Overland with Kids

Apologies we just spotted we had the wrong spelling for Zonguldak (not Zongludak) in our last post.

Jessica says:
“Hi! How are you doin’? We climbed up a mountain on the field trip of our lives, looking at some 2,000 year old statues of Gods right on the top of Mount Nemrut. It was a very interesting place. Now, we are on a ship in the owner’s cabin heading for the Ukraine. The people in Turkey are the kindest, nicest, people I have ever met in one country. I would give them 10 of of 10 for being so lovely.”

AJ says (walking on the way down the mountain to mum during visit to Nemrut)
“Who do you think you are then - a God or something?”

Mum says
“Yep - the Mother of all Gods where you are concerned!”.

Dad says:
“I went to the shop in Karadut and asked the shop owner - a small frail elderly man - if he sold beer. He didn’t understand what I wanted so I mimed what I was looking for. He said “Aaaahhhhh!” and promptly went to the freezer taking off the woollen blanket that was covering it and I thought great! This is brilliant! I managed to communicate my needs successfully- that is, until he brought me out a frozen chicken!”

Rose Valley, Goreme

Our last days in Goreme found us in Rose Valley where were able to witness just how large the lost civilisation of those who lived in those carved rock houses were. The walk is free, very tranquil and open to all. The sheer enormity of the place is unbelievable - the rock formations go on for miles - and homes are carved in virtually all of them. You begin to get an idea of the people that lived there - a real civilisation of people. The walk takes about an hour eventually leading to the ancient village of Cavusin containing a huge rock which looks like an ant colony which houses one of the oldest buildings (a basilica) on it’s top. The region of Cappadochia is an enormous place but we didn’t realise just how much so until our visit to Rose Valley - we got a sense of just how big the entire area from wandering along this one valley of many and realising how interesting the differing lunar rock formations and landscapes are - you could spend a month there exploring everything - an unbelievable place. With all it’s valleys, churches, villages and underground cities, you could go exploring forever.

In Goreme, we stayed at Kaya Camping during our stay complete with swimming pool, nice hot showers, proper toilets, a washing machine and running water - real luxuries for us these days. We approached the campsite from Goreme itself - a big mistake as it is a very, steep windy incline above the Open Air Museum. Trying to get our weighty caravan up the hill proved problematic due to it’s weight and we stalled and had our first panick attack. But we managed and all was well. You can enter from above and down instead but we didn’t know this on arrival !!!

During our last meal at a restaurant before leaving Goreme, we met an Iranian refugee waiter. He explained to us that he had left Iran for political reasons and couldn’t go back. He had left of his own accord but had been arrested twice on arrival in Turkey. He was a very nice chap. Throughout our trip to Eastern Europe, we are constantly reminded how lucky we are to be able to move around freely and without issue.

God Statues of Mount Nemrut

Eastern Turkey is very different from it’s western side in terms of it’s economic climate, landscape, infrastructure and culture. The landscape goes on for miles and miles of mountainous area. The further away from the west you go and the deeper into the East you drive, the more jaw droppingly beautiful the scenery becomes. The mountain region here is unending as you move through it. The mountains form part of the Anatolian plateau reaching to Adiyaman and then onto the Caucasus Mountains. We covered miles upon miles of torturous and treacherous wind steep bending roads and non-existent surfaces out of a total 400-mile journey to reach the Commagene mountains from Goreme. But the area goes on for miles and miles further in each direction you look. We stayed in a small pension which had a very basic camp ground facilities in the small village of Karadut - located near Kahta in the Adiyaman District. We came to see Mount Nemrut (or Nemrud as it is more locally known), based within the Commagene Mountain range and housed in a large National Park to protect it’s national treasure. Nemrut is a UNESCO World Heritage site - the folly and suppossed final resting place of a Commagene King called ‘Antiochus I’ who fancied himself high up among the Gods of the era (Zeus, Apollo, Hercules and Tyche, the goddess of fertility). The King decided to build 10-metre high statues of the Gods and himself on the summit of Nemrut. These treasures were then lost to the world once he died (we can understand why as the mountain is seemingly in the middle of nowhere and not that easy to get to!) until proper scientific research began during 1938 following German discovery while looking for road and transport routes there during the late 1800’s. Mount Nemrut is 2,206 metres high and perched at it’s summit are the damaged statues the Gods along with Antiochus. All of the statues heads have fallen off and are on the ground. We were able to drive so far up the mountain through the National Park and then climbed by foot the rest of the way. You can sleep as far up as your vehicle will take you at the top - right by the base of the summit itself to watch the sunset and sunrise. We didn’t do either but the scenery from the top took our breath away - mountains and lakes as far as your eye can see in every direction. Well worth doing if you can. It was a good visit and Jessica and AJ had a great time scampering around, investigating the place, playing and taking photos. Beforehand, we were interested to learn about the Lion Horoscope Relief - a stone block about 2 x 2.5 metres wide depicting a lion with stars carved above the animal symbolising Mars, Venus and Jupiter. It is believed to be the oldest horoscope ever found and bears the date 7 July, 62 BC. Jessica is very interested in the stars and astronomy and although we tried to find the lion during our visit, we failed. We think because the relief has been removed for further research or possibly damaged beyond recognition. We saw something that could have resembled it but the whole relief except except legs fallen away. We are hoping the latter is not true but we didn’t get the opportunity to ask anyone about it. In lieu of finding the lion, we were lucky to witness a fantastic bright starry night sky during our stay with no moon. We don’t think we’ve ever seen the night sky without a moon in it before. The stars looked surreal, like they were hanging suspended on invisible strings above us in a three dimensional way from invisible wires - all very magical. The next night it had dissapearred and we were not so lucky to be to see the same scene again.

There are other sites of interest in the Commagene area including the remains of a bridge worth seeing. Also a tablet depicting Hercules in the nude. We didn’t know about these until arriving. Due to our time limit, we could only stay for one night but 2-3 nights+ would have been so much better to explore around the area better. Not far away, is the route to Siverek which on our map says has a road running over it’s tip. We got there to find the huge lake but no more road - instead a small ferry boat takes over. A good crossing point toward Arad and probably Iran. We then remembered a conversation we had with two bikers we met (Aisa and Jarek from Poland) i.e. that you then have to endure a 200km dirt track until sealed road kicks in. They had made the trip from Arad to Nemrut but the conversation didn’t click with us until we attempted the route ourselves in a bid to head north toward Trabzon. We double backed due to not having the time but the visit to the lake and crossing using a ferry is a ‘must do’ which, we’d like to return to try sometime. Meantime, we’ve had our fair share of dirt-tracks and there’ll be plenty more, we’re sure.

Karadut where we stayed at the base of Nemrut is a very small village and the people as per the surrounding areas, are very keen for your business an custom. Whether you are on foot or driving, everyone you pass tries to stop you to try to get you to stay at their pension or come to their restaurant. Failing this, you can be subject to local children following you wherever you go - some asking for lira or sheckles or just wanting to say hello. Large areas of Eastern Turkey are under-developed and there is a lack of any high-level of tourism though there is plenty of evidence from the comfortless road conditions and past troubles to see why this might be the case.

We experienced an explosion on the road ahead of us during our drive to Nemrut (between Sucatir and Darendes). We think it was a small road works explosion though with no cause for alarm . As a result we were diverted across a long windy mud track, around a mountain for approx 5 miles. Add to the bad roads generally, the many roadworks in progress and the steep inclines - you have a heady mix to keep you focused and busy on the road.

We were glad that we found the small campsite we did at the foot of Karadout (the first place we saw) as it was basic, flat and easy for us to access with caravan and there is a nice cafe with helpful owner (who has eleven children!). On entering the main small village of Karadut later in the day, we were glad of our choice as again as, as per Goreme, we doubted very much we could have traversed our very weighty weighty caravan up the steep narrow claustrphopic road there. In our view, the best campsite in terms of cleanliness and comfort is based at the top end of the village en-route to Nemrut itself but we were quite happy to immerse ourselves in the culture of the owners children, his animals (cows and chickens), some home cooked food (delicious), stained but relatively clean (ish) toilets, cold showers (no hot water) and non-trustworthy water. Nevertheless, this was home and a better way to get to grips with the culture and support those trying hard to make a living here. There are many small villages around and about including Karadut where homes are basic and women and children tend the cattle and the fields from early morning as well as look after the house and chores. Many children don’t go to school but are up very early each morning, from a young age, taking their families cows and goats out to graze. Donkeys and horses are plentiful and also the main form of transport for a large population of people. Before arriving and following 14 hours of driving, we decided to sleep in a small laybe outside a small village in the very small hours of the morning. Here we woke to see very young children - some alone, as young as 5 taking a cow to it’s daily morning meeting point. Women generally stay inside the house in these regions  while the man is free to speak to foreigners like us. Women such as Anne seen drinking whisky and smoking are not really the done thing in this part of the world. Anne had to cover up and don long trousers every now again when travelling through. We did not see the women often unless tending the fields. Western Turkey on the other hand is much richer and can be likened to mainland Europe. People who live in Western Turkey especially the modern cities are much more open about dress ie whether they cover their heads and bodies or wear tshirts and jeans and still look respectable.

All food we have experienced in Turkey has been cooked from scratch and always delicious. Hot Corba soup with delicious fresh bread and optional chilli flakes and a squeeze of lemon always seems to be a frequent dish as a starter wherever we go. Main dishes usually consist of chicken or lamb barbeque kebab meats with rice and salad. Food is always very good. Everywhere, people are so friendly and always offer us their own food to eat and chai (tea) to drink -whether we stop by a petrol station or pull up on a roadside. The hospitality is unbelievable - we realised we’d never go hungry or thirsty here.

We would have liked many more days to explore Turkey better but as our unplanned visit here is already having a serious impact on the remainder of our travel plans, unfortunately we must leave. We hope someday we might be able to return and explore Turkey much more thoroughly.

Leaving Turkey

Following or visit, we headed back to Zonguldak - a 24 hour non-stop drive from Nemrut - to catch our RoRo ship to the Ukraine. We paid 1200 Turkish Lira (approx 600 Euros) for all of us, one-way including vehicles, breakfast, lunch and dinner. To our surprise, we found we were given the Owners cabin complete with a stocked fridge of complimentary cold drinks. The ship is a proper lorry ferry and as usual in Turkey, people can’t do enough to make sure we are happy and comfortable. We arranged through Karadeniz roro shipping agent in the TIR Port harbour (email: karadenizroro@tnn.net). The ship was due to sail Thursday but we didn’t leave until 18:00 hours (GMT), 20:00 hours on Friday local time. During our wait time, we could use cabin and eat 3 meals a day. We are now on our way to Ukraine. Andrew wasn’t well and quite sick (we think from something he ate) so Anne had the task of bringing the vehicles on board solo while Andrew slept and the children looked after him in the cabin (it was lucky we had some comfort for Andrew really). Anne loved every minute of bringing the vehicles on meantime - an exciting experience.

Hints and Tips we’ve learned along the way

We stayed in Turkey for 10 nights but Turkey is a big country with lots to see and do. You need a month minimum to stand a chance of spending some quality time in each place there and getting to know the country and it’s people better. Even a month wouldn’t be enough.

Turkey is expensive - more like Western Europe when compared to Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria in the East. Most of our money was spent on diesel costs while here and as most interesting sites are spread wide apart you could spend 400-800 miles (12 - 24 hours) travelling between destinations. Tourists spots like most places can be expensive.

Caravan paperwork was again requested (as per our last update on entry to Turkey) - but this time for exit. Passports and vehicle documentation were required for checking and then held securely (ours by the shipping agent) until departure. This is normal practice and a pre-requisite of the police for checking purposes. We were able to show the record in our passport of our caravan (provided by border control on entry to Turkey) and show that it bears the same number plate as our Land Rover. There is no doubt that caravan/trailer ownership paperwork would be helpful as we know we are going to be questioned probably at each border point we encounter throughout our travels. We are going to address our ownership paperwork issue while we are in transit. Make sure you have yours!

Drugs testing using dogs around vehicle to sniff and vehicle checking before ship boarding are the norm.

During shipping, take out what you need in time for the transit to store in your cabin. You can access your vehicle but it’s probably easierif you don’t have to bother.

At Zonguldak, be prepared for shipping delays - the ship won’t leave until it has it’s full quota of vehicles. We are already a day behind intended departure.

Hide and secure all goods away from view inside the vehicle/s once on board the ship. Then make sure it’s locked. There are many lorry drivers on board who sleepin theie vehicles or play cards closeby. We have heard about pilfering via ro-ro ferry transport though never anything bad about Turkey.

There are other agents at the TIR ferry port at Zongludak - worth making enquiries with the other agents along the dockside to check the costs that we paid are on par.

A visa is not required for Ukraine for British passport holders but always check as things can change.

Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country and alcohol is not largely available  especially away from cities and tourist locations. 

Central and Eastern Turkey where there are many small villages upholding the Muslim faith more strictly, alcohol is not the norm though the odd beer from a restaurant or cafe can be obtained (in one case we came across an owner who would provide Andrew beer from a plastic bag hidden behind the Fanta orange and Pepsi cola bottles in his fridge). In busier places, if you see a group of restaurants or cafes - you can usually spot which ones sell beer from the advertisements on their sun umbrellas.

Education

Last week we decided to have half-term due to the luxury of a swimming pool. This week:
Jessica - Working out riddles to find a letter. All letters then form a word with a riddle to help at the end. Reading about Turkey in pamphlets and guides and learning a little about navigation and map reading. Teaching AJ some times table tricks and showing AJ the timestable grid. Multiplication revision. Reading Mr Bear to AJ. Spellings related to words in Cappadochia. Crosswords and wordsearch puzzles. Devising a wordsearch for AJ to do.

AJ - Subraction exercises and 1 to 8 timestables (8’s proved too much for AJ). Reading Dinosaur Cove. Spellings including days of the week revision. English literacy and providing written answers to questions re: birthday invitation and cake ingredients. Wordsearch devised by Jessica.

Both - Reading The Night of the Ticklers by Paul Shipton. Playing Hangman. Writing and drawing pictures in journals about visits to Goreme and Nemrut. Being read a story about How the Turtle Got It’s Shell (we came across alot of turtles crossing the road while we were driving in Cappadochia - they were being constantly shovelled up for safety). Doing a wordsearch together.

Vehicle Issues

We have started to experience fuel pump/fuel starvation problems again (always seems to be a recurring problem) with Land Rover but we are managing to bodge currently until we can manage to find a LR mechanic and LR parts somewhere along our travels.

Caravan is also starting to fall apart at the seams a little - the coverings above the door areas are beginning to split. Rivets are starting to come out of one of the bottom sides. The doors are starting to become difficult to shut. We are starting to leak when it downpours with rain. One major problem that contributes is that the wood inside the exterior is rotting (electric lights no longer work as a result) due to caravan being old and outside in the rain in the UK for some time before leaving (snow earlier this year caused our fibre roof to split which we had repaired before we left). The canvas surround was also replaced - it was so old). We are soldiering on and will try to make some repairs ourselves once we land in the Ukraine.  Both vehicles have had quite a pummelling through Easterm Europe where the roads are bad.  Eastern Turkey is full of very rough bone-shaking dirt tracks but both the caravan and Land Rover have coped very well considering.

Mileage to Date

6,032 miles (2,006 miles alone in Turkey representing 50% of the mileage driven in all the previous countries we previously visited).

On the Road Costs

We are well over our estimated budget currently and have spent 8,976.65 Euros for 72 nights (average 124.68 per day or 31.17 Euros per person per day). From a mileage perspective this equates to approx. 1.49 Euros per mile. We are currently 0.50 Euros per mile over-budget from where we’d like to be.

Contributing factors includes visa costs for forthcoming Russia, Kazahkstan, Mongolia and China which we arranged and paid before leaving the UK plus unplanned (roro) ferry from Turkey to Ukraine - all totalling 3,757.20 Euros (and representing 42% of total costs). In addition, we haven’t cooked once ourselves throughout our whole stay in Turkey - meals and drinks in resturants instead helping to add up the costs.

Breakdown as follows:

Ferries (x 3 total) 905.29 Euros (10%), Diesel 1671.97 Euros (19%), Accommodation (incl. washing) 887.53 Euros (10%), Visas 2851.91 Euros (32%), Food & Drink 1651.14 Euros (18%), Cigarettes 477.20 Euros (5%), Everything else ie public transport, site fees, stove petrol, mechanic, vignettes/road tolls, postcards, post, stamps, vehicle border insurance, gifts, toys, shoes 531.61 Euros (6%).

Durations in each country

UK (1 night), Netherlands (4 nights), Germany (9 nights), Austria (5 nights), Hungary (2 nights), Romania (5 nights), Moldova (3 nights), Bulgaria (32 nights) and Turkey (11 nights).

Accommodation Types

Ferry (2 nights) Camping (33 nights), Rough sleeping (7 nights), Hotel (2 nights), Helpx (23 nights), Homestay (3 nights), Travelling (2 nights).

Next Stop

Ukraine

Bye for now

A, A, J and AJ

xxxx

 

Diary (Blog)