Overlanding across Afica in our Land Rover Defender: Turkey

andy lees Wyświetlono: 74 razy 2006-05-14 17:15:02

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29th june - 11th july
border crossing to istanbul - 29th june

the border crossing wasn't as straightforward as we had hoped. despite the advice from our insurance company and from the turkish tourism board in the uk, it appeared we did require a green card after all. no problem, as this could be bought at the border but could any of the officials tell us where? after wandering round the duty free and shopping precinct a couple of times and getting increasingly frustrated we finally found the office and purhased the required third party insurance. customs were happy with a cursory check of the inside of the land rover and then we were on our way. this all took about an hour when it should really have taken ten minutes - i'm sure this will be nothing compared to africa.

istanbul didn't disappoint and nor did the hotel we treated ourselves to. we were staying in the heart of the historical district of sultanahmet, just behind the blue mosque and aghia sophia. we arrived in time to watch the sunset from the roof-top terrace with panoramic views of the istanbul skyline and the glinting shipping lanes of the bosphorous.

whilst searching desperately for a toilet in the commercial centre of instanbul we came across a land rover parts shop. i'm sure if we had been looking for it we never would have found it. a new shock absorber mounting ring was acquired to be fitted at some later date. the owner of the shop told us that he was travelling to the uk on business and asked us if we were from london or cardiff - the two places that he was visiting. we replied essex and he then said 'loughton?'. it transpired he would be staying with his relations in our home town. i hope he likes it!

into asia - 1st july

after navigating our way through the frantic istanbul traffic, we made it across the bosphorous and entered asia. this felt like a milestone on our journey, we were leaving europe behind; a fact that was driven home immediately. trucks clogged the road in front of us. some had eyes painted on the rear tailgate - a style we had seen before in india. all spewed black clouds of noxious exhaust fumes. it was an unpleasant drive.

lake iznik - 2nd july

to avoid the diesel choked highways we've started taking the smaller roads as we made our way to the southern coast of turkey. it's very hilly and makes for slow going (lots more hairpin bends), but the scenery is well worth it. wild flowers line the roads, their colours bright in the summer sun. fields of sunflowers stretch across the hills and snow-capped peaks sparkle on the horizon. when the sun drops lower fields of cereals sway golden in the breeze. the outlines of the first few individual stalks standing out against the darker shades of the homogeneous whole behind.

Strona: 1, 2, 3, 4

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