Turkey (again!) - Syria - Jordan

Here is finally a short update of what we have been up to lately. A lot has happened and we have seen many beautiful places (and countries!) in the last couple of months. After three wonderful months in Iran we returned to Turkey where we stayed for two weeks to do some repairs on the cars and see places we missed the first time we passed through.

We spent two weeks in friendly Syria after getting our visas without problems at the border. In Palmyra we found the best camp site one could wish for... plenty of shade, a nice pool and right next the magical site of Palmyra. And after that we spent quite a few days in Damascus, since it was simply the nicest city we all have been to.

Jordan next. Another country that we did not have any expectations of. And yet again have we been overwhelmed by friendly locals, beautiful scenery, interesting history and some adventure. We would like to come back to Jordan another time, to spend more time. After a few days in Petra we are now heading for the desert and the nature reserve Wadi Rum. We hope to spend a couple of nights with the bedouins before we continue to Egypt...

Back in Turkey again! Enjoying the beautiful sunset and a very much looked forward cold beer in Dogubayazit. /Pentax

Tuvalie, Oliver and Richard doing some geocaching in Mt Nemrut, Turkey. We camped right by one of the five crater lakes in this amazing volcano, the Green lake. Also called the hot lake since it has several hot springs where the volcanic gas still bubbles up. /Pentax

Camping with our Dutch friends and a week long travel companions Saskia and Sjef. By Lake Van in Turkey. /Pentax

The Poznic family ready for the steep climb into the crater of Mt Nemrut, Turkey. /Pentax

Hasankeif, Turkey. This old village with unique historical and architectural value is one of many in south-east turkey to be covered in water in seven years time, due to an extensive dam project. /Pentax

Tuvalie is reading a story for Oliver at the camp in Nemrut Dagi, Turkey. /Pentax

Richard under the grape vine in Nemrut Dagi, Turkey. /Pentax

Milan, Luka and Tanja fighting the wind on top of Nemrut Dagi, Turkey. /Pentax

These amazing stone heads and man-made peak of pebbles (believed to be an old tomb) can be found on top of Nemrut Dagi, Turkey. /Pentax

Fellow overland traveler from Sweden? /Pentax

The impenetrable crusader castle Crac de Chevalier in Syria – the castle in every child´s dreams. /Pentax

Some odd looking speed bumps on the road to Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Just another morning in the tent for the Poskitt family! Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Sunset in Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Camels with tourists in Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Camping and swimming right by Bell´s Palace in Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Luka in the ruins of Bell´s Palace in Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Just outside Umayyad Mosque in fantastic Damascus, our favorite city so far, by far! /Pentax

Richard’s off for some water activities in Wadi Mujib, not only the lowest nature reserve on the planet but a great play ground too! Jordan /Pentax

Pia is bopping around like a cork in the salty Dead Sea, Jordan. /Pentax

One of many fantastic views along King´s Highway towards Petra, Jordan. /Pentax

This is where we are now! Enjoying some wine by the poolside, getting ourselves prepared for some serious hiking in Petra, the ancient “forgotten city” in Jordan. /Pentax

Wild Turkey

From Yazd we drove to Esfahan where we met some friends which we got to know during our previous visit. However, the two days left on our exit VISA forced us to move on to Tabriz early next morning. The border crossing between Iran and Turkey was very smooth, although we overstayed our Carnet (car document) by roughly two months. In fact it took less than one hour to get in to the Turkish side where we spent much more time than we thought. The reason being that Milan and Richard went to acquire a Turkish car insurance but found a duty free shop full of beer whisky and other liqueurs J. Imagine that after 3 very dry months. With the fridge fully loaded we speeded to a previously visited camping in Dogobayazit. Everything was perfect except a small worry which had been growing in Pia’s and Milan’s mind since we left Tabriz. Car trouble...

From Tabriz the Defender 130 has developed both a ticking noise from the valves and a sign of a problem in the rear axle. A valve adjustment solved the ticking problem, at least temporarily as the two valves which were completely out of tolerance were both working on the same cylinder and this may indicate future trouble, but let’s deal with that later. The rear axle problem turned out to be a very worn out driveshaft which had to be replaced. It turned out to be a small hassle to get the parts, mainly do to the extreme overprizing from the dealer in Istanbul who wanted 500 euros for a driveshaft inc. postage. It would have been much cheaper to by the part in UK and have it sent by express couriers and in fact Richards father kindly bought the part for us and was on his way to send it. However, some phone calls later (sounds easy….) the part was on its way from Ankara for less than 50 euros. Waiting for the arrival of the parcel, Richard and Lina decided to move on by themselves to later meet up in Urfa.

After a few days the parcel arrived and so did some friends which we previously met in Yazd. It was the Dutch couple with their dog on their way back home after an overland trip to India in their fantastic Landrover camper. Pia and Milan had a couple of late evenings with their new friends and the purchases from the duty free shop. On the morning at which Pia and Milan were supposed to move on Milan woke up very very early for some reason and thought he will have a nice peaceful morning. After making a strong Turkish coffee he sat down beside the car to enjoy the view when a weird sound interrupted the quietness. “What the hell is that?” was the first thought. The source of the sound was getting closer and now originating from around the back of the vehicle and getting louder. The appearance of a huge Turkey put a smile on his face as it was not an unknown Turkish monster as he briefly had considered. In less than a microsecond the smile changed simultaneously into a shout, jump, run around the car and climb up on the ladders to the roof tent. The wild Turkey attacked!!!

The bloody animal destroyed the morning completely. Everybody where sleeping, except Milan who was the only victim the thing apparently could think about. Every movement he made the turkey ran back the few meters of distance it had given to the stranger. The 20 meters run to the shower would have left Carl Lewis scratching his head on the start line in the Olympics, at least that was what went through the head of a shocked person who had far to much whiskey for his own good the night before.

The not so friendly Turkey. /Pentax