Overland Trip part 2
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Transcript of 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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4
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