Name change -Türkiye

Göreme in Cappadocia

 This is the sight that greeted me as the sun came up in Göreme in the Cappadocia region of Türkiye, formally known as Turkey. This name change was accepted by the United Nation at the beginning of June.

The Cappadocia region is known for it's fascinating rock formations with churches and cave dwellings cut into the solid volcanic tuff.

Early apartment block

From my hotel rooftop

Oleander

I travelled through a large section of central Türkiye on back roads that seemed to be lined with magnificent flowers like these oleander bushes.

Fields of purple flowers between fields of wheat were a feature in the less mountainous areas in the east of the country.

Stone Road

What would a motorcycle story be without at least a mention of a dangerous road. Not just any dangerous road but " The world's most dangerous road " according to the BBC. Near the town of Kemaliye, Karanlik ( meaning dark in Turkish ) Canyon has been carved out by the Euphrates river. The road was cut through the rock by hand and took the local townspeople 132 years to complete. The numerous tunnels are named for the workers who died building the road.

Thank you Kaya Özgen

A fun ride but I would argue the point about it being so dangerous, especially as the road surface, although dirt, was not that rough. At one point there was even a guardrail, which should definitely be removed.

Ian and Aneta

Leaving the mountains I dropped back to the hot mediterranean coast and what a surprise to find that my cousin Ian and his girlfriend Aneta were on vacation in the town of Alanya just a day's ride from where I was. We had a grand reunion and more than a few cocktails were downed.

I will keep the KTM

The Alley Sweeper of Mardin

This patient old soul was found with his master sweeping the back alleys of Mardin, Turkey, an ancient town perched on the side of a rocky cliff overlooking the plains of Mesopotamia. 

The indignity of the Leave No Trace policy

As you can probably tell I did decide against going further east even though I could have air- freighted my motorcycle from Georgia to Kazakhstan but the cost did not really warrant it.

Armenia

3Gs Campsite

I spent two days relaxing at this campsite owned by a dutch couple in the hills above Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. I was a little reluctant to visit the capital as I had heard that, although an old city the "old" had been taken out of it over many years by Soviet central planning.

However I found the city to be a delight.

The Pink City

Known as the Pink City as many of the buildings are built with a pink colored volcanic rock

It is a city of parks and a lot of wide open plazas and wide shopping boulevards. Yes it does not have an intimate old town feel but it does have a wonderful feeling of openness and light.

Botero Statue

There seems to be a statue at every turn and this one by Colombian sculptor Botero characterized the "voluptuous" nature of the city.

Noravank Monastery

The country of Armenia, being a deeply Christian religious country has an abundance of monasteries found on the top of mountains, in deep canyons ( like this one at Noravank) and in any other out of the way place. Maybe this allowed the monks solitude away from temptations of the flesh. Until the tourists came along ........

I complied

Caves of Goris

The furthest east I am going to get on this trip was the town of Goris, renowned for it's caves, many of which were occupied until the mid 20th century.

Poppy Fields

On my way back through the countryside of Armenia the poppies were in full bloom. I am not sure if these are cultivated fields for " commercial" production or if they appear in fields that have been left dormant.

Alexandrapol Hotel

My last night in Armenia was spent in the Alexandrapol Hotel in Gyumri. What an amazing place recalling an age of elegance. Although it feels like it was built in Tsarist times it was only built sometime after 1988 as most of this city was destroyed by an earthquake which killed 60,000 people in the region.

Back to Turkey via Georgia

Thank you Google maps

I had a day of two border crossings from Armenia to Georgia and then from Georgia to Turkey via the Aktas Sinir Kapisi border crossing. Cutting across the corner of Georgia Google maps gave me two options. I chose the shorter one that took longer hoping to find roads more to my liking. I sure did!! Winding through farmers' fields and backyards I arrived at the border with a good splattering of cow poop on my moto.

Turkiye

Talat

The Turkish people are known for their abounding hospitality. I stopped in a little cay ( tea ) shop to avoid getting drenched in a thunderstorm and after a couple of glasses of tea and a toasted sandwich this man, Talat, refused to let me pay - such kindness.

Budding entrepreneurs

These teenagers had been put in charge of a tea shop on a slow Sunday afternoon and I happened to stop in to ( once again ) get out of a thunderstorm. What a delightful hour I spent being entertained by the banter between these 14 year olds. They made me tea and a sandwich and I expect made up the prices as they went along.

Requested photo

Somebody requested that I post a mug shot of myself to prove that I am not a robot making up this blog. Here it is! Unluckily the editing software failed miserably with not allowing for wrinkle removal.

Hey Brother Noah

Mount Ararat

Do you think that this European stork gives thanks every morning to old brother Noah for parking his ark on the mountain in the background? 

This photo was taken from Armenia looking across the border into Turkey ( Türkiye as it is now officially called.)

I have not made a final decision about going further east from here but I am leaning more towards the idea of going back west and finish exploring Turkey and then into Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania.

The Road to Omalo

What would this blog be without a photo of my moto and a lot of snow. I attempted to get to the village of Omalo in the Tusheti region of Georgia but like many of my recent high mountain escapades the heavy late snows had other plans. This ride came to an end with me doing a slow headplant into the wet slush. 

 

A better form of transport

The road to get to this point has been featured in a BBC documentary on the most dangerous roads in the world.

With drop offs of thousands of feet making a mistake on many of the sections was just not a pleasant thought, the consequences of which are brought into stark reality by the dozens of memorials along the way.

Twins Winery Napareuli

Back down the valley found me in a much more hospitable environment at the Twins Winery where I spent the night after a great meal and wine tasting. The tasting consisted of three jugs of wine which I "tasted" in their entirety.

Qvevri

Georgian wine has been made for over 7000 years in these large earthenware vessels called qvevris, some of which contain over 5000 litres. Unlike other wines the crushed grapes and  the skins remain in the qvevris for about 9 months. The earthenware gives the wine a very distinctive taste and even the whites are an amber color.

Sighnaghi

A stopped for a couple of nights in this mountaintop village and then I rode down to Armenia. The main roads in Georgia are like driving dodgem cars. Oncoming vehicles, when overtaking, flash their lights and expect ( and usually receive) right of way, a really hair-raising experience. Although driving on the right hand side of the road Georgia allows the import of used vehicles from countries ( mainly Japan ) that have steering wheels on the right hand side. This combination makes these roads a battlezone.

More on Armenia next