Overland Trip part 2

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    EARLY MORNING we packed our

    vehicles and set off for the borderbetween Greece and Turkey. Our

    aim was to reach Istanbul in themorning of the following day.

    The border crossing was over in

    an hour and the only difficulty washat the UK insurance documentor the 110 Defender wasnt

    combined with a green card,something the issuing company

    refused since the insurance paperon its own stated that Turkeywas included in the policy. The

    Turks, on the other hand, were notinterested in anything other thanthe green card.

    Eventually, 50 euros were wastedgetting a Turkish one-monthinsurance policy. However, we

    knew that, except for the shorttransit through Albania, this wasthe start of the real adventure.

    We had not just crossed anotherborder but also entered the

    country where west meets eastand where churches are a raresight. It was agreed that, from now

    on, we should choose the routefollowing tips from locals and thatour stay in Turkey shouldnt extend

    to more than two weeks.In Istanbul we decided to stay

    at the Bauhaus Hostel located ina wonderful area on the Europeanside of the Bosporus (Istanbul

    Strait). The two Land Roversoccupied most of the narrowcobbled street outside the hostel

    and during our three-day stay manylocals curiously asked if we weretaking part in the Camel Trophy.

    reaching AsiaTo their disappointment I had

    to explain that the well-knowncompetition does not exist any

    more and that we are nothing morethan two families travelling aroundtogether. That made them even

    more excited.We were always given the

    thumbs-up and shown the great

    admiration the locals have forthese vehicles. This reaction was

    repeated many times during thefollowing weeks.

    Even the charismatic owner of

    the hostel turned out to love whatwe are doing and, after a latenight together in the bar, a route

    through Turkey was sketchedout for us. This route wouldfirst take us south-west, to the

    Mediterranean sea, then inland,left and right, up and down.

    We realised that we might have

    to stretch our original time plan.But it was a very appealing route

    since the hostel owner promisedus that it would not follow thenormal charter-tourist destinations.

    After applying for Iranian visas(to be picked up in eastern Turkey)we left Istanbul by ferry to Jalova

    after which our first stop was Iznik.We were in Asia!

    Iznik is a small, historical townlocated next to a beautiful lakewith the same name. We stopped

    at the tourist office to ask for a siteon which to camp but we wereredirected to the tourist police

    office a few blocks away.

    guests of the mayorIn the search for this we made awrong turn into a small backyardfull with mini buses and I realised

    that it would be difficult to get outof there particularly because

    we soon were surrounded bypeople talking and shouting overeach other. I got out of the car to

    find out what it was all about andrealised that they were makingspace for us to park.

    Even though this wasnt thepurpose of our presence we

    thought that it may be easier topark the cars there and walk tothe police. Then a well-dressed,

    German-speaking gentleman,who turned out to be a tractordealer, introduced himself offering

    his assistance.We explained what we were

    doing, he picked up his mobile

    and a few minutes later a policecar with a policeman and anotherwell-dressed gentleman appeared.

    The tractor dealer explained thatthey would show us a few good

    campsites and I jumped intothe police car with our German-speaking friend.

    After driving along the lake andbeing shown a few places theyasked whether we really must

    camp. I explained that thatis the way we travel and also

    byMilan HarellPoznic

    The Adventure Familys route through Turkey ispunctuated by outstanding hospitality, breath-aking scenery and a small delivery problem

    SO FAR: The two couples andour children of the Adventure

    Family have travelled overland

    rom Sweden through Germany,he Czech Republic, Croatia,

    Slovenia, Montenegro, Albania

    nd Macedoina to Greece in theirwo well-equipped Defenders.

    Now, en route to Australia, the

    amilies are headed for Turkey...

    48 December 2008 LAND ROVERmonthly LAND ROVERmonthly December 2008 49

    Richard and Lina Poskitt,Tuvalie (4), Oliver (2),

    Milan and Pia Harell Poznic,Luka (4), Tanja (2),

    UNESCO IS the United

    Nations Educational,Scientific and CulturalOrganisation. It was

    founded on November 16,1945.

    For this specialised

    United Nations agency,it is not enough to build

    classrooms in devastated

    countries or to publishscientific breakthroughs.Education, social and

    natural science, cultureand communication arethe means to a far more

    ambitious goal: to buildpeace in the minds of men.

    4

    Above, from left: View

    over the Blue Mosque,

    Istanbul, from the

    Bahaus Hostel; Luka

    and Tuvalie chasing

    bugs in front of Aya

    Sofia Church, Iznik; The

    resort in Iznik where

    we were kindly hosted

    by the mayor.

    Below right: Richard

    climbing the hill in

    Pamukkale, carrying

    Oliver on his back.

    Above right: Tuvalie

    and Oliver at

    Lalezar camping in

    Dogobayazit.

    Main: Climbing some

    steep hills to reach our

    Ayvalik stopover.

    TURKISHDELIGHTS

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    that our budget did not allowus to stay in too many hotels.

    They then stopped in

    ront of a villa with its own bit ofcoast and a magnificent jetty andexplained that we are welcome to

    stay there as long as we wantedor free and as guests of the mayor.t turned out that the other gent

    was the mayors assistant.Shortly after, we were back by

    he Land Rovers and escorted by

    he police to our free resort. Iznikwas very nice and the people

    amazingly friendly.We stayed for a few days,

    after which we continued our

    ourney and visited Ayvalik, byhe Mediterranean Sea, the

    old city of Ephesus, Bergama

    and Pamukkale. Pamukkale,a UNESCO World HeritageSite, turned out to be the most

    enjoyable place for the kids thisar into our journey.Above the village there is a hill

    covered with calcium depositedby the mineral water flowing downfrom the hot water spring at the

    top. The calcium makes the entirehill white and full of small waterfallsand natural pools.

    Heaven for the little ones. Thatnight we camped in the gardenof a family-owned B&B and were

    accompanied by a Norwegiancouple on their way to South Africain their Land Cruiser.

    The next day we continued toCappadocia; it was a long drive

    but the first glance of the valley,uncovered very abruptly after anarrow bend, made at least me

    lose my breath. We were looking atboulders shaped as cones, whichhave been carved out to form cave

    houses from which one mightexpect the Fraggles to live in Ivenever seen anything like it.

    Pias first reaction was to thinkof Star Wars and it turned out thatparts of one of the movies have

    been filmed there. The first night westayed in a cave hostel and for thefollowing two nights we camped.

    We had now travelled for aboutfive weeks and there had been abuild up in tension between us.

    This was not unexpected as weall knew that living together for

    considerable amount of time is notsomething we are used to we allneed our private space.

    So we decided to breakup for some time and travelindependently of each other.

    Richard and Lina just needed toreplace that rear ball joint that wedid not have time to replace in

    Sweden before we left.We all went to a garage but, as

    the job was done for very little

    money, there was a power cut andthe car could not be lowered offthe lift. So, on the same day that

    we decided to split up for a whilewe were all sitting in a small officewaiting for electricity.

    It took such a long time thatwe decided to get into the 130

    and do some sightseeing to anunderground city. So, there wewere, as close to each other as

    ever, sitting four kids and fouradults in our car making jokesabout the situation.

    We did have a great day anddecided to continue together andmaybe split up a bit later. Our next

    destination was further east, a citycalled Erzurum, to which we wereexpected to have a package from

    our sponsors delivered.We were now getting into

    Kurdish populated areas which

    we had been warned aboutmany times. The road to Erzuruminvolved some astonishing scenery

    as we drove through the Kop Passat an altitude of 2,370 metres.

    delivery problems...We were amazed of the pullingpower of the Tdis. Even with the

    load we are carrying there wereno problems climbing these

    mountains and, surprisingly, thefuel consumption still does notexceed 10-litres in 100kms.

    Interestingly, the difference inconsumption between the carsis never more than one litre in

    a tankful. However, as we hadgone through the pass we weresurprised by some very strong

    side winds and, at the same time,I could see the temperature gaugeclimbing towards the red but never

    quite reaching it.As I had an Exhaust Gas

    Temperature Sensor installed I

    could see that the gas temperaturewas not too high. I thereforethought that I probably had a

    problem with a blown cylinderhead gasket.

    I stopped the car to check

    whether there was a pressurebuild-up or bubbles in theexpansion tank, but there wasnt. I

    was relieved, although I knew thatthere may well have been a small,

    hard to spot, leak.It also crossed my mind that

    the strong side winds combined

    with the big extra lights and thecondenser of the air conditionerin front of the radiator might be

    the cause. Just in case, I replacedthe viscous fan, which didnt feelas it had the resistance it should

    have, as well as the waterpump and the thermostat.

    This was done on the street

    50 December 2008 LAND ROVERmonthly LAND ROVERmonthly December 2008 51

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    Above left: Tanja

    and Luka having fun

    around the natural

    pools in Pamukkale.

    Above right: The first

    view of Cappadocia.

    Inset: The Berlin

    camping in Greme,

    Cappadocia.

    Main: On set at a

    Kurdish music video.

    Above, from left:

    The 110 on the lift in

    Cappadoccia; Tuvalie

    and Luka admiring the

    pretty ceramic tiles

    in Iznik; Tuvalie and

    Luka comparing stones

    outside Ishak Pasa.

    Below: The director in

    action.

    When they saw the Land Rovers and the blond kids

    getting out of them, they very quickly approached

    us and welcomed us to the palace.

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    outside the hotel where we

    were staying in Erzurum.These repairs seemed to at

    least partially solve the problem;the temperature didnt increase as

    much but then we didnt drive

    through as strong side windsagain in Turkey.

    Erzurum was not very appealing

    to stay in and we were hoping thatthe package sent from Sweden

    a week ago, using DHL express,

    would wait for us at the hotel.It didnt and, according to the

    tracking system, it was on its way.

    Dealing with DHL in Turkey turnedout to be a big, fruitless nightmare

    which cost a lot of money. To

    reduce our hotel costs we agreedwith DHL that the package should

    be redirected to Dogobayazit, a

    Kurdish town and a PKK (PartiyaKarkern Kurdistan or Kurdistan

    Workers Party) stronghold a few

    kilometres from the Iranian border,where we could camp.

    We picked up our Iranian visas

    that we applied for in Istanbul andoff we went. The camp, run by a

    Dutchman and a Kurd, is located

    below a Kurdish palace calledIshak Pasha and surrounded by

    magnificent scenery. There is

    also a big playground for the

    kids and, as we have discovered,

    camping is something they verymuch prefer to boring hotels.

    As soon as they were releasedfrom the Defenders they started

    their own exploration journey

    of the site and, simultaneously,we got the time for cleaning

    and enjoying the last alcoholic

    drinks before getting into Iran.Unfortunately, we still hadnt got

    our package, by now it was more

    than two weeks since it was sent.

    a magnificent sunsetAs a change of environment wewent to Diyadin, another small

    town 40kms away, known to the

    local people for the hot springsand outdoor baths. We stayed

    there for an entire week and

    became friends with many locals.The hospitality of the Kurdish

    people is incredible. We were also

    invited by the police chief to a bigparty involving the offices of three

    big cities.

    However, the package still hadnot arrived and a description of

    all the phone calls and emails and

    bureaucracy is beyond the scopeof this article. However, suffice it

    to say that it cost

    us 600 euros

    plus hotel bills and the package

    never got to us.We went back to the camping in

    Dogobayazit for a last day beforecrossing the border into Iran. As

    we still hadnt visited the Ishak

    Pasha Palace we decided to drivethere even if it was closed for

    visitors that day.

    As we arrived we could hear veryloud Kurdish music and, to our

    surprise, there was a big group

    of people there. When they sawthe Land Rovers and the blond

    kids getting out of them, they

    very quickly approached us andwelcomed us to the palace.

    We had turned up in the middle

    of a Kurdish music video recording.Pia and Lina were dressed up in

    Kurdish national dress, filmed

    together with the beautiful Kurdishfemale singer with a stunning voice.

    The cameraman used the hood

    of the 130 as a camera stand andwe were all dancing ring dance

    accompanied by Kurdish tunes

    and a magnificent sunset. The lastday in Turkey will be remembered

    for the rest of my life

    Next month, Adventure

    Family face some big

    decisions in Iran.

    4

    LRM

    Above left: Dancing in

    the sunset.

    Above right: Milan and

    Luka admiring the view

    in Acropolis, Turkey.

    Inset: Lina, Pia and the

    singer all dressed up inkurdish dress.

    Main: Oliver, Tuvalie

    and Tanja at the camp

    site in Lalezar, Turkey.

    52 December 2008 LAND ROVERmonthly