Turkish traffic jam, Saturday morning market day.
So there you go we're 1 km from Iran,
That's just unbelievable!
We're Marianne and Chris in 2018 we quit the 9-5 and bought Trudy our camper van.
We are currently on an adventure to drive the circumference of the world!
You join us as we explore the East of Turkey.
with mystical lands,
adventurous train rides,
great wild camping spots,
and interesting characters.
So we've woken up this morning in the town of Dogubeyazit,
last night somebody bumped into our van ....
So we just got woken up because a lorry was parking, hit the van!
It actually woke us up ...
this truck had a little bump into Trudy and woke us up, I think he caught our mirror
i think that scrape there might have been me!
Let's check the back ... let me just check the back,
because he was coming around the corner,
no it is all good.
So this morning we're heading South to Van,
but when we were driving here we went over another rock that gave us another big bang,
so we're going to check the oil before we go, beautiful we've still got a whole tank of oil.
I was convinced i heard that knock and i thought ... No not again!
We just noticed that the sticker looks like it's been peeled off ... somebody's
tried to take our Tread the Globe sticker off the the front of the van!!
There is Andy, he has just turned up .... look at that, perfect timing!
Andy's coming with us to Van, I spotted an amazing bread shop this morning,
so we're going to wander down there and see if it's open.
The sun is shining, it's a beautiful day!
We are just walking through town this morning, they have got the market stalls out this morning.
Everyone's so friendly.
This is good
Thank you very much.
I love those experiences.
Okay we're back to Trudy,
are we all ship shape?
She's looking gorgeous! Of course she is!
Right so we're leaving the car park and we're off to the Palace that's where I belong .....
in the palace! I am a princess yes!
We're just arriving at the palace and we've got a wonderful view
over the town where we slept last night, down there.
A spectacular place but literally you can see that the town is in the middle of nowhere.
So we've parked up Trudy right next to the palace here.
Check out this view it is just absolutely stunning.
We're the first ones up here this morning people are just starting to arrive actually there's some cars coming up here now.
so while we're waiting for it to open we're just walking up opposite to get some nice aerial views of the palace.
There's another fort here in the side of the mountain,
that's just amazing to see how they've incorporated the stone work within the rocks,
that's just unbelievable!
So we've walked up to the top of the hill we've got an amazing view over the Ishak Pasha Palace.
That's a bit of a mouthful isn't it?
Fantastic views this morning with the blue sky.
Not only was it one of the most important works from the Ottoman time but it was actually located on the silk route.
We are also 1,900 meters above sea level.
It was located on the Iranian frontier of the Ottoman empire,
and held strategic importance.
So construction of the palace started way back in 1685 and took a whopping 99 years to complete.
And in 1840 it was abandoned due to a massive earthquake.
So just as you enter the stonework on the gate is fantastic!
It's 12.50 Turkish lira to get in unless you've got a museum card and then it is included.
So as you enter the through the palace gates, there is this big square area here
was for the security, that's why there's not so many windows. Originally it did have a roof on,
but over the years it has collapsed.
But i love it because there's all these little tunnels and rooms going off, so let's go and have a little look see what we can find.
So we're going down the stairs now and i think this is where the dungeon was.
Can you imagine how dark it would be here with just these little lights coming in as a prison cell.
It's a bit depressing!
I would not want to be bad in those days!
Hey kids don't be bad!
Or you'll end up in a place like this!
Where that's your only light source, down in the dungeons!
So we've come down to another section and this was the servant's quarters,
and the grain store.
So just come to the end of the hall, there's this big staircase going up, Marianne's the guinea pig to see if it goes anywhere?
It stops, but you got your steps in!
we were just saying it looks like a massive modern barn conversion!
So as part of this exhibition it's all photos taken of local life in this region and it's absolutely fantastic!
Look at the stone masonry work that you can see here,
the detail on the stonework is absolutely incredible.
So this magnificent looking stone structure here with this gate that goes down into the darkness is actually an old tomb.
I am not sure exactly who is in the tomb but they think it is the founder of the palace.
Walking around and seeing all the stonework,
not only were the stonemasons clearly top of their game!
But i'm spotting things ...
you know maybe it's the altitude! But i could see like an alligator hanging down or crocodile,
with the feet either side, and then all the way over here on this tomb ...... are these pineapples?
Is that a pineapple?
And then here beautiful detailed trees.
Just goes on and on doesn't it,
it is so grand, literally walking everywhere.
That's it the latticework made out of stone, it's phenomenal!
Oh my goodness look at this one!
The best property, the best room in the house always has a dual aspect of the view!
Look what i found!
This room is incredible and clearly is the master suite of this palace!
This here must have been so cold and i've been looking for fireplaces or evidence of having a fire,
because it's - 30 to -40 degrees and look at that view!
They also had one of the original heating systems in this building!
Look,
that is a view!
Marianne was talking about how amazing this room was but of course if you've got an amazing room
you need an amazing toilet, and right here there is the toilet!
An original squatter.
And then this room here is the kitchen,
the huge fireplace in the corner,
a kitchen fit for a palace .... this is massive!
look at that, i think that's part of the heating system?! Amazing.
These are in the imperial halls where important people stayed!
Oh wow, look
So just looking across at the fortress over there,
there's actually right at the top there's a wall and you think how did they build it?
and also why did they need to? Because it's on a cliff.
Unless this has collapsed over the years and that stayed?
Maybe.
and then just outside of the palace there's a little stall here,
selling bits and pieces, and coffee.
And we met this lovely young lady who works here, who follows Tread the Globe! Lovely to meet you.
So while the guys have popped out to take some photographs of this incredible place,
I've got the bread out i'm going to put the kettle on,
I've got some nice olives and some of that beautiful cheese that we bought in town,
then we can have some breakfast!
Ok we've filled up, we've had a breakfast and we're now heading to the city of Van,
it's about a two hour drive.
Point the camera there!
I just can't believe how beautiful that fortress is!
Look at that!
the young girl we met on the stand,
she just gave us a postcard and said please take this put it in your van and remember your time here and meeting her .... lovely!
All the kids waving.
Wow look at this view, you can't get bored of that can you?
So coming down the hill from the palace we just stopped because look at Ararat the mountain,
the highest in Turkey, is that another dum of fresh snow on top? Probably from the rain we had yesterday.
But that is a spectacular view of the mountain.
Right we just filled up and we're all set for the journey, left? Yes left .... to the left to the left!
The town's busy today, Saturday, we were just saying how nice it is, it's just so different from back home look our trolley with grapes,
Okay the big main roads turned slightly more rural,
but still nothing like the roads we drove on in Georgia!
We are driving over the top of the mountain here, little villages tucked away.
Just to give you an idea of how high we are,
the hill in front of us has snow,
we're over 2,000 meters up now.
In fact we are now 2,400 meters high
It looks like volcanic rock?
So we were driving along and we spotted a wall,
just in the distance,
and we have been trying to google what it is we can see there's a wall all the way along,
and it is actually the Iranian border!
You can see the wall up there it goes along in the distance.
So there you go we're one km from Iran.
All the way along here you've got this dark coloured rock and it reminds me of Central America,
the volcanic fields,
so i'm sure these were volcanoes from years gone by.
Andy's just been looking on google earth and you can see the whole of this area is black,
it looks like it stems from the the smoke-covered peak in the in the background,
so i am sure we're 99 sure
this is an old lava bed.
But if anybody knows? Let us know in the comments below.
So we just got stopped at one of the army checkpoints,
they just checked our ID's all is good and now we're moving again.
But they got some serious army equipment there!
Just passing through another town.
Real Eastern rural Turkish life,
it's lovely they give you big waves because they're just not expecting to see an English vehicle arriving with the steering wheel on the wrong side!
It makes them laugh every time! they stop and double take, and then they normally give a big smile on a wave.
So we just come off the road, Andy has found a little a waterfall, hopefully flowing!
Hopefully.
This is not what i was expecting!
Okay, so we jumped out of Trudy in this little park.
It's not a hidden gem, but it might be a gem because there's a lot of people!
This is a place to come!
I don't even know what the name of this place is!
We are at Asma Kopru just North of Van, a bit of a dodgy rope bridge.
I love the way they've patched it up with a little bit of a stick, that fills me with confidence.
So we're on this middle of this rope bridge,
it's a little bit bouncy and then there's a massive waterfall there.
That's pretty cool!
It is so bouncy
So Andy Satnav, did it again, he found a little spot on the way!
And we've got an hour hour and ten minutes to Van, so we haven't got far to go now!
It's not every day you see a signpost saying Iran turn left!
So just come over the brow of the hill,
and that's our first sight of Lake Van!
And the initial thought is i cannot believe how blue that water is!
It looks like the Maldives - flamingos ... Oh yeah flamingos!
So we just stopped off at this little roadside cafe,
because there was a water sign.
The question is, is there water?
We put one bag of water in because the water pressure was terrible,
but it will keep us going for today.
All good! Right all on board campers!
There you go our van, is in Van! It's a photo opportunity not to be missed
So we're just arriving in Van city!
I can not believe the colour of the lake - it is insanely blue!
Okay so we just we just dropped Andy off,
and we're going to find somewhere to park up now
I think we were parked outside an army base, and they just told us to move on.
Okay so we found this little park up,
a little bit unusual next to a train track,
uh with some old trains on it.
We'll park up here call it a day today,
and we'll see what we can see in Van tomorrow.
Wow have we got a view over the Ish shack Ishak Pasha Palace.
Oh it's got bird pooh!
Oh Marianne !
Hold on there is a tissue there, so gross!
Oh yes i'm still here are you still there?
That's it! It is the end of the show,
we hope you've enjoyed this episode.
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and we'll see you next time!
I've got to try and get out of here now .. see you soon!