After my stay above the reservoir I dropped down towards Artvin following the flooded Berta Cayi river and then turned south west towards the town of Yusufeli which has been moved several kilometres up and out of the Coruh valley which is part of the huge hydroelectric and irrigation scheme being constructed throughout this region which will bring national benefits but at local costs. The new town high rises may well be more modern and better serviced but there was an air of sterility and the old traditions of small shops, markets and verandahs seem to have been left behind.
A number of impressive tunnels took me along the valley and I eventually parked up on a flat terrace overlooking the headwaters surrounded by impressive mountains. Later that evening I spotted car headlights slowly climbing a serpentine track towards a village up on a distant plateau which must have been inaccessible during the winter months. A huge insect in the grass the following morning turned out to be a Great Capricorn beetle, one of the largest in Europe, remarkable.
The vast yellow plains that produce mostly wheat stretched away in every direction under blue skies and a hot sun as I passed through small villages on minor roads stopping eventually above one of them in an old quarry for a quiet but warm night.
Moving on the following day I decided that a slight rumbling I had detected needed looking at so whilst parked up in Tercan I jacked up each rear wheel and identified the offside as the culprit. A quick bit of research located a garage an hour or so away in Erzincan that claimed to be a VW independent and got better reviews than the main dealer.
The workshop was located on the outskirts in one of those areas where dozens of car, truck and tractor repairers were located with the streets jam packed with wrecks and repairables. I found Oto Ahmet and spoke to a guy who made a call and then told his very young mechanic to jump in and take me to their other workshop where another guy soon had first the near side and then the offside raised to locate the issue as I had got myself confused as to which one was faulty. Indeed it was the o/s which was annoying as that had been done only 18 months and 35,000 miles ago in Igoumenitsa and at a rather inflated price.
Anyway they said they could do it straight away and it would take two hours which seemed excellent. I waited until they had the wheel off so I could check the pads and as they were approaching the wear indicator I asked if they could fit my spare set: no problem!
After wandering round the industrial estate I grabbed an early lunch where the waiter kindly mixed all the ingredients together to add to the cooked meat to make delicious wraps and by 1 o'clock I was back at the van where all was in order for the bargain price of £70. The manager insisted I took tea with him and the biscuits I had picked up were appreciated by all.
I headed off generally west again and stopped for the night after a couple of hours in the middle of nowhere at a disused picnic area where I could tuck away under the trees. Later on a guy and his elderly mother stopped, I thought they had run out of fuel but in fact it turned out they had no money to buy petrol so I gave them a tenner which they seemed very grateful for. By torchlight I could see that the new pads and a bearing had been fitted but also on checking the wheel nut torques found that the n/s rears were too tight to undo. Fortunately next morning a truck tyre depot were happy to loosen them a little before I retorqued to the correct setting.
Divrigi has a mosque and ancient hospital with three superbly carved doorways being the main attraction so I had a good look round before carrying on as driving during the hottest parts of the day made a lot of sense with temperatures in the mid 30s.
There was no shade to be had at the park up in Sivas so I left all the windows and roof vents open, slid the fly screens across and went off to admire the main sights north of the castle which included mosques, medrasas and a caravanserai. A huge new mosque is almost complete and I enjoyed walking round the city streets as it was the largest centre of population since Tbilisi. Near the van was a very smart coffee and cake cafe with a series of shady terraces so I was soon sat with a hot chocolate and a dish of profiteroles surrounded by the young and beautiful echelonsl of local society.
Whilst aiming generally west I was also deviating to sites of interest so Tokat was next on my itinerary with a paid park up in the middle of town. The friendly woman put me in a shady corner and indicated it would be OK to stay overnight so I headed off to explore the old parts of the city with ancient Ottoman houses, a newly refurbished museum and an impressive hamman baths complex with conical roofs and glass skylights. It wasn't the quietest of nights with the calls to prayer, road sweepers and general traffic but as the museum opened at 08.30 I was happy to be up and about in the cooler dawn. The museum exhibits covered the long history of Tokat which was located at a major trading crossroads of Asia minor and had like the entire region seen a succession of different cultures and influences over thousands of years. The town is also famous for its hand printed scarves and glassware.
Ballica Cave an hour or so away was the perfect place to escape the heat and consisted of a number of huge well decorated chambers with unusual onion stalactites located in the furthest and deepest whilst columns, flowstones and gour pools occupied the others. The lighting wasn't brilliant with orange hued bulbs failing to show the formations at their best but it was a good excursion which I had almost to myself.
At Kazankaya I turned off the main road and entered a huge gorge where I could park up in shade and walk the couple of miles down the steep walled canyon and out along a raised walkway to a dramatic viewing platform. The lack of breeze and a hot afternoon sun made it hard work but it was worth the effort and I then had a quiet evening in blissful isolation.
Adjacent to Bogazkale is Hattusa the capital city of the Bronze Age (1500BC) Hittite civilization and of more immediate interest Park4Night listed a small camp site with a restaurant alongside. I pulled up at the simple swtup with the dining tables located amongst a clump of pine trees and the camping on a sloping field behind. The friendly staff indicated to park anywhere so I chose a spot near a line of trees but away from the main building. I decided I would stay two nights and after sorting myself out walked the half mile or so up to Yazilikaya. This was a holy site for the Hittites and comprises a couple of open roofed chambers that still have some superb rock carvings indicating kings, gods and other deities. At a small souvenir shop I was royally robbed for a small soapstone carving but the guy was obviously pretty desperate and it was a thing of beauty.
Back at the site an Italian couple in a 4x4 with a roof tent turned up - they were on an 18 day trip and had an ambitious schedule to get round Turkey in that time and back to northern Italy. As always I decided life in a roof tent would not be for me....
I walked down to the main Hattusa site the following morning and entered via a footpath alongside a stream where I spotted a very small tortoise inching its way along. The huge site was the former capital and lay across a couple of hills and shallow valleys with large gateways at intervals around the perimeter. The lower walls of housing, shops and a huge temple were clearly visible and each of the large gates had been embellished with carvings, some of which were still intact. A road linked all the main points of interest and on the approach to the highest point a Turkish family kindly gave me a lift, much appreciated under the scorching sun. One major gateway also incorporated a long tunnel through a defensive wall lined with enormous boulders and which was pleasantly cool.
On my way back down the petroglyphs chamber was a highlight after which I walked back up to the site and arranged to eat at 6. Their shower only seemed to run cold but in such heat this wasn't an issue and I later enjoyed a chicken dish with rice and bread washed down with lemonade - total bill including camping £9 or about one fifth of a souvenir........
Moving on again I ended up with a longer day than expected, some 200 miles, to pass south of Ankara as the few P4N options didn't appeal but as everywhere in Turkey there were plenty of options to fill up with water and by late afternoon I arrived at the Gordion Museum near Yassihuyuk for another delve in to ancient history. The site was as expected just closing but the guard said it was fine to stay overnight and visit the following morning.
The place is named after Gordios, father of King Midas, who according to legend tied the eponymous knot later sliced in half by Alexander the Great (the knot that is). Midas was the great king of the Phyrgians who ruled much of Anatolia after the collapse of the Hittites and the nearby MM (Midas Mound) Tumulus contains the oldest standing wooden structure in the world (3,000 years) that formed the central part of Gordios' burial chamber reached by a long stone lined tunnel. It is the 3rd largest tumulus in the world and reminded me of Silbury Hill near Avebury in Wiltshire.
The museum was excellent with informative labelling in good English and a range of exhibits from the Bronze Age through to Roman times. A pair of hand shears would look almost exactly the same in a farm suppliers of today and the jewellery and ornaments showed a very high level of skill and craftsmanship as well as a knowledge of metallurgy. Not far away was the site of the actual capital city and a perimeter walk enables you to get a good overview of what was once a major centre and crossing point of the Sakarya River. After a disastrous fire in 800BC 5m of clay was used to cover the site in preparation for building the new city and this layer had preserved the relics of the early Phyrgians giving archaeologists a great insight in to earlier ways and traditions.
Today I took a walk amongst the rock formations and saw a rockface tomb entrance from which a large vulture emerged as it was clearly nesting in there. A couple of the climbers came over for a chat but now being a Sunday almost everyone has left and pleasingly very little rubbish has been left behind. A shepherd passed through with his goats and sheep accompanied by two of the huge Kangal or Anatolian Shepherd dogs that are fine with humans - both were sporting huge collars with vicious spikes to give them an advantage when repelling the wolves that are the main predators across this area.
Tomorrow I move on as my cupboards and fridge are bare. I need to sort out my new vehicle insurance policy that will allow me to return to Europe in a fortnight and will continue to follow the Phrygian history in this area as I head to Eskisehir. According to P4N there is a dedicated motorhome park up with electric available but we will see. I need to get two Turkish gas bottles to see me across Turkey and Greece before we can get 907 exchanges in Brindisi, Italy, in a month or so but otherwise all is well and the mostly slower pace over the last few weeks has been much appreciated. This is my 8th month away and with 17,000 miles covered it has been a long old journey but as always has left me with a host of memories and experiences.
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