Visa hunter

I have quite literally done more stuff in the past two weeks than i think i have done in any two weeks of my life. The last two days i have found myself a nice quiet hotel and just slept haha and watch suits but apart from that just sleep. From tibilisi i had myself a nice little plan which didnt really work out, surprise surprise. But at least the most important thing has been completed and the main purpose of my trip can go ahead. I have my Iran visa!!!! :)

Anyway more on that one later. I have been working on a pretty loose schedule up to now but the d'day of being back in Turkey on 21st May was rapidly approaching so i had to shorten my time in georgia and have some serious journeys if i wanted to check out armenia and see the breakaway republics of Karabakh and Abkhazia. My entry to armenia was one of the more memorable introductions to a country i have had, having two of the cars i was riding in break down and then arriving in the most horrendous storm i have seen in a long time. Soaked bedgraggled and slightly pissed off i arrived at the hostel having had no replies to any of the 20 couch surfing requests i had sent a week prior. Hey ho sometimes you get no luck :( As it turns out as often it does this worked in my favour as i stayed at the best hostel i have ever stayed at, truly amazing service where the only answer was yes!! Anyway i had five days in armenia so one day in the capital Yerevan was enough as its pretty small and the only real things of interest for someone with churchphobia was the genocide museum. I will fully admit to knowing nothing about the genocide aside from the fact that turkey denies it and most countries side with turkey in denying it. All you can say is that prior to 1915 there were 2 million armenians and after 1917 there were 500,000 scattered around the globe. I had been under the assumption that the turks had invaded and killed them but infact the armenians were scattered throughout the ottoman empire and it was in multiple towns and cities a few government leaders compelled to exterminate them. Despite the obvious hatred armenians have for turks in general i will say that one of the most compelling quotes was that this was 'the work of a few not the work of the majority' so i will point this out now.

The museum was an eye opener and the fact that neither the uk or the usa accepts this happened is a shame and a stain. Purely through our alliance with turkey over our requirements for middle east conflicts we skip over this little known event in history. After this it was back to the fashion parade that is Yerevan. I have never seen a city where people take so much care of their appearance, everyone looked like a model and armenia without a shadow of a doubt has the most beautiful women in the world. After Yerevan i took a couple of day trips to the big lake Sevan which looks kinda similar to lake Tahoe and also to some monasterys outside of the city. It was on this excursion with a couple of poles and sammy the irish guy we devised a plan with our taxi driver to take a two day trip to the south of the country ticking off some sites along the way like the worlds longest cable car (bet you didnt know that was in armenia) before entering Karabakh for an evening and a morning. Karabakh claims independence but since 1992 and the fall of the soviet union both armenia and azerbaijan have been fighting over it. Infact, now it is kind of occupied by armenia and in azerbaijan it is a crime to visit the area. So that is why i am now officially banned from ever going to azerbaijan with my current passport. Another first for me!! Anyway Karabakh was kind of interesting, like the genocide i didnt know too much about the war and it was interesting to interact with some of the locals even if some were decidedly unfriendly. Whilst drunk at 2am we nearly got arrested by the secret police but fortunately Jakub the polish guy i was with kissed ass so much my inflammatory comments didnt backfire. But seriously if you want to sit and ask me questions for 40 minutes pretending to want to be my friend and not answer any of mine what do you expect me to say!!

It was cool to see some of the cities etc and experience it but what i really came for was the deserted city of Agdam. It is kind of similar i guess to chernobyl where 20 years ago people left in a hurry and never returned. I had seen blogs and photos from people who had got inside and there is the classic photo infront of the mosque which was the only building left unscathed in the fighting. This was a real anticlimax as we didnt get anywhere near it as the two people we hired to get us around the army and police checks both crapped themselves and refused to take us. Needing to be back in Yerevan and with a 9 hour trip in a lada that had already broken down on several occasions ahead of us we didnt have time to try again. This sucked massively as we had driven all this way largely for nothing :( oh well you cant win every time.

And from there my epic days of endless transport changes and visa chasing began. I really wanted to visit abkhazia on my way back to turkey and just managed to get across the border at 5pm after huge delays waiting in a barbed wire confine, walking across the border i felt like a refugee with people coming past on any form of transport and with loads and loads of possesions. Being after 5pm this meant the public transport in the form of minibuses had stopped which is where the travellers worst night mare starts. Just to get moving i took a cab who dropped me in the middle of nowhere and then i got endlessly harrassed by locals trying to rip me off. With nightime approaching and 50km still to go i finally hitch hiked my way to Sukhumi the capital where i met my next couchsurfing host. Marina was russian and lived with her husband in a very old and rickety house but what it did have was a great location and a hammock in the garden. I had some plans to see stuff outside sukhumi but in actual fact i ended up chilling in a hammock, going to the beach or buying and eating massive amounts of vegetable from the market :) Sukhumi like karabakh was torn apart by war in 1992-1993 and is still only recognised as independent by 5 countries. Infact entering from georgia there isnt even a border post just some concrete blocks in the road. I never really felt too welcome in abkhazia, excusing my hosts and a couple of others i just got questions about why the UK supports georgia and endlessly harrassed for money. Other travellers i met had various stories from being extorted by police to being dragged off buses and mugged. I didnt have anything like that fortunately but it was quite intimidating in places!!!

But after this little sojourn in eastern europe my main goal was still Iran so i hightailed it back to Trabzon on an epic 15 hour day with 10 transport changes!! And after a morning where i could have cried after some heart stopping NO VISA YOUR ENGLISH answers, the afternoon staff after 200 euros and some epic hassle issued me with an Iranian visa!!! I was so relieved i couldnt quite believe it and kept checking it to make sure there was no mistake lol So now I am chilling for a couple of days before heading to Kurdistan and on to Iran. Im guessing most things will be blocked or the interent will be so slow for the next few weeks so dont expect any photos or blog posts haha

catch you later

Tucker

Chasing Kars

What a cool place i am in, Tbilisi and i think it is possibly the most endearing capital i have been to. I arrived last night after 12 hours squashed in a mini bus and was straight out on the town. I got turned down on all my couch requests which was a pain but its Easter here (i know i was puzzled too) so most Georgians have gone home. Turns out Georgia is orthodox christian so they have a different calendar and this year i get two white Easters. It was snowing in the mountains :) wonder what the odds were on that one.

After dogubayazit i was pretty bored having been couch surfing then left to my own devices. I left after just a day and headed to kars to my next rendezvous with local students. Kars like erzurum doesn't have much for the wandering tourist but it does have great great people. I ended up staying again for four days in which time i visited the castle which was ok, but also hitch hiked out to the ancient city of ani and went to a Turkish wedding but more on that later. In kars i stayed with Hayrettin and his friends Cihan and the best cook in turkey Burcu :) like all students we ended up staying in bed most days till two haha i am getting seriously lazy!! Unlike erzurum these guys were English students so it was much easier to talk to them and make friends here. Along with this came the inevitable questions about grammar lol which i still have no idea about at all.

After one day in Kars three of us decided to hitch hike out to the ancient city of ani which was about 40km out of town. Ahh the pleasure of hitch hiking :) it all started so well we left early and after three very interesting rides, one in what was possibly the oldest car still working in the world and also a kangarooing bumpy off road detour with a learner driver we were there. The city doesn't have too much left but was once a major site on the silk route and as i am following this pretty essential stopping point for me. The area is pretty earthquake prone so must is rubble but there were some cool churches and mosques with a dramatic mountain backdrop and a view over the closed border with Armenia. This border is still closed after the war and so for me to visit is a long detour through Georgia haha this region blows the mind for its relationships between people and countries. The ride back wasn't so great and took 5 hours to cover the 40km which involved sitting at the side of an incredibly empty road for ages and also walking endlessly to the horizon. We did make it back and to a Turkish wedding when we were picked up as it got dark by a fellow guest. I am so glad we made it to the wedding was such a cool experience :D not a drop of booze in sight but everybody dancing with the traditional moves which fortunately was simple so i could join in. To be fair i didn't just join in i put them to shame with some of the moves i was busting out lol

After that it was another heartfelt goodbye and the hottest bus ride ever to batumi in Georgia. Country number 51!! over halfway to my life time goal :) I went to batumi to get my Azerbaijan visa after the consulate in kars said no :( application in and everything no problems but the cost of 100 quid for a week seemed excessive. So the plan changed yet again and i left batumi which is photogenic but has nothing else and headed for the mountains. (plus nobody in batumi smiles ever!!!) Batumi has had so much investment and has many 5 star hotels after the old president put so much money into it, but the new president has withdrawn the support. So there are epic buildings standing empty and being off season the city is dead which is a bit creepy. The mountains though are always a good outlet and i spent a few days exploring traditional villages and attempting and failing the 3 day hike to the highest village in Europe. Even now the snow is deep and i had to catch a ride. I stopped around for the Easter feast which was essentially meat and vodka before taking the bus yesterday to Tbilisi. This city is just completely regenerating itself and there are so many cool new buildings as well as the traditional old ones. Its a pleasure to walk around and just to be here sat in a cafe in the sun is great. Not so much time here which is a shame but got to get back to the sight seeing :) its a cool country but so much of it is occupied by the Russians or has claimed Independence you cant see everything. But we will do our best!! Enjoy the photos there are some cool ones

Tucker

Eastbound and down

For four days i was a student again, and do i miss that life when 11am is too early, washing up doesnt matter and the only plan for the day is jokes and more banter. Yes!!!! The last four days have been so much fun, my decision to persist with couch surfing has resulted in some of the best days i have ever had travelling. Emre and his friends in Erzurum were truly cool guys and showed me the real turkey. I cant thank them enough for that!!

But after I left you last time I believe I was about to do that most quitissential of capadoccian experiences the world famous balloon ride. After about 10 seconds deliberation i decided that i had to do it. And lets just say it was worth it. Despite the literally hundreds of balloons and the chaotic takeoff areas, it is just truly magical once you are up in the air. Drifting amongst the fairy towers and cave houses as the sun comes up is breathtaking. The colours kind of reminded me of the grand canyon in a way, just spectacular in the early dawn light. It really is something that has to be done!! The rest of my time was no less special, missing the fun of two wheels i rented a motorbike for the day to explore some underground cities that were at one time home to over 20,000 people, truly remarkable. Those were pretty cool to explore in the pitch black, climbing through holes in the cealing and dropping down through tiny shafts. Must admit its not for the faint hearted in places especially when you can feel your footholds crumbling away!! That day also saw we stranded in the middle of nowhere as the idiot at the shop promised the bike would do 80km on a tank. Rubbish 50km later in a deserted valley it konks out. FFS!!!! many many stronger words were uttered i can assure you. So 1/2 hour trek to a farm and some pretty impressive sign language later this legend of a turkish guy gave me a lift with a jerry can. Couldnt say thankyou enough. Especially as turkey has the most expensive fuel in the world apparently, and he wouldnt take a cent. You really do meet some great people!!

After that a swift pass back through ankara to collect my uzbek visa and then east to the slightly seedy black sea port of Trabzon and the traditional turkey I had come here to see. Two days in Trabzon was plenty believe me so I moved on to Erzurum. Where the fun began!!

The first day i arrıved was my birthday and maybe you saw on facebook it was my fırst proper attempt at hitch hiking or auto stop as they call it here. 10 hours it took to get from where i was staying near Trabzon to Erzurum. I managed to hitch for about 200km but the other 200 was on the bus :( Nearly everyone i have met here has been doing it and says its so easy, even hitchwiki the website goes on about how easy it is in turkey. To start it was, getting picked up after about 10 minutes in Trabzon but it was just downhill from there lol. I did get to go in a truck for the first time so i guess thats a small upside. I will persist with it but its kind of demoralising, everytime someone drives past its like they are telling you to F off. And when they stop but for a different reason is the worst haha you are all excited then massive let down. You just want to know whether they are not going the same way or they really dont want to help out the overladen, slightly unkempt englishman. Maybe a shave will yield better results??

But i did make Erzurum before nightfall and met up with my new host Emre a biology student at the university there. Emre lives with his mates Kubilay and Adem, but the flat despite the lack of furniture is the centre of goings on and for two nights a load of people from his course came over. First night was vodka time which very quickly led to a night of dancing to turkish music and lessons on how to click my fingers. A life skill which sadly still eludes me lol It is probably the first country i have ever been to where traditional music is the only order of the day. Despite their efforts i cant say that i am a fan however. It is all so sad, emotive and just about hurt and pain. The mood is just reflective to the point of wanting to end it lol, I was told you cant forget the bad stuff and move on. Im not entirely sure thats for everyone. Needless to stay we still had a good time and the banter was fun.

Theres not a great deal to see in Erzurum but Fatih and Emre showed me the mosques and city tower etc before heading through a slightly decrepit neighbourhood and on up to the castle which overlooks the city. The view is amazing with snow covered mountains all around. The city itself is a centre for skiing in the winter but for the rest of the year its stuck on a high plain miles from anywhere at around 2000m. Lets just say it was cold and the weather is pretty abysmal (anyone booking their holidays yet haha i should work for the tourist board) The first question most people asked was why are you here?? Im getting used to that most places i go now. If it wasnt for the uni ım ure it would die a death but the student atmosphere is central to everything and great to experience again. The other nights we tried some traditional turkish delicacies like Çig Kofte which is raw meat, barley and a mixture of blended vegetables rubbed together by hand for three hours!!! Tastes amazing but not great if your starving :) The perfect accompaniment to any meal here Rakı was brought out which just adds to the melancholy atmosphere. Vodka for party, Rakı for reminiscing. We werent drunk the whole time however and I did fınd time to watch aston villa get spanked, get thrown out of emres uni lab class apparently for health and safety lol and experience the highs and lows of the somewhat slightly confusing relationship dynamics between the various classmembers. Seriously ive read novels with easier story lines. Good times though and ones i certainly wont forget that in a hurry!!

Now today i sit 20km from Iran in a place called Dogubayazit which is a mostly kurdish village at the base of Mt. Ararat. The weather was rubbish this afternoon but tomorrow hopefully it will brightnen up to see the palace and the mountain. And Noahs ark if the stories are to be believed!! So i believe that we are all pretty much up to date. From here its onwards to Georgia the land of honey and the home of all surnames ending in dze!! Catch you later guys

Tucker

Turkey and the start of the road east

So here it is guys back by popular demand and several threats my blog is here.

I am now in Capadoccia maybe you have heard of it? but if you haven't you have definitely seen it in some amazing pictures :) I have just spent 7 hours hiking round the fairy pinnacles, valleys, gorges and abandoned villages. It is really really cool and tomorrow I have a balloon ride booked so proper excited now!!!!

Time is flying once again and I have been away for a week and a half wow. My plan is totally up in the air and now seems dependant on visas which i guessed at the start it might end up doing. I flew into Sofia and took the night train to Istanbul which is the final stage of the orient express and something i didn't do last time i was in the area. Lets just say i think the orient express passengers had it easier. First someone committed suicide in front of the train which was really sad and meant we had to wait for the police etc to arrive (not always the quickest in Bulgaria, have a word with your dad Tereza it was by your town). This meant we got to the border at 3am where the border police insisted on taking everything out of my bag which was not really what i wanted and then i was the only nationality that had to buy a visa. All the Germans thought it exceptionally funny. But finally i got to sleep and woke up expecting to see the ancient city of Istanbul on the horizon but the guy in the cabin next to me said we had been stopped for five hours pretty much as soon as i fell asleep because someone had stolen the cables. lol it happens here too. Anyway i wont bore you with the rest of it but i got to Istanbul 9 hours late but i got there. Anyway this is why you go travelling right?

I stayed in a hostel which i haven't done in a long time and to be frank the hostel was nice but so quiet. I did meet a few people to go out with at night (by the way Istanbul has amazing night life) and also to hang around with to see the sights. Had to properly get back into the swing of talking to absolutely everybody and there were some interesting characters. There is so much to see in Istanbul its crazy but i got to the main sights blue mosque, aya sofia etc which were really nice but its the small sights in the backstreets which are the best. The best thing is just pick a direction and walk and stop for coffee tea whatever. Its so big you can easily get away from it all, i highly recommend definitely for a long weekend.

But even before i did this i had a date with the Iranian embassy. Now i have already started the application process months ago and due to the fact there are no relations between our two great countries i wasn't expecting this to go smoothly. And guess what it didn't. I was let into the embassy which was great, they even had my paper work in order. Already too good to be true i thought and then they dropped the bomb! Ever so nicely the guy announced that on the 1st April for two months we have changed our policy, you now have 15 days on issuance of visa to get to Iran rather than 3 months. FFS. I wasn't going to be in Iran for two months and my schedule after one day has been blown out of the water. Its a good job i never book anything. So now i am doing two months travelling around Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan before flying back to Istanbul from east turkey picking up my visa and flying back. The guy was really apologetic and was like if you had been here 4 days ago it would have been fine so i thanked him, gave the thumbs up and left. (Later i found out the thumbs up is the rudest gesture you can do in Iran so maybe i wont even get any visa haha)

Anyway after that I was in the mood for a drink so after it being suggested at the hostel a few of us went to a random couchsurfing meeting in the evening. Already a member from years back i have decided to make a real effort this time and use it alot. I had a great evening out met some really cool people, learnt a bit of salsa and some other dance moves and got some great contacts :) Actually staying with someone on couchsurfing is something i never really tried before but i have already stayed with Can in Ankara for a couple of nights and it was great to see the city from a locals perspective, and also be able to stay in a home which believe me you miss alot. Although his exceptionally crazy cats meant i didn't get the greatest of sleep especially when it knocked down a load of shelves one night and then thought it would be great to jump from sofa onto my bed on the floor over and over again!! Fun times. Anyway Ankara doesn't have much for tourists being a largely administrative city and i was only there for picking up an Uzbekistan visa (more fun and games) and replacing items that have already broken like my shoes. I loved those shoes as well 40 odd countries before they gave up the ghost so not too bad i guess.

And then from Ankara i have a week to kill before i can pick up my visa so i have come to Capadoccia the land of fairy chimneys and where lord of the rings becomes real. All day i hiked exploring caves, sticking my head in random holes and tunnels and generally just enjoying exploring. There is none of this signage cluttering up the place like in the UK its just like here's a valley go check it out. So that's what i did, although meeting a local who showed me a few hidden treasures helped. Saw a few really amazing cave churches with ancient paintings was so nice. Anyway now i am absolutely shattered and legs are killing so heading for food and sleep (really boring i know) but the balloon ride is for sunrise at 5am so i do have an excuse.

Take care everybody and catch up soon

Tucker