Turkish citizens in the northern part of the island and the majority ethnic Greek population in the south. It morphed into a full blown war when Turkey invaded to “protect” ethnic Turks The country has since been divided ( a UN supervised “Green Line” exists to this day ) into the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ( TRNC )- a kind of quasi state recognized only by Turkey. Oddly, one gets stamped “out” of Turkey upon departure from the mainland and stamped “in” to the TRNC upon arrival in Northern Cyprus- almost like another country……only it’s not. Fortunately, movement between northern and southern Cyprus is easy, a quick passport presentation, and one is waived through ( both ways ). Curiously, all driving is on the left, a legacy of decades of British control leading up to 1960. Enough with geo-politics, now to exploring Cyprus.
A North Cyprus flag looms large on the hillside north of Nicosia. One of many reminders that this is a very divided island.Quaint boutique hotel where we stayed in Nicosia.A long period of British rule left architectural reminders of the era. There are still parts of Cyprus that remain British sovereign territory ( part of the independence deal ).Cypriot history runs deep and is intertwined with Romans, Venetians, Ottomans and others. Artifacts have been recovered from centuries before Christ, all on display at the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia.Mythological “Aphrodite” has a long connection to Cyprus. Legend has it she was born near Paphos.
Coming from Turkey ( to the North of Cyprus ) , and due to ferry schedules, our first and last nights were spent in the TRNC. Apart from driving on the left, the TRNC seemed pretty much like Turkey. Nicosia ( capital of the Republic of Cyprus ) is split between the north and south as mentioned above. Very Turkish in the north , very Greek in the south. We found it interesting that some of the tourism marketing literature even plays into the division, citing the fact that “Nicosia is Europe’s only remaining divided city” ( admittedly it is quite fascinating to wander around and see just exactly how the division operates ). Life goes on, on both sides, and everything seems calm these days but it is really weird to look down streets and see them completely barricaded off and blue UN insignias everywhere.
We are standing on the “south” side here. Just feet away behind the wall is the “north”, or Turkish side.UN “Green Line” post, atop a barricaded building.Residential street in the south. Barricaded half way along to make way for the dividing Green Line.Military post on the south side.
The dedicated pedestrian crossings ensured traffic between the two sides only moves where it can be controlled – while photography is supposedly prohibited at the checkpoints, practically every tourist can be seen snapping away ( us included ). The whole process was easy to navigate, just hard to believe such a division still exists. We asked an elderly Cypriot who lived through the war if he saw the possibility of unification, “Not in my lifetime !” he replied. Indeed both sides seem dug in and the status quo, which kind of works, seems likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Packing away passports after crossing the checkpoint dividing north and south. Here at Ledra crossing. Crossings were trouble free.This “mosque” on the north side was once a church ( evident until you see the minarets ).
Beyond our time in and around Nicosia it was mostly spent relaxing by pools, swimming in the ( still incredibly warm ) Mediterranean wherever we came across nice beaches, and sampling Greek, Turkish and Cypriot food at the myriad restaurants and food stalls that dot the island. It’s hugely popular with British and European tourists, as one would expect, and while November is typically out of season there were still tourists around. The days ranged between 24 and 26 degrees and were mostly sunny – warmer and sunnier than is typical we were informed ( happy with that ! ).
Popular Governor’s beach – almost deserted despite divine weather and warm water. A great week to be in Cyprus.Lois prefers the pools, myself the beaches. Here, our hotel pool in Paphos.
Paphos, ( popular with the Brits ) in the western extremity, occupied our first couple of days and Ayia Napa, at the eastern end filled the remainder of the time we spent outside Nicosia. We enjoyed both, possibly preferring Paphos just a bit ( a little less touristy, perhaps because it was a bit more remote). We’d splashed out just a bit on the Ayia Napa accommodation though, and were delighted with the property- almost devoid of tourists, had a huge pool to ourselves and the owners upgraded us to a huge one bedroom unit with a massive deck. We felt very spoilt ( but loved it ! ).
A beautiful sunset in Paphos.Civic building at night in Paphos.Ditto.Paphos seaside promenade Reputed birthplace of Aphrodite.A nice viewpoint we passed while exploring western Cyprus.Paphos seafront.Our condo in Ayia Napa, at the eastern end of Cyprus. The pool was enormous !Relaxing, poolside 😎.The unit was huge, as was the deck – or perhaps it just seemed that way having come from our van !Trendy Nissi beach, Ayia Napa.The crystal clear waters of Cape Cavo Greco on the eastern end of Cyprus.
One of our other project’s on Cyprus was to firm up some plans for future travel given we’d backed out of crossing Iraq by land and then hit some roadblocks with our shipping options out of Turkey. Killing a few birds with one stone we decided to store our van in Athens ( Greece ) over Christmas and fly home for a break with our kids and granddaughter. We’d left time to get from Turkey to Athens, and purchased a couple of return tickets home via London from there. This effectively pushed the onwards shipping decision down the road a bit and placed us in Athens when we returned – a popular port with great connections, hopefully something suitable will arise between now and then. Fingers crossed !
In Case You Wondered:
Q: Are there any “hassles” in particular in owning/driving a North American campervan in Europe ( or elsewhere ) ?
A: It is crowded in places. Roads can also be congested in some parts ( and narrow in others – Holland ! ). Many countries have tolls on their main roads which can get costly ( and they charge more for campers ), though these can usually be avoided if one stays off the toll roads. Laundromats can be hard to find in some countries, or if you can find them they are of the “we’ll do it for you” variety ( costly, and slow – we prefer self serve ). Mind-boggling ( to us anyway ) is the number of places that have a washing machine only, no dryer ! Not convenient when you don’t want to hang around and waste time watching your clothes dry. Oh, and diesel is expensive in Europe ( as is gasoline ). That’s a pretty short list of ( fairly minor ) grievances and overall it’s been a wonderful place to travel with a van ( hardly surprising then, that many Europeans also have motorhomes/campervans ). As a result the whole continent is generally well set up with RV infrastructure. It’s been critically important to have a cassette style toilet for easy dumping of waste – many times we use a simple toilet to empty it ( the biggest benefit of a cassette ) as North American style “black water” stations are almost unheard of in many places here. It’s also been helpful to be able to charge our batteries on the European 240v electrical system ( we have a dedicated 240v input charger in addition to our base 120v system ). Used rarely, but good to have. What’s also been critically important to making life manageable so far is our ability to be “off grid” for extended periods – big solar capacity (1,000w), big Lithium battery capacity (500a/h), good DCDC charger, and big water tank ( 165litre in total ). Not “scrambling” for power or water is key! Induction cooking has been wonderful – no searching for propane and struggling with all the different European fittings.
We still have much more of Europe and beyond to explore but that’s a quick overview so far. Hopefully we’ll continue to feel the same way as we explore further…😊.
Getting to Georgia had provided a couple of nice opportunities for us – first, the chance to explore a former Soviet republic, rapidly modernising ( and now even flirting with admission to the EU ). The political aspect of life there was definitely intriguing. The second benefit was that it now positioned us nicely in the very far east of Turkey, where we’d never been, and provided us the chance ( albeit with considerable driving – lucky I enjoy it ) to conveniently explore many of Turkey’s less visited eastern treasures; man made, in some cases, natural in others !
Stunning view greeted us a few kilometres into Turkey.
Definitely rattled by the rather unfriendly re-entry,we at least had considerable drive time to hash it to death and then put it behind us. We love Turkey and can’t judge it by one overzealous unfriendly border official. Such things happen. The planned route over the coming week had us swinging down the eastern edge of Turkey, beside Armenia and Iran, to take in that most biblical of sights, Mount Ararat ( of Noah and the Ark fame ), then on to Diyarbakir, quaint Mardin, foodie haven Gaziantep, and finally legendary Mt Nemrud National Park. Admittedly this took somewhat longer than a week but I’ll wrap them all into this edition ( sorry, it’s rather a long one ) 😊.
All over Turkey we noticed these public water fountains . Unlimited potable water – using our hose we filled the van’s 150 litre tank.
Apart from a rather rough stretch near the Georgian border, Turkish roads in the east were fantastic ( as they are in most of the country – highway development is proceeding at a frantic pace here ). It made driving the very long distances in this part of the county easy and not at all tiring. Snow capped Mt Ararat can be seen from many miles away and just steadily grows in size as you approach it. It has an almost Fuji-like conical shape, standing distinctly separate from anything else nearby. It can be hiked ( easily, actually ) but not when we passed – way too much snow.
Mt. Ararat ( yes, it of biblical fame ) comes into view just near the Armenian border. At over 5,000m, Turkey’s highest mountain.Another view, as we approached Dogubeyazit, near Iran.
From a generally southerly direction to Dogubeyazit ( indisputably Turkey’s ugliest city ), our travels now swung west, first stop Diyarbakir, an interesting mid size city full of history that laid claim to a role in the Silk Road. This was a place we really enjoyed – a great, very central, camp spot had us in the thick of the action and allowed a full day of exploration ( including the best kebabs in Turkey so far ! ). My sister had visited a month or so ahead of us and gave us the tip ( along with Mardin ) – good call, Kaz !
I pointed this sign out to Lois. “So, shall I turn left ?”, I asked. “Not with me in the van, you won’t !” came the reply 😉. Camped in Dogubeyazit at the aptly named “Ark Pension and Campground”. Awesome views of Ararat.Way out in Turkey’s eastern extremities we expected poor roads. Au contraire – they were fabulous !Passed Lake Van on the way to Diyarbakir, which enhanced the scenery for quite a few hours ( it’s big ! ).Lois was amazed by the size of the cabbages we saw in the east – Police road checks are common in Turkey but out east, bordering Armenia, Iran and Iraq, we saw military ones as well. Invariably we were quickly waved through.Fortress walls, on the approach to Diyarbakir.Market, Diyarbakir. Always so much colour !Inside historic Hasan Pasha market.Historic Diyarbakir Grand Mosque.There you have it – Islam simplified !Diyarbakir is a crossroads in Turkey; heavily Kurdish, but ethnic Arabs and Turks are here as well. Here an Arabic man.
Mardin, just to the south of Diyarbakir and only a few kms from Syria, was another recommendation we enjoyed. To our surprise it’s also become a bit of a meeting point for Iraq-bound overlanders and we caught up with 3 while we were there. Incredibly tempting to tag along with the “convoy” which would get us to Jordan most directly ( if not necessarily the most safely ), but in a moment of “discretion being the better part of valour”, we opted to continue west in the hopes of finding a more secure ( though considerably more costly ) shipping route to the Middle East.
St. Hirmiz Chaldean church, Mardin
Beyond Diyarbakir lay a couple of big and fairly uneventful drives – on to Gaziantep and then again to famous Mt Nemrud. The drives were grinding but the destinations well worth the effort- I’ll let the pictures below tell the story of Gaziantep and also Mt Nemrud, a bonus in the former being that we once again reunited with our young Aussie friends ( from back in Georgia ) over a couple of days and nights. Always a pleasure to share stories and trade tips with those who are out on the road.
Hyped by the Turkish tourism people like the second coming of Christ, we found Gobeklitepe very overpriced and extremely underwhelming. We should have read the reviews first Gobeklitepe entry fees were extortionate. €21 for foreigners but just €2.1 for Turks. Huge complaints about this all over the reviews. State sanctioned discrimination ! Worse, it was incredibly underwhelming.While Gobeklitepe left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, the Mosaic Museum in Gaziantep was awesome. Truly impressive.This mosaic, known as “The Gypsy” was a Mona Lisa-like ability to follow your eyes no matter where you stand.Sampled the tea and baclava at Tahmis Kahvesi, continuously serving coffee and food since 1635 !The copper market at Gaziantep is amazing. The selection is huge and you can watch tradesmen actually making it.Our third ( and what would likely be our final ) park-up with Andy and Serena. Downtown Gaziantep.Mt Nemrud, site of the ancient Kindlgdom of Commagene, famous for the large stone sculptures. Best seen at sunset and sunrise !Mt. Nemrud at sunset.Close up of a sculpture.Our last kick at finding a deal to ship to the Middle East. Med Star would take us ( and the van ) to Tripoli, Lebanon, but the cost was outrageous. Lois also not enthusiastic about crossing Lebanon ( and part of Syria ) to get to Jordan.
From the top of Mount Nemrud it was a long descent back down to the plains, passing the occasional Roman ruins ( the Romans certainly roamed all over Turkey back in the day ) but otherwise non-descript scenery on the way back to Mersin and the warm waters of the Mediterranean. Just amazing how much difference there is in terms of landscape in the different parts of this enormous country. Mersin put us back to the coast and, in a sense, at decision time with regard to our next moves from Turkey. Despite his best efforts, our shipping agent, Mohamed, was not able to get us any kind of competitive pricing on a RoRo passage onwards from Turkey. We knew that was a possibility and had prepared for it so we promptly made a decision. We’d take a week off from our van travels, ferry over to Cyprus for a well deserved rest ( having logged some long driving days through Turkey and Georgia ), celebrate Lois’s birthday and decide, there and then, what to do and where to go next.
When leaving Turkey your licence plates are scanned to see if you have outstanding tickets or unpaid rolls. Can’t leave until you pay! Here, the line up to pay before boarding the Cyprus ferry.On our way to Cyprus !
Stay tuned for a full update on that in the upcoming edition.
Till next week…
In Case You Wondered:
Q: How much time do you spend doing the blog/video clips?
A: It varies, typically 2-3 hours, but sometimes more. Hard to keep track because I write and add photos as we go along. Once we are parked for the evening, there is often quite a lot of time to sit and browse the Internet, watch movies or, in my case, bit by bit build a blog for the coming week. We don’t watch TV so that frees up a lot of time in the evenings. One could spend far more time seriously editing photos, but I limit my editing to simple cropping, which is fast and easy. If we are busy, it’s a shorter blog and there are fewer pics. While relaxing at home this past summer I had much more time so decided to compile the many questions we get asked into this extra weekly Q/A 😊. Hope you’ve enjoyed it and it has shed some light on the ins and outs of longer term international van travel.
For much of the 20th century Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, but like all its other former component parts, Georgia broke free ( or should I say, “ free again” – it had a short lived period of independence after the Ottomans and before the Soviets ). Since 1991 it’s been ( trying to ) chart its own course but the Russian influence is still evident- lots of Russian business here, Russian tourists and Russian language ( still widely spoken by older Georgians ).
Gonio Fortess, one of the first sights you see coming from Turkey. Roman Emperor, Hadrian, once came this way !
Our entry point was the Black Sea coastal city of Batumi ( scene of much foreign meddling in Georgian affairs ) which has just exploded in size – an almost Las Vegas feel in parts with gambling a very big business here. Beyond that, some other more historic sights, as well as a fascinating old town, great restaurant scene, long coastal boulevard and the most interesting contemporary sculpture we’ve seen anywhere ( see below ).
Downtown Batumi. Interesting name for a hotel !We were able to park just 200 metres from here, right by the beach, making for easy exploration of the old town area.Batumi has a great walking boulevard right by the Black Sea coast. Batumi Japanese garden.One of the man boulevards.The old town has some eclectic architecture.Batumi back streets.A city of many cafe’s and bars. Georgia is famous for its wine, claiming to be one of the oldest wine producing countries in the world.Batumi’s famous Ali and Nino statue. They slowly rotate and appear to kiss each other every few minutes.
Batumi was, of course, our first introduction to Georgian driving, something we had heard much about and been warned of. It’s true, they are absolutely shocking drivers and we would spend much of our time here watching out for our own safety. We were not surprised at all during our stay in Batumi to witness a pedestrian get hit ( and likely killled ) – the sound of the impact was just nauseating. They drive extraordinarily fast and very recklessly.
From Batumi we headed east towards the capital, Tbilisi, but made several very interesting stops along the way; Kutaisi ( reportedly one of the longest continuously inhabited cities in the world ), Tsukaltubo ( an old Soviet spa town favoured by none other than Stalin himself), Gori ( Stalin’s birthplace and site of the impressive Stalin museum ), and Mshteke, one of the more interesting small towns in Georgia. We enjoyed the wild camping options along the way, bumped into several other overlanders and, most notably, crossed paths again with Andy and Serena ( #rightfoottravel ) who we had camped with in Hachinoe in Japan way back in May, 2024. They had since driven west across Russia and the Stan’s, on to Georgia, while we of course had continued east across the US and Europe. Small world !
We connected with Andy and Serena who we had earlier met while overlanding in Japan- they since drove to Europe across Russia and the ‘Stan’s, we came the other way !Historic Kutaisi. Wikipedia claims it to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.The “old lady” mural, Kutaisi.Traditional Georgia bread. Tasty, but such an unusual shape !Tskaltubo, just outside Kutaisi, was a famous spa town in the Soviet era. Its healing waters drew 125,000 visitors a year and even Stalin visited. It’s now in ruins but was fascinating to explore.Inner corridors of what was once one of the Soviet Union’s most desirable spa’s. At one time a direct train came here from Moscow, Joseph Stalin among its more regular guests.More Stalin. En route to Tsiblisi we stopped off in Gori, Stalin’s home town, which features the very comprehensive Stalin Museum. Fascinating for history buffs !One of Joe’s military uniforms.Churchill loved his cigars, Stalin his pipes. A couple of his on display here. Stalin had a well known preference for rail travel versus air travel. His personal carriage pictured here. Took him to Yalta, Potsdam and most of the way to Tehran for his war-time conferences.Inside the train – nice, but not decadent.Mtskheta, a pretty town where we overnighted on route to Tbilisi.Mtskheta, Svetitskhoveli cathedral.
Many travellers had talked up Tbilisi as a great spot for a few days and after the visit we’d absolutely agree – really enjoyed the history, the vibe, the contrast of historic and modern and just taking in its very many sights ! Managing to camp right downtown made for great accessibility ( if perhaps a bit more noise at night than was ideal 😳).
Not visible in the image but the black car ahead of us failed to stop for this fellow on the pedestrian crossing. The driver actually “beeped” the pedestrian who turned and abused him for a good 3 minutes holding us all up. Hands down Georgians are THE worst, most dangerous, most impatient drivers we have ever encountered !!!Chronicles of Georgia monument on the way into Tbilisi. They are huge – note the man seated at the bottom of the 2nd pillar.The fall/autumn colours were in full bloom at the Tbilisi botanical gardens.Mother of Georgia monument- note the size compared to the car below.Holy Trinity cathedral, Tbilisi.Tbilisi is set on the picturesque, tree lined Kura River. Here with the Bridge of Peace as a backdrop.The days were beautiful while we visited , and the trees were all just changing colour.Neighbourhood where we stayed.Freedom Square.The highlight of our stay was enjoying Tbilisi’s famous hot sulphur baths, in the ornate building visible in the picture. Bonus was a dance performance just as we arrived !Private bath. Very relaxing !Quite decadent inside.Tbilisi is famous for its bar and cafe scene – we enjoyed a few of them !Some very eclectic architecture!“Amber” wine is a Georgian specialty, here we sampled it at one of the many Tbilisi wine cellars. Lois found it quite enjoyable.Managed to get “in” to this very popular car park in Tbilisi where we camped for two nights- had no idea how we would get out !!! Jammed in.Traffic, and Georgian driving habits were so bad coming in to Tbilisi that we left at sunrise to avoid a repetition of it !
Considered briefly visiting Armenia ( just an hour away ) but passed in the end deciding to take in more of Georgia- a route which took us back west towards Turkey, allowing visits to the famous rock monastery of Vardzia and finally the impressive fortress at Akhaltsikhe.
In some parts of Georgia we were at higher elevations and the trees were changing colour – made for beautiful scenery.Sadly, like Albania and Turkey, there is a huge litter problem in Georgia, especially in the countryside. Plastic bottles and paper are everywhere 😟. And we’ve seen it much worse than this.Khertvisi fortress, near Vardzia.Famous Vardzia, a cave monastery site, mostly excavated in the 12th century.One of the colder places we visited, but an impressive sight.Rabati castle, Akhaltsikhe, at night. We actually explored it the next day but liked the night shot best.Rabati castle.
From Akhaltsikhe we’d expected a very smooth crossing back into Turkey – were we in for a shock, one of the most frightening border crossings we’d experienced, anywhere. On leaving Georgia they separated us ( driver with car, passenger through another area, during which time we lost contact with each other ). The Georgians decided they did not like my vehicle registration docs ( in their defence they do look incredibly hokey ) and delayed me while Googling “British Columbia Vehicle Registration image” just to confirm that what I had was actually legit ! Friendly, but nervewracking. Then, the Turk’s followed suit ( the fact that they already had images of my registration on file from our previous visit did not seem to matter ). The Customs lady spoke practically no English and I found myself separated from Lois again, with no Georgian data left to drive my translation app and this remote border post being well out of range of Turkish cell towers. Exasperating! Oh, that, and the Customs officer repeating over and over that I had a “Problem……problem…..( stares into my eyes now )…..BIG problem !”. Ultimately she allowed me to speak into her personal phone translation app whereupon I ultimately managed to convince her to Google “British Columbia vehicle registration image” at which point she finally relented and passed me through. Absolute mental torture – all because of the flimsy documents we get in BC ( unlike any of the more official looking European documents these folks are familiar with ). We are beginning to dread crossing borders it has happened now so often. A little more on our ongoing vehicle registration challenges, below in this week’s “In Case You Wondered” segment.
So, while Georgia ( save for the crazy drivers ) was great, the “farewell” experience was no fun at all, taking some of the gloss of what was otherwise a very interesting place. With the exception of the road to Ushguli we did manage to see all the attractions in Georgia that we’d planned to ( the advantage of it being a very small country ) . Sadly, there were landslide risks and heavy snowfall forecast on the Ushguli route and, as appealing as it was to drive that famous road it wasn’t a place we wanted to get stuck. On our list should we return.
Till next week….
In Case You Wondered:
Q: Any unusual surprises that come up which you did not anticipate or plan for while overlanding ?
A: There have been a few little ones but by the far the biggest, and certainly most unanticipated one relates to our vehicle ownership documents – and it’s VERY specific to our province ( British Columbia ) in Canada.
Vehicle registration in BC is indefinite ( once registered a vehicle remains legally registered to that owner until sold, when ownership is transferred – there is no annual ‘renewal’ common in many other jurisdictions). Because BC vehicle registration and insurance details BOTH appear on the same document, when you take your vehicle abroad one allows the insurance component to lapse since in BC the insurance only covers North America. Here’s where it gets tricky – to the uninitiated it can appear that the all important REGISTRATION has lapsed, when in fact it has not. It never does. Customs officials invariably go looking for a registration expiry date, (sometimes pointing to the expired insurance ) – it’s this lack of an “expiry” date has caused consternation in some places and always requires an explanation. Making matters worse, the provincial vehicle registration authority in BC is known as “ICBC”, short for the “Insurance Corporation of British Columbia” (they offer insurance services as well as registration). In many countries, prospective insurers (seeking to confirm firstly that our vehicle is currently registered in our home country ) hand our vehicle documents back saying “This is insurance, I need your registration”. It’s become a standing joke. Only it’s not at all funny. It’s become so ridiculous that, before we left Canada this time, I actually paid over $300 to insure the vehicle ( minimum liability only ) JUST TO GET ( what looks like to foreign customs people ) A “VALID” REGISTRATION DATE !!!! Insurance, which, in Europe, is totally useless. It’s truly the theatre of the absurd. More than once we have wished our provincial government could have just chosen a more logical name like Motor Transport Authority, or Department of Motor Transport, or Department of Motor Vehicles (common elsewhere) and clearly separated registration from insurance ( as the most nations do ) to make our life easier !
These two recurring issues, compounded by the fact that our BC ownership documents do not look particularly “official” compared to many other nations, forced me to ask ICBC for something more “official looking” on their letterhead to back up my claims that I am indeed the rightful owner, it is currently registered, and that in BC registrations really do not expire ( see document below ). It helps, but we still get some wary looks ! Of all the things we planned for when we started overlanding, this was NOT one of them !
Confirmation of ownership of a vehicle registered in BC. We’ve needed this document more than once but it’s as unofficial looking as the registration documents it purports to certify as being legit !
Leaving Tuz Golu ( salt lake ) last week, the planned route took us further east – first stop, one of the crown jewels in anyone’s Turkey itinerary – magical Cappadocia, centred on the town of Goreme.
Downtown Goreme.
The surreal landscape of Goreme and surrounding area has been captivating visitors for centuries. Throw in perfect weather and it could not have been a better time to visit. The town itself has become extremely touristy but the quirky landscape one comes to enjoy remains unchanged. I don’t think we’ve had a more memorable sunrise than the one at Goreme, watching as over 100 hot air balloons slowly lifted into the air. Postcard stuff !
Goreme, Cappadocia.Downtown Goreme.A close up one of the many structures. We had a great chat with the owner who was repairing it.The square recesses are for pigeons.Close up of the pigeons.One can see the blending of design. They merge into housing, and in some cases boutique hotels and cafe’s.A colourful lighting store, Goreme.Goreme- equally pretty at night, but…..…it’s the morning when it gets really stunning. So many balloons !They made a great silhouette around our van.Balloon viewpoint. Turns out it’s also a bit of a gathering point for overlanding travellers.Comparing camping notes with a couple of German travellersA French couple in a Sprinter drove by, then circled back to say hello. We would bump into them again a week later. Bumping into other overlanders in Turkey reminded us of our travels in South America, where we repeatedly crossed paths with the same folks.
Our route zigged and zagged a little in the next few days – convinced by a French couple about the merits of seeing the famous Whirling Dervish ritual in Konya, we turned southwest to be there for the all important Saturday night performance. It’s the most original one, given that the Sufi Islamic sect that started it is here, and while there was definitely a spiritual aura to the whole performance, one must understand it is a worship ritual, rather than any form of entertainment. A lot of time where not much happened besides chanting while the dervishes twisted for almost an hour. Konya itself was also a pleasant surprise both for its interesting old town and historic mosque plus the fact that we spent a couple of days with a lovely Swiss couple we met there.
Impressive Azizia mosque, Konya.Everywhere in Turkey one is offered tea. The small glass cups are the norm.Colourful dried fruit stand, Konya.Old town market, Konya.Parked up with Martin and Maria, a Swiss couple covering much the same route of late. Konya is renowned for the original and supposedly best, Whirling Dervish ritual. Here at the Mevlana Cultural Cantre in Konya.
South of Konya lies Mersin, a major port and busy Mediterranean city on Turkey‘s south coast . Its warmth was a nice change from the cooler weather we experienced inland, but our main purpose in visiting was to look into vehicle shipping which was a possibility we had to consider after Turkey. We connected with Mohamed and his assistant who we put to work looking at various options for us. The challenge, he said, was that our vehicle’s height meant that we required a RoRo solution and with fewer route options on such ships he’d need some time to find a “creative” solution. Fingers crossed they can come up with something that works and is affordable.
Stopped for a morning cup of tea out in the remote part of the road en route to Mersin. Quite a remote spot !Finally, after weeks of looking, found a camper supply store that had toilet chemical ( an essential product for us !). We were showered with small gifts and offers of tea when he found out we had driven from Canada ! That’s Turkey.Pretty seafront boulevard, Mersin.Mohamed and Ebro, shipping agents trying to help us on our way.
Given that nothing was immediately available, and Mohamed said there was no rush, we decided there was now time to explore further into eastern Turkey – with Georgia so close and highly recommended by several other travellers, we decided to take a fairly direct route from Mersin on Turkey’s Mediterranean side up to Trabzon on the Black Sea coast over the next few days. The added bonus of going to Georgia was that we could then swing back into Turkey in its south east corner and explore Turkey’s more traditional region in the following weeks. If we needed to rush back to Mersin, we still could. It was just fairly consistent driving, some nice wild camping, but interesting changes in season and landscape on the eastward run. In a few days we were on the eastern of the Black Sea, and at this point, almost in Georgia – more details on that in the upcoming blog.
While waiting for news on our shipping request, we decided to head east in Turkey ( and beyond ). Long distances but great roads made for easy driving. Hmmm, is that snow ? Already ? At the higher elevations,?yes !We passed this quite often on the long drive east.Turkish Black Sea coast near Rize.Finally, after two long days drive from Mersin on the Mediterranean coast, we reached the Black Sea coast here, just east of Trabzon.
Till next week…
In Case You Wondered:
Q: What does a bad day on the road look like ?
A: I can assure our readers we have them ! The ABS brake disconnection fiasco in sub-zero temperatures well north of the Arctic Circle in Norway was probably the scariest so far. That said, we have periodic minor crises on a more regular basis. One such occurred as we were leaving Greece. I don’t mean to spoil the ending but this one really stinks ( you’ve been warned ).
Camped by a beach I’d noticed a fellow camper had found a sewer drain opening near the toilet block and emptied his cassette toilet into it. Perfect, I thought, we needed to empty ours as well so I waited till he finished and took ours over to empty it. I first moved the rather heavy concrete cover just far enough to allow for the cassette spout to fit in ( and minimize the obvious odor that emanated from the sewage, visible about 6 feet below the cover ). For reasons I cannot explain, on this occasion I “spun” the cap off our cassette spout, rather than carefully holding it and twisting it off as I normally would. The cap is a CRITICAL apart of the toilet system – it keeps all the waste ( and what would otherwise be odor ) sealed inside the toilet tank; no cap, no functioning toilet.
Murphy’s Law then kicked in. The cap I had spun off the toilet spout next popped off the spout, bounced on the ground, rolled over to the resting concrete cover and then……dropped into the narrowest of openings and INTO the cesspit of sewage below !
Two things immediately struck me – how I would possibly be able to recover it, and how I would explain to Lois exactly how I had managed to do it. I won’t say exactly how she responded but let’s just say it was predictable. Abuse over, we now had to figure out a solution, our cap sitting 6-7 feet ( 2 metres ) below the surface, literally in a tank of toilet waste.
I had to almost completely remove the concrete cover to get visibility and to have any hope of recovering it, but managed to do that. By some miraculous stroke of good fortune the cap had landed on its top side and its shape meant that it was actually floating on top of the sewage, not submerged in it. Since finding a replacement cap anywhere nearby would have been impossible, every means possible had to be applied to recovering it. What was needed was a long, stiff item to which some kind of cup could be attached so that I could lower it down, get it underneath the floating toilet cap and scoop up our cap – all without disturbing the cap and sinking it, without taking on too much ( heavy ) waste in the process and having the cup separate from the recovery item as I pulled it up…..and without me tumbling in to an open sewer chamber. Some creative thinking would be needed.
Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. Scouring the trees behind the beach I came upon a tree limb long enough to do the job. It appeared strong enough as well and with branches removed I could get it in the sewer tank. Now for some type of “collecting” cup. Fortunately, just a week before we’d purchased two plastic kitchen bowls and the smaller of the two seemed like it might just be big enough to catch the toilet cap. It was obviously now going to be a very “disposable” bowl. While my tool kit is not large, I always carry duct tape and had enough left on the roll to securely tape said plastic bowl to the end of the tree limb. While the toilet cap was light, the process of scooping it up ( if by some miracle it actually worked ) would fill the bowl with sewage – this might be trickier than I thought.
While this was a MacGyver solution if ever there was one, I’d gone from absolute despair to a quiet confidence that I could actually recover our precious toilet spout cap. Now, regular readers will note that anything toilet related is a “Jeff” job and since this little mishap had been all my fault, Lois literally washed her hands of any part in the planned recovery process – what I did not know was that while I was floundering around trying to “build” a recovery tool, estimate distance to the cap, guess at the strength of the duct tape-mounted bowl, and adjust a head lamp so I could see what I was doing, she was actually taking a few pics. Below are those shots.
The good news is that the toilet cap had remained upright and floating while more waste flowed in ( the nearby toilet was actively being used 😷). Lowering my tree limb down carefully I was able to dip the attached plastic bowl in sewage water beside the toilet cap in such a way that the cap spilled into the bowl. Perfect ! Now I had to tip it so that the liquid waste spilled out thus ensuring the overladen bowl would not break away from the branch. Very slowly I managed to do it without losing the toilet cap in the process – in just a few minutes I had the toilet cap recovered, and a feeling of such absolute delight I simple cannot explain here.
Toilet cap then throughly cleaned ( soaked, bleached, and washed repeatedly ! ), recovery items trashed and myself showered off, we had a functional toilet again.
While that’s an example of a bad day ( or at least bad situation ) on the road, it was great to have a happy ending 😊.
Yours truly, peering into a sewer drain, adjusting my headlamp with my left hand while trying to scoop up our toilet cap with a 6 foot long stick in my right !….and SUCCESS ! Just visible in the image is the long stick in my right hand ( duct tape wrapped plastic bowl at the one end ) and the elusive toilet cap in my left….
As for Greece there was definitely a travel plan we had for Turkey and it boiled down to the same strategy – spend most of our time exploring new ( to us ) areas, predominantly in Turkey’s exotic but generally less explored eastern region, but also revisit a few old favourites from our last time here ( way back in 1990 ). First up ( coming overland from Greece ) were two old “faves” – the Gelibolu (Gallipoli) peninsula, and that most enchanting, exotic, and historic of all Turkish cities – Istanbul.
Arriving in Turkey from Greece. The border was quiet.
To all Australians and New Zealanders the name “Gallipoli” ( Gelibolu in Turkish ) is etched in the public consciousness- while the two countries were ultimately among the victors in WW1, this campaign, fought against all odds in impossible conditions was unsuccessful. It was, however, our baptism of fire as a new nation and the gallantry of our young Aussie and Kiwi troops is remembered faithfully on Anzac Day ( April 25 ) every year ( just as Armistice Day is elsewhere on November 11). To Aussies and Kiwis it’s very sacred ground and (somewhat like Muslims to Mecca), those who can certainly try to make the pilgrimage to visit it. It’s now a quiet, peaceful place but it was not hard to imagine the bloody battles that took place here 110 years ago.
First stop was Gelibolu, or as it is more famously known among Australians and New Zealanders, Gallipoli. Explored the site of this legendary battlefield from WW1.ANZAC cove where the troops landed in that fateful day in April, 1915.Lone Pine, a particularly well known area of the battlefield.Memorial and grave markers just near the landing area. Much of the fighting done in the hills behind.It’s very well explained with plaques describing the purpose of the attack. Ditto.The hills were steep and rugged making the assault from below very difficult. The Turks had all the high ground .Hard to imagine, looking out to the sea today on what was a very tranquil morning, just how chaotic the 1915 landing was.Consoling words penned by Ataturk, the great Turkish military leader himself. He went on to lead and modernize Turkey following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during WW1.
From Gallipoli, Istanbul was an easy drive along the Dardanelles, a narrow sea lane that splits Istanbul in two and happens to separate the the European continent from Asia. It’s where the Black Sea narrows and pours into the Aegean and has been the scene of many conquests over the millennia – empires have fought to control its strategic location( indeed, it’s what Gallipoli was all about ). Unsurprising then perhaps that Istanbul today still remains a real crossroads of people’s, cultures, and religions. Just standing on the Golden Horn one can look around and soak it all in – it truly offers an assault on the senses like few other cities. It’s the city that was for centuries known as Constantinople ( a little trivia for you 😊).
View out to the Bosphorus from the Golden Horn.Downtown Istanbul.Turkish sweets, Istanbul.Met up with Lois’s brother Mark and his wife, Dawn. They happened to be visiting Istanbul on the same day !Cheers.Galata Kuleisi ( tower ).Fisherman on Galata bridge.Ferry ride across to the Galata side.Blue MosqueA huge line to get in while waiting for prayer time to end.Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is legendary. Gold was a favourite in the bazaar.Very busy !Camped in Istanbul with Stefan, Ute and their two children – travelling overland to Australia ( from Germany ) in their Toyota Hilux’ with pop up camper.
After leaving Istanbul ( and technically crossing into Asia ) it was a couple of long driving days out to Central Anatolia. Much of it rather dull and not particularly scenic but an unexpected bonus was a delightful stop at Tuz Golu, Turkey’s famous salt lake. While it does not hold a candle to the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia (certainly not in size ) it’s nonetheless an impressive sight, easily accessible from the highway on the way to Cappadocia ( our next destination ). Enjoyed our time there with a French couple we had met. Bonus – the very friendly folks managing the site allowed us all to camp there overnight – a great place to watch a beautiful Anatolian sunset and sunrise !
Istanbul, of course, famously straddles Europe and Asia. On crossing to the east one is reminded that you are now in Asia !Tuz Golu salt flats, near Ankara.With French friends, Jean Louis and Estelle.Tuz Golu.Camped at Tuz Golu. Quite often one can camp at such attractions. Flat, safe and quiet – ticked all 3 boxes !
Till next week….
In Case You Wondered:
Q:
Exactly who does what while you are on the road ?
A:
Lois: navigates, does route planning, photography and videos ( especially while driving ), scanning the iOverlander and/or Park4Night apps for nightly park-ups, dinner prep. Reviews blog/photos before publishing each week.
Jeff: drives, writes and edits the blog/IG posts, makes Lois coffee in bed EVERY morning ( 😉 ), does vehicle related work, empties cassette toilet ( always, always considered a “man” job ! ), does logistical work on routes ( shipping/visa needs ), liases with other Overlanders for tips/research etc.
While there is the odd debate on who gets the better deal this split seems to work best for us 😊.
The PanAm completed in April, 2022 and with the truck camper sold, we shipped our new Sprinter van to Australia in late 2022. We travelled there through all of 2023 and into 2024 before shipping it up to North East Asia where we travelled for 4 months between Korea and Japan, before shipping it back to North America. It’s our plan to continue exploring the world in 2025.
