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Erzurum - Persembe
E.Route : Erzurum - Persembe : PTD 0550 : PTA 2255 : Dist 338 m.
A.Route : Erzurum - Persembe : ATD 0604 : ATA 2030 : Dist 332 m.
- Depart Erzurum 0604
- 0730 - 0736 Bogstop
- 0844 - 0920 Shop stop ( Bayburt )
- 0935 - 0940 Bogstop
- 1400 - 1407 Cupwashing stop
- 1520 - 1554 Stop in Trabzon
- 1605 - 1615 Fuel stop
- Arrive Persembe 2030
P.N.A.Spd. 26.00 mph : Gross A.Spd 22.93 mph : Net.A.Spd. 25.94 mph
Stop time 1:38hr : Speedo TD 14298 : Speedo TA 14630
Comment : Not as interesting as the outward journey over the same section : not as many stones, and none of the enlightened discussion of the previous journey. Highlight of the day was the police escort from Erzurum, which lost patience with a bus which could manage only half its speed on hills, of which there were plenty.
Jim Lindsay's diary:
26 September
Perhaps Greg had complained to the authorities about the stone-throwing and
other dangers on the outward journey. At any rate we were given an official
escort out of town in the form of a pair of policemen in a large car with an
over-sized lamp on the roof. However this did not last for long. Unlike the
police escort the Iranians gave us on the outward journey, they accelerated
and disappeared into the distance in front of us the moment it became obvious
that we could not match their performance up hill.
A few hours into the journey we reached Bayburt, a much prettier town than
Erzurum. We stopped for refreshments and enjoyed a stroll. Somehow the same
parts of eastern Turkey that had been so hostile on the way out now seemed
very familiar and "European".
After that we had the worst of the passes to look forward to. Perhaps our
policemen had passed on some warning in advance, but at any rate the
stone-throwing this time was done only by very small children with tiny
stones. However we did notice that some of the bigger shepherd boys seemed
to have axes, and with our memories of the previous journey we kept an eye
on the hillsides in case someone rolled huge boulders down on us.
Bogstops always yielded comic moments. Today while the women were gathered
round the rear of the coach, Bristol came round the corner of the road and
gave them cheery greetings. I cannot remember if this was also the day that
Kirsteen was last back into the coach. Whoever was driving started the engine
as a gentle hint that we should be going, and there was a shriek. She had chosen
a spot directly in front of the exhaust pipe.
We stopped in Trabzon in the rain and had chai with Oxford in the shelter of
a tea-house. In the now familiar way men gathered at the windows to stare
soulfully at the bare legs and other interesting sights inside.
We were offered hospitality by the US Air Base at Trabzon with food at 75
cents per meal, but unusually for us we refused this and carried on to
Persembe. This time (not really surprising considering how bad the experience
had been on the way out) we were one of just three contingents. We had the use
of the kitchens and the dormitories were definitely not flea-ridden, even if
the water supply was switched off during the evening.
Turkey revisited: Iranian border to Perşembe by Liz Y
We approached the Turkish border from Iran with some foreboding. Our previous experience in Eastern
Anatolia had not been good. There had been some negative reactions towards travellers and the border
area felt quite militarized. In the event our return journey across this part of Turkey proved easier
than we anticipated. Perhaps we were just better prepared, knowing what to expect. Perhaps we had simply
got used to life on the road in a variety of challenging circumstances.
In contrast to some overland travellers, we were a fairly large group, with a radio link to other Comexers.
We had a certain safety in numbers, which other travellers didn't have. On the outward journey, at a bend
in the road east of Erzurum, we had come across four young people from Germany, two men and two women.
Their vehicle had veered into a ditch and they couldn't get it back on the road. They looked shaken as
people often do after such a mishap, but there was something else. One of the girls was keeping an anxious
lookout, fearful of who might be first on the scene. All four were visibly relieved when we appeared.
Cuddles duly managed to pull them out of the ditch.
On our expedition, we had little prior knowledge of the region of Turkey closest to the Iranian border.
Turkish Kurdish issues did not feature prominently in the Western press at that time. We got an impression
of tensions in the area, but could only surmise as to the cause. From the coach, villages looked impoverished
and the area underdeveloped. There were clearly economic problems. In the 1960s many people from eastern
Turkey migrated to Ankara, Istanbul and elsewhere in search of work. A lot of Kurdish men were recruited
as gastarbeiter in Germany.
Our first overnight stop on our return journey was in the wind-blown city of Erzurum. Early the following day
we set off for Trabzon and again tackled the Zigana Pass. This was a beautiful route, apart from the risk of
stones aimed from the hillsides. On the way, we stopped for a while in Bayburt an ancient, small city on the
Ҫoruh River. It was mid-morning and the town square below the ruins of a mediaeval castle was busy with people.
Nearly all were men.* Although towns in this part of Turkey looked similar to parts of Europe, the way of life
appeared rather different. Men and women didn't frequent public spaces in the same way. I suppose it wasn't
surprising that our group should draw a bit of attention.
In the end, we opted not to spend that night in Trabzon and carried on towards Perşembe. We passed a beach by
the Black Sea, where we had stopped to swim one morning at the end of July. The road here ran along the edge
of the coast, where the sand consisted of some kind of black volcanic grit. There were no rocks and it was a
little desolate, but our impromptu swim had been fun and there had only been a few inquisitive onlookers. It
was September now and late in the afternoon. The sea didn't look so inviting and we didn't stop this time.
One place where we met some women was in the kitchen of the Perşembe Teacher Training College, where several
women worked as cooks. We were allowed to use the kitchen facilities to do our own cooking and found these
college cooks very friendly and welcoming towards us.
The weather was wet and dismal when we arrived in Perşembe and having access to a kitchen made a big difference.
Usually our meals had to be cooked outside on a primus stove, no matter if it were dark or the weather bad.
Preliminary preparations were often done on board the moving bus. Catering for twenty-four people several
times a day was quite a feat. It felt good to be in a cosy kitchen. I think the meal our group made that
night was a vegetable stew and I remember a discussion about how much water to add to a big pot of rice
without it getting soggy.
Perşembe means Thursday in Turkish.
I don't know what the relevance of this could be.
* See photograph by Johan below.
