Artvin-Kars

Artvin-Kars

We go behind the green mountains that we have seen  2 years ago from the other side of the border (Georgia-Armenia), to the deep valley shaped by Chorukh river. We take a minibus from Trabzon to Borçka and our adventure begins. We learn that the last minibus towards Karagöl has gone and we have 25 kilometers to go before the sunset. After buying some warm bread from the bakery, we start waiting by the side of the road to find a vehicle going towards the way the Chorukh flows. Someone greets us. “Hello brother,” “Yes, we are going to Karagöl.” He is hitchhiking also to go to his home in a village and we get in a car together. When we reach the place where our roads divide, the car stops in the middle of the road; whoever goes to the same way with us, cannot pass without taking us. We get on a pick-up truck and reach the road to Karagöl.  Even without making an effort to wave our hands to hitchhike, we are in where we want to be. We start smiling and cannot stop for the following ten days. We intend to walk for a few kilometers but it goes in vain. After just a few steps we take, another person takes us into his car. A motorbike lover traveler-spirit; he says that he combined his passion with his occupation and traveled a lot while working for a company. In this way we meet Sefa and have a companion for 2 days. There is a facility serving mainly for excursionists and 25 TRY is asked to...
Georgia-Armenia

Georgia-Armenia

We leave Russia and enter Georgia without visa, passing Kazbegi border check point on Caucasian Mountains. Then we start hitchhiking towards Tbilisi on the road between mighty Kazbek and Shani mountains, following the Valley of Terek River, which is being blocked due to landslides time by time. When we reach Tbilisi with a family from Azerbaijan, Andro welcomes us to his home, who we met on Counchsurfing. Tbilisi is a 1500 years old modern city. In the city center around Kura River, there are historical buildings look like built on each other, surrounded by skyscrapers.   Bathhouses and buildings around sulfur water resource in the center of the city are restored and used as hotels and restaurants. But when we start walking in narrow streets and leave the touristic center, we run into abandoned historical churches and houses.   A waterfall in the city completes the beauty of historical Tbilisi. The waterfall comes from the top of a cliff and presents an extraordinary view for a city.   The metro line built in Soviet era covers most of the city but the best way to explore Tbilisi is walking anyway. Decades old books exposed by second hand book seller on streets, small statutes on pavements, mosaics on the wall of a clock tower…   While walking on Rustaveli street, the most famous street of the city with magnificent Soviet buildings, we run into a tea garden and decide to rest. But this is actually a beer garden and the price of a cup of coffee is twice more expensive than beer; and a big glass of beer is just...
Russia (From East to West)

Russia (From East to West)

We travel towards Russia again in the end of August. After 100 kilometers north of Ulanbataar, the sky becomes grey and sunshine is too weak to warm. We thought that it was because of air pollution until we reached Khyagt when we passed the border, where we learnt that the reason was the forest fire around Lake Baikal. We are in Buriatia. Buriats, relatives of Mongolian people, constitute the majority of the population and major religions are Shamanism and Buddhism. Our aim is to reach Ulan Ude, 200 km far, but no one takes us while hitchhiking and we camp near a river. We couldn’t see the sun all day, but at night we sleep under shining full moon. When we reach Ulan Ude after spending our previous night camping near the border city Kyagt, again we encounter with the view of a Siberain city, reminding Soviet Union. Ulan Ude is a city with the biggest Lenin head on earth. One floor wooden Russian houses next to huge Soviet architecture, plenty of hammers and sickles on streets, a Victory Monument dedicated to World War II with a huge tank and more Lenin… At noon we just rest while listening to classical music with fountain view in Theatre Square and walk on the streets. Probably there is more to see, but 3 days pass while resting after Mongolia in the house of Thomas, who hosted us via Couchsurfing. Finally we reach Lake Baikal, which we couldn’t see in our previous visit. We get off from the minibus (mashrutka) one stop before Babushkin and camp in a forested area near Manturika...
Poem for Mongolia (Illustrated)

Poem for Mongolia (Illustrated)

(Click to extend photos)   Carrying out backpacks, showing our thumbs We wait near a road; no trees and no cars After getting on a car of a Kazakh family We reach Olgii, Mongolia’s western city       We don’t know Mongolian, no one speaks English But in Bayan Olgii, we communicate in Turkish We found a river and pitched up our tent There is nothing to do, but 3 days we spent     After taking shower in the bathhouse of Olgii, Towards Tolbo Lake, started to hitchhike lately The lake is clean, cool and nice There are only horses, gulls and us     No one passing by, we start feeling dull Mongolian Rally cars are completely full We reached Khovd city in the late evenin’ There we camped with a Chilean and a Finn     Pastures everywhere, freely feeding animals The sheep, goats, camels, cows and horses No fence, no tree, no farms; nothing What would Alan Savory think?     Under the sun, all day just hitchhiking We get Asian eyes because of the shining Roads are bumpy, no asphalt at all Please take us; we have tobacco to roll     We camp anywhere, everywhere is good Rivers are clean, but meat is the only food In Mongolia it’s hard to be vegetarian Can’t imagine being a vegan     Our best friends become truck drivers We like to join them for long distances баярлалаа is a word we learned primarily It means thank you, if you can say it correctly     There are stones on the road, on and on...
Siberia

Siberia

Before we started travelling, we researched about South Asian countries a lot; but we didn’t think that someday we will go to Russia. We hastily write how to read Cyril letters on a paper; we can read almost everything even we can’t understand what it is. Irina, with whom we met on the plane, takes place in our story as a young Russian woman graduated from a university in Shanghai, visiting her family in summer holiday. As a fluent English speaker, she gives important tips to us about Lake Baikal during the flight. By chance, we learn that her house is close to the house of the couple who will host us via Couchsurfing. When the plane lands on the airport of the city dominated by Brezhnev blocks, we leave her to wait for a wheelchair as we got used to in South Korea. After everybody gets off, at the end of our long waiting we understand that staff of the airport has a totally different idea! Without using even the stairs of the plane, we get on a truck from the emergency exit and get off on the other side of the road which would take less than a minute by walking. It wasn’t necessary, really, but we can not explain it to the staff. When we get off, waiting for a wheelchair, we find ourselves queuing with crutches in a building looks like a train station of a small city. “What is all about?” We ask for help from a passenger to carry the bags and pass the passport check. According to the paper given to us,...