Overland with Kids

Jessica says
“We are in Goreme, Cappadochia in Turkey. We went to see Rock Valley where there are lots of fairy chimney and toadstool shapes with houses and churches carved inside them. There are also underground cities nearby - the biggest one can hold 10,000 people and has 8 floors. You can only get to them through a well in the floor . In later years, people built there [their] houses over them above ground not realising they were there. They had been blocked with earth and rubbish, hiding them from view. But they were discovered again by some people and opened to the public. The fairy chimneys [in Goreme] are made from natural forms of volcanic rock called tufa. Tufa is easy to carve even without metal tools [though these were introduced later]. We saw lots of rooms and churhes with holy paintings. We saw their dinner tables, kitchens and tombs. Some of them [the tombs], were only little baby sized ones in the ground. Inside they were nice and cool even though it was very hot outside. We had to have lots of drinks of water”.

AJ says:
“We saw dolphins and sea lions [before we left Bulgaria]. I’m hungry now and want to have my dinner. Dad thinks he’s cool and wants someone to kiss him”.

Jessica says
“Dad wanted a kiss from mum a very very long time ago - he tried his very, very best but he didn’t get a kiss - ever!”
.
Andrew and Anne say:
We spent the last few days of our time in Bulgaria along the furthest most southerly point of the Black Sea coastline. Our area of exploration being Tsarevo to Rezevo which was very relaxing and unspoilt. Rezevo, a tiny village outpost at the tip of Bulgaria, is where we stood and were able to see and virtually touch Turkey. We couldn’t cross the border there but just wanted to see what it looked like and it didn’t disappoint - very much an area of unspoilt natural beauty. The only downside being the meal in the sole restaurant there - our first and only bad food experience since leaving the UK. About 10 miles back up the coastline, we found a great and very well maintained campsite location, duly perching ourselves just above the edge of the cliff. This was little knowing that our daily morning routine would include dolphin and sea lion spotting which was a great experience for all of us to see. We had to be clever though to try to catch them on our camera quickly enough and never quite managed to get a decent enough shot. Tsarevo was by far our most favourite city in Bulgaria, mainly for it’s location, normality and the feeling of being ‘at home’ feel. Excepting Veliko Tarnovo (VT) and Sozopol, many of the cities we have visited during our time here have been outwardly very depressing on approach (communist era, large grey and unattractively dull apartment blocks). We did not feel this was the case with Tsarevo nor was it over-populated with tourists though we are sure it’s been visited and investigated many times. The area looks refined and expensive in parts but you feel as if there are areas of affordabilty with a mix of differing house and apartment styles. Faiiling this, there are the neighbouring villages including the famous one where we discovered traditional fire dancing takes place further inland. We really enjoyed the food in Tsarevo and couldn’t get enough of the variety of traditional dishes to be had. There is plenty of modern fare also available. Our only concern about where we stayed at our campsite location was the nudist bathing due to the children but it wasn’t an overly big deal. The mosquitos and biting flies were more of an irritant and became a major pre-occupation to keep them at bay.

Current Location

Right now, we should be making a beeline northward toward Russia but instead we are meandering deep in the heart of Turkey. We are currently in Goreme, Cappadochia (also known as Rock Valley) in Central Anatolia. The landscape is of lots of dream-like chimney rock formations, not of this world, all of them carved inside with churches and homes. The strange shapes having been created by volcanic eruption some hundreds of years ago There are underground cities too in the area with the largest of these being based nearby in Darinkuyu. The Open Air Museum in Goreme is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985 and contains what’s more commonly known as Monastery Valley. The area all around is really breath-taking and still subject to areas of more possible discoveries. Hermits lived here as well as monks and Christianity stayed underground ‘literally’ for a little while. Jessica and AJ said it was like being in an episode of the Flinstones and we think the people must have been tiny as the entrances, other access routes and wells are so small. Images of ‘The Hobbit’ or ‘Life of Brian’ sprang to mind. It is a fairly busy place with plenty of tourist buses coming and going plus local prices to match. Pigeon-keeping is an age old tradition and we could see the dovecotes in the old fairy chimneys and rocks used to house them in the years gone by. It is a magical place with plenty to do from taking a hot air balloon ride in order to take in the true scale, beauty and diversity of the place to, hiring quad bikes or, taking off on a hike somewhere. There are plenty of very nice restaurants, hotels, pensions and bars. Jessica and AJ asked for fish and chips yesterday and a fresh fish complete with head and tail and eyes landed on each of their plates. They had a good go at dissecting and eating them but they were too big for them to finish. We also had what was probably the nicest local soup and Moussaka ever. Nearby Avanos is famous for it’s years old pottery and rug making. We noticed the red clay soil landscape as we drove into the area which is stored in wells for a couple of years before the clay making process begins.Young girls are taught by their mothers about how to weave knots of history into their rugs and the tradition is continually handed down generation to generation.

Route Plan Issues

We hadn’t planned on visiting Turkey as part of route plan but couldn’t resist the temptation to come and have a look. We are glad did but our stay presents possible timing issues and risk to us regarding the next leg of our journey which we should at this moment be now doing. Coupled with our overstay in Bulgaria (total 32 days), this detour wipes any available time allowed for e.g. delays, unexpected problems or vehicle issues that may arise in the nest 2-3 months.

But, with full knowledge of these factors, we decided to be reckless, throw caution to the wind and ‘do it anyway’. The other side of the coin being to grab the opportunity while we can as we may never get the chance again. All in all, we are keeping our fingers crossed that everything will be OK.

Border Control Issues

On entering Turkey from Malko Tarnovo in Bulgaria, we hit a major hurdle at the border control area as we failed to bring enough cash with us (an oversight on our part - don’t ask us why we were so ill prepared - we got a bit lazy in our preparation) for our visas (15 euros each) and vehicle insurance (15 Euros). Although there is usually an opportunity to exchange money at any border checkpoint, they do not accept cards. We failed to organise ourselves with ready cash and there are no such things as a cashpoint/ATM machines available.at any border we have passed through. We also experienced issues as per Moldova border control regarding our caravan - again paperwork and registration queries arose with the requirement to then have it logged in our passport along with our vehicle registration entry for entry.

The result without cash for our visa was that we were turned away. We then hit a problem in turning back i.e we would need written paperwork from the customs office to permit us exit out again Stuck for a few minutes in no-man’s land and just about to approach the Turkish customs office, an enterprising Turkish taxi driver offered to pay for our visas in return for a 40 Euro commission. We decided to accept the offer. It was a worthwhile move for us as we needed also to pay for vehicle insurance (we had omitted to include on our green card as we hadn’t planned to include Turkey at the outset of our trip), sort our caravan issue (which turned out not to really be a problem), assist us with vehicle (and caravan) registration, deal with customs control, passport stamping and any translation required. Outside of our money problem, we didn’t really need him to all of this, but it proved very useful and smoothed the way for us nonetheless. We were grateful for his time in assisting us.

People

The Turkish people are so friendly, hospitable and kind. We have met so many people during our short stay that they have become too-numerable to mention. Nothing is ever too much trouble - chai (tea) is provided by the bucket load, invitations to dinner, to share food while on the road or obtaining a mechanic at a moments notice - anything! Jessica is highly admired in the most lovely and sincerest of ways for her blue eyes and AJ keeps being collected up in someone’s arms, especially when he is wearing his ‘Messi’ Barcelona tshirt. The power of football! When we are driving we get constant waves and when we fill up with fuel or take a rest stop, people invariably come and say hello. Andrew especially is very happy and in seventh heaven as football is a major topic of conversation here.

Buildings and Scale

On entering Turkey and regardless of whether a city, village or town, you are never far away from a mosque - they are the most visible and prominent buildings along with the sound calls for prayer time. Each with their huge minarets everywhere you go. Homes are usually quite large and immaculate looking. They all look like they have been newly built they are so clean. There are clumps of more drabber, older home and the tower blocks in the huge major cities like Istanbul and Ankara are enormous in scale and number - there are so many hundreds clumped together in massive estates. The smaller towns and villages are much more attractive and well-cared for. We noticed some small very clumps of shanty areas and homeless too - much like many places in the world.

Roads

The road and the toll motorways are generally very smooth, clean and easy - a lovely change from the Romanian (bad), Moldovan (terrible) and Bulgarian (OK compared to the other two countries) infrastructures.We hit the first toll payments of our trip, managing to escape them throughout up until now.

Other

Turkey is a very proud nation and it’s red flag like the mosques abound everywhere. The economy is doing well and looks very rich in it’s business and industry and the people very professional, helpful and friendly. The only downside we’ve experienced so far is the cost of diesel at an average 1.50 euros per litre (due to tax) for the Turkish diesel - the Euro diesel version being even more expensive.Crazy prices it seems when Turkey’s neighbouring countries pay much less - i.e. neighbouring Iran is only 0.01 per litre and you travel the whole of it for about 6.00 euros.

The mining industry is huge here - plenty of coal, clay and salt mines - all reminding Jessica of her Grandad’s time using explosives in the mines of Australia where he worked many years ago.

Stop Points

On arrival into Turkey, our first main stop was to the city called Kirklareli to get some cash (Turkish Lira) to repay the taxi driver. We were accompanied by a very nice elderly man who the taxi man introduced us to and who got great joy tooting at all of his friends along the route from our Land Rover - shouting to everyone that he was now an English tourist! It was a very funny and enjoyable experience. On parking up, Anne was charged with going to the cashpoint only to return to find Andrew, Jessica and AJ surrounded by children who were very curious and excited to see what was going on - they also wanted money and cigarettes and we realised were not attending school! A hasty departure and they didn’t pose any problems for us though Jessica said one of the boys spat at her. From here we headed straight for Istanbul but found the sheer enormity of it’s crowded, massive urban sprawl in the searing heat quite unmanageable for any length of time - we think you could spend months there and still never see it all. Drivers of all types especially lorries are all fast, crazy and busy getting to their destinations. The motorway on arrival was crammed with traffic like shoals of fish weaving and crossing and almost over each other. Quite challenging and you have to have your wits about you when crossing the bridge. It is a very crowded, busy place with huge apartment blocks on a massive scale as far as the eye can see. the sheer scale of Istanbul felt like almost like visiting another country. We got a very quick glimpse of the beautiful old quarter on arrival but didn’t stop and drove through. Our main reason for visiting Istanbul really being to enquire about a 36-hour direct ferry crossing we had researched departing weekly to the Ukraine. We had previously enquired in Varna, Bulgaria but found the journey takes a week and is expensive. As shipping was now our main priority, we quickly discovered that from Istanbul, it is possible to get a ferry but not with a large, heavy vehicle like ours. Instead, we needed to head to Zongludak where shipping agents specialising in lorry transportation would take us. We decided to head there without delay.

En-route, we spent the first night in a car park which was safe, secure and posed no problems at all. In fact, it was manned with security cameras and 24-hour security guards. It was no problem for us to sleep the night and we spent much time talking to the security guards, eating the provisions we had bought from the service station, sharing our travels plans and drinking coffee. Andrew in seventh heaven exchanging football gossip, comparing the size of his belly, his balding head and grey hair while the children slept soundly throughout. We eventually not getting to bed until around 1.30am.

Zongludak where we needed to arrange our shipping is quite a long drive from Istanbul and situated in the North along the Black Sea. The sea was very rough along the coast while travelling through. Largely due to the sudden change in weather from searing hot heat to rain, wind and clouds. It was a welcome change. Zongludak is a medium size city by Turkish standards, set high up with nice houses and apartments sprawling into hills above as far as your eye can see. You can go winding up the steep narrow streets for ever and ever it seems. We found the TIR Lorry Park and combined port area with no problems along with plenty of shipping agents willing to take us and our vehicles as ro-ro (roll on-roll off) cargo - a 20-22 hour voyage to a choice of two destinations in the Crimea. The total cost approx 750.00USD one way. We leave next week on Thursday or Friday, possibly later as ship must be reasonably full before is willing to sail.

We met several people in the lorry park, chatted for a while and got invited for dinner. An on-site mechanic fixed our brake/reverse light fuse problem which turned out to be a bare wire under the bonnet causing the problem. We were charged 5 euros (we gave him 10) and then we were off for the evening to eat a meal with our new aquaintance. We slept in the lorry park that night with no issues - port customs, police and lorry drivers parked up making it feel comfortable and safe.

Hints and Tips we’ve learned along the way

Prepare in advance for border entry - make sure you bring money and caravan/trailer ownership paperwork.
For others on the subject of caravans - a carnet is required for it. Trailers do not need.
Allow enough time in itinerary as possible to allow for any possible deviations/extended periods of stay/unexpected problems as possible. We did, but still would like more but ultimately we will be governed by our budget.

Mileage to Date

4,766

On the Road Costs

7,634.15 Euros including all visas for next leg (average 115.67 Euros or 1.60 Euros per mile, per day, for all of us) or 4,782.24 Euros excluding visas (average 72.46 Euros per day or 1.00 Euro per mile). Breakdown as follows including visas: Diesel 1310.47 Euros (17%), Hotel/Campsites 855.78 Euros (11%), Visas 2851.91 Euros (37%), Food & Drink 1359.89 Euros (18%), Cigarettes 442.20 Euros (6%), Everything else ie public transport, site fees, ferries, stove petrol, vignettes/road tolls, postcards, post, stamps, vehicle border insurance, gifts, toys, shoes 813.90 Euros (11%).

Excluding visas the % breakdown is Diesel 27.5%, Hotel/Campsites 18%, Food & Drink 28.5%, Cigarettes 9%, Everything else 17%.

Durations in each country

UK (1 night - slept rough at ferry port), Netherlands (4 nights), Germany (9 nights), Austria (5 nights), Hungary (2 nights), Romania (5 nights), Moldova (2 nights), Bulgaria (32 nights) and Turkey (5 nights).

Accommodation

Camping (31 nights), Rough sleeping (6 nights), Travelling (1 night), Hotel (2 nights), Helpx (23 nights), Homestay (3 nights)

Next Stop

Eastern Turkey then heading for Ukraine

Diary (Blog)