Finally out of Ankara and on the way to eastern Turkey:

My stay in Ankara was lasting long enought, and here I also meet Marc Krebser, an guy from Switzerland war riding a similar way then me. We together decide to go to Kapadokia, which is one of the most interesting and famous landscape in Turkey. After three days in Kapadokia on a real good equipped camping place (Kaya Camping) we had to go back to Ankara where we pick up our visas. Marc had to stay in Ankra one more day, because he had to wait for a package with Cards in it. And so I was driving again alone to Dogubayazıt, but in Yozgat we meet us together again because he was taking a bus out of the city. In Yozgat I had to take the third part of my Hepatitis vaccination, but supid as i am i told the doctor i need to have the Tetanus vaccination whch I get immeditaely. Later I saw that I was wrong and so I had to get a second vaccination this day. Well the Tetanus vaccination should be refreshed in 5 years and I did it within 6 month. Well my stupidity should be punished and so my arm was hurting the next few days because of these two vaccinations. We were driving to Dogabayazıt and decided to take the upper way through Iğdır and not the way through Ağrı. We also had to go the upper way because Marc was sending the maps he ordered to Iğdır where he wanted to pick them up which was functional then. Some inhabitants told us that the upper way through Iğdır is more hilly and isn't that good, but they were simply wrong and didn't know what they were talking about. Also the landsace on this way was beautiful and was worth to come up here. The people here in the east are definitely more poor then these in the West. And so you can find children calling the hole time “Money, Money” if you path them. This was one of the most annoying things next to the horn signals from all the cars passing you. Well they just want to greet you, but it is simply annoying and the children cant help their self getting such a bad upringing by their parents. Well then day X, Friday 30.06.2006 comes, which was the worst day on my and Marcs tour. At first I didn't sleep the night before, because I had looseness and vomit and I didn't sleep a hour these night. Then we were driving though a tar slope why our bicycles were getting dammit dirty. So we had to do a lot of work in evening (cleaning our bikes). As we were buying some food and so on in a market Marcs sun glasses were stolen which he likes best. Then as we were driving from Iğdır to Dogubayazıt a cloudburst was coming and as a car stopped and its driver asks us if he can give us a lift to Dogubayazıt we agreed and so we were driving by car to the camping place in Dogubayazıt. We were driving 40 km with him and he never lost a word that it cost money, but as he sets us down on the camping place he wanted to have 25 $. We wont to pay him that much money but at least we gave him 15 Lira (around 7 €) and then he left the camping place really frustrated and angry. Why the hell he didn't told us that he wants to have money before he gave us the lift. But later we notice that the driver had stolen Marc baggage in which a rain equipment and his sleeping bag was stored. Well the guy was taking the baggage because we gave him to less money for the lift to Dogubayazıt. Well last but not least a very bad and fucking day and the hole time I felt very bad. Well this was it out from Turkey, the next report will also be about the Iran which I want to enter tomorrow.

Kind regards from Dogubayazıt (Turkey)

Yours Carl Steiner