old tiger's Blog

Iran..so different then Turkey..I don't recall much from the bus ride
between Tabriz-Qazvin-Tehran..but I must say..buses well organised,
comfortable travelling..now Tehran..I stayed 4 days there..because I had
to make visa for India etc..in these days Amir Kabir hotel was the place
to be to meet hippies travelling..but i didn't stay there..found a little hotel
in some side street..where it was full of only foreigners as well..great people..
Tehran is surrounded by mountains..and lies at an altitude of 1200m..
big wide streets..mostly paralell pattern..in these days the Shah was still
ruling..shops were filled with French perfumes..foreigh stuff as well..oil money..
you know..I think today it's a total different picture
The big bazaar of Tehran is absoluteley fantastic to stroll through..
lots of curious Iranians wanted to know whether I was American,English??
I got invited for tea and abgoust...now..this abgoust..is served in a pot and
it's some stew like mixture of chickpeas etc..it was very cheap...and tasty as well..other type of food is pillav/nan/mutton..which is a rice dish with flat bread..Iran was very cheap..next days I spent my time going to the embassy of India..no problem for a visa..but it took 2 days..
Tehran is a hectic place..lots of traffic..it's a central point for all traffic to
any destination in Iran..my itinerary was Qum-Yazd-Kerman-Bam-Zahedan..
never went to Isfahan..and that's a pity..beautiful mosques there..
just ask Dharma(Kevin)he has been there very recently..
i picked up a few words of Farsi..real nice language with strange sounds..
gar kodjast??meant where the railwaystation..I did travell by bus all the way towards Zahedan...will tell you more later on...

Ankara..I didn't like this place too much..huge bus station..very confusing..
I had to switch bus there direction Erzurum(Anatolia)it's a long journey from
Istanbul..but one advantage was..no hotel necessary..because these buses
go day and night..I missed some scenery between Istanbul-Ankara-Yozgat-
perhaps..but once Erzincan-Erzurum in reach it was O.K..loveley scenery..
Erzurum smaller bus to Agri..then a shared taxi towards(dolmus)to border
town Dogubayazit..here an overnight stay in a sleazy hotel...I had met a French couple going to Afghanistan..now this area of Turkey is very remote
and backward..maybe nowadays they have seen more weird travellers there
they could not understand that 2 guys travelling with a chick was possible?
we had to lock our hotelroom doors..real paranoid situation
Dogubayazit is near Mount Ararat...according to the legend the Ark of Noah stranded there..well..I've never been a religious fellow..so..i didn't care..but the Ararat mountain range looks nice though..it flirts with the border regio of Iran-Armenia-Turkey..Mount Ararat is bit over 5000m high
i believe the bible legend says that the ark stranded here(Urartu)
some mountain climbers have gone in search for the ark..without result..
next morning I took a dolmus to Bazargan together with these French..
border is called Bazargan..not to much hassle on the Iranian side..but the Turks gave us a thorough rucksack search..we took a shared taxi to Mako
if I remember well??first place in Iran..better roads then in Eastern Turkey.
next town was Tabriz..so..I'll tell more later on..O.K?
http://www.allaboutturkey.com/ararat.htm

Tiger

SO..finally in Istanbul..I loved this place..it's on the crossroads
of Europe-Asia..Galata bridge..fresh fish roasted..the vendors..
the noises..crowds..Sirke?i railway station on the Europe side..
just a warning..beware of pickpockets and moneychangers..
lots of people got ripped off early seventies..first day did some
touristical sightseeing..Blue Mosque(Sultanahmet)reallly impressiv..
Kapali ?arsi(Big bazar)is a real hustle and bustle of little shops..
i took a ferry on the Bosphorus river..real nice..crossing to Uskudar
on the Asian side..what i always regret up till now is that I did not
visit Topkapi Sarayi(palace of sultan)well..i was not into museums
these days,I guess..later on again I did Istanbul on my second overland
trip to India..again no Topkapi..well..I've heard it's wonderfull??
Evening we went into Lale Pudding shop..lots of hippies came together..
we exchanged ideas there..some came back from India...
and all they said was...woooh..INDIA..groovy..Americans on the move..
there was a message board in Lale where one could leave some notice
for friends..or share a ride towards India in a hippie VW bus..
I decided for myself to travell by bus,train,boat..whatever came up..
Second day..gathered some information about bus travelling..
i decided to take a bus to Ankara..you get a koltuk(numbered seat)
free water,some sweets,Turkish music all along..and lots of curious Turks..
but really friendly..I managed to learn the basic sentences in Turkish..
and they really appreciate this..so day 3 I was getting ready to leave
Istanbul..i visited the bus station..reserved my seat..hitch hiking in Turkey
well..some have done it..but it was risky,I heard..and transport..
so dirt cheap..so I booked that bus towards Ankara..more later on

So?after i got picked up by this fellow from Berlin..we reached Maribor
and stopped at a parking spot near Varazdin..next morning we drove on to
Beograd..capital of Yougoslavia..this fellow wanted to stay a day there..
I wanted to reach Greek border as soon as possible..so we quit there..
Beograd is on the Sava an Danube river..told you before..big cities..well..
not my favorite cup of tea really..on the outskirts of Beograd I got picked up
by 3 crazy Austrians from Graz..travelling in a little car..2 guys+a chick...
real weird people..their destination was Istanbul..so O.K.for me..
we drove to Nis..and then to Bulgarian border...but were kicked back on the border..long hair??visa??don?t even remember it??point was..we drove back to Skopje and Gevgelija..border Greece..awwww..Greece..loved this place..
went via Thessaloniki-Kavalla-Komotini-Alexandropoulis towards Ipsala..
border Greece-Turkey..then to Kesan-Tekirdag-finally we reached Istanbul..
and wooooh..that?s a city to my heart...stayed 3 night there..will tell you later on..hippies came together in Eminonu in pudding shop..here?s the link..
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/RestsCafesBars/old_istanbul/pudding_shop.html
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/index.html

Hmmm..trip overland to India..need to get a bit stoned to start about that..
well..I worked a bit in the black after I came back from Scandinavia
some fellow wanted his house front painted..I made a mess of it
but I cared a shit..i got the bucks..don't recall exactly when I started..
my God..i'm stoned this morning anyway..left here in my village..
my dad came to see me off..I stood 1 h..bloody hell in my own village
to get a ride out..towards Verviers-Aachen(Germany)took my 4 rides..
in Germany hitch hiking is a piece of cake..you can get from rastst?tte
to rastst?tte=mostly service stations on the highway as well..reached quite
a good distance on day one..i think I slept in the bushes of some service
rast?tte around W?rzburg..next morning..wash up in the toilet facilities..
ride towards M?nchen(Bavaria)I got picked up by some hippies from over
there..they lived in a house in M?nchen..stayed overnight there...
next morning..I noticed..things were stolen out of my rucksack..mainly food
I took from Belgium to get through the first week of travell..some saucages,
jam,and some other things..bloody fuckers anyway..someone was hungry
apparently??got a ride towards Austria..
Salzburg..awww..loveley scenery in Austria..
it's my favorite country in Europe..after Norway
i suppose i slept somewhere in Austria that day..don't know where..
bloody hell..it was 1972??and lots of folks were on the way to mystical INDIA..
Ravi Shankar had been on Woodstock with his sitar..
Harrison wasin Rishikesh etc..it was a trip towards the unknown..the mysteriuous!!
my first goal was reaching Istanbul..got a ride in Austria with a German
from Berlin..travelling in a hippie van..he was going to Greece..we managed
to get just into Yougoslavia that day..bit after Maribor..
will tell more later on..if you are interested that is??
Tiger