Türkiye'de Hoşgeldiniz

When we arrived at the airport in Antalya, we did not know what the sentence above meant. But when we asked it to a inhabitant, he said we were welcome in Turkey. Turkey is a huge country. We asked the same inhabitant how many people were living in Turkey and we were astonished when we heard his answer.. around 74 million inhabitants.

Our first goal today was to find somewhere to sleep. After talking a bit with our Turkish friend (in English of course), we asked some interesting places for sleeping. His answer was: “ Yes, in my house” . We accepted his offer and we followed our friend Haluk to his house. His house was very beautiful, as you can see on the picture. We met his wife and four children. They received us like nobody else. Turkish tea (Çay) was offered as sign of welcome. During the teatime we made meetings with each other.

Haluk is the boss of the house. In English his name means ‘good nature’. His wife Dilek means desire, wish. And then we have the four children. One boy and three girls. The name of the boy is Berk and the meaning of that name is strong, solid, firm. He is the youngest of the family but like his name says he is very muscular. And then we have the 3 girls: Yildiz, Suleand Melek and the respective meanings are star, flame and angel. We liked their way of being so familiar to us.

But we were here to visit Turkey so we asked to Haluk what were the most beautiful places in that country. Living his whole life since he was born in Antalya, Haluk suggested to be our guide in that city and show us the most beautiful places. So we did not know the city so we agreed. Today it was beautiful weather and the fact Antalya is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, Haluk took us to the Lara beach. Lara is a district of Antalya and has the longest beach of Turkey.

After that, we went to Kaleici, the historical centre of Antalya. Kaleici has been restored after the second world war and now it is the most touristic place in Antalya with its clubs, hotels, bars and restaurants. Very beautiful city with a mix of Lycian, Pamphylian, and Hellenistic -but mainly Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman- architecture. In that picture you can see an old clock in the Kaleici.

Everybody was a bit Hungry and to thank our guide for the great welcome we’ve hd, we decided to invite him for lunch. The only thing he had to do is find a typical restaurant where we can eat local things. He knew exactly what we were searching and led us to a very small restaurant at a corner of a street. Apparently he knew the boss of the restaurant and he asked an assortment of delicacies.

First of all, the owner of the restaurant served a glass of Raki. And do you, readers know what raki really means? Well, we will tell it to you. Raki means milk of lion (just because it is white like milk and strong like a lion). And then the great lunch began. Lots of strange things were served just like Kapuska and Sehriye Corbasi (soups), Taratorlu Mydye Tavasi, Kimali Enginar (meats) and Cacik and Zerde (deserts). After 2 hours of talking and savoring those delicious things, we decided to go home. So as you can see, not a very difficult day today but really emotional to see how people are doing everything to make us happy. Once at Haluks’ house in the evening, we ate some other specialties friendly offered by Dilek and the children. After eating, we all went to the living room for a last cup of tea. They were also curious to know how life was in Belgium and so we changed some interesting information about culture, architecture,… Finally we went to bed for another interesting day near Antalya. See you next time ;)

The valley of Tabriz

Once again, hello dear followers!

We already have arrived at our last stop in Iran, Tabriz. This trip really goes way too fast. We didn’t even have the time to recover in Tehran. We needed to catch the train to Tabriz, located in the West of Iran. Tabriz is situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri river and Aji river. Tabriz is located in a valley of the long ridge of the volcanic cone of Sahand. With cold winters and temperate summers the city is considered a summer resort.

What immediately drew my attention is the architecture in the city. There are a lot of ancient and modern buildings. Most of the buildings are very beautiful. I didn’t expect that kind of architecture over there. I was surprised the most by the modern buildings like the one on the picture. You also find beautiful ancient buildings like mosques for example.

Because we wanted to find out something more about religion and Islam in general, we decided to visit one of the biggest mosques in the city: the Saheb Ol Amr mosque. None of us really knew a lot about their religion and that’s why this location was interesting for us. We all could learn something about their beliefs and traditions and so we did. We visited the mosque like we’re supposed. So we visited the mosque as if we were Muslims. We did exactly what the imam told us to do and we followed their rituals. So before we could enter the mosque, we needed to cleanse ourselves. This may seem ridiculous to some of us, but in fact when you follow all those people it is quite normal. I think we gained some respect towards that religion by doing all this. It was interesting to learn something about religion as well on our trip.

Another thing that stands out in this city: the parks. There are a lot of parks in Tabriz. Tabriz counts 132 parks. The oldest park in Tabriz, called Golestan Park, was established at first Pahlavi's era in city center. This park is part of the UNESCO world heritage. When you’re lucky, you can find a type of tigers here: the Caspian tiger. We had the luck to see one when we visited the park. What an amazing animal that is! I’m glad we visited one of the many parks in Tabriz. And I think we made a good decision by visiting the Golestan park. It was incredible.

When you take a walk in the city, you cannot deny it: the rugs. Tabriz is the center for Iranian quality rugs. Tabrizi rugs and carpets usually have ivory backgrounds with blue, rose, and indigo motifs. One of the main quality characteristics of Tabriz rugs is the weaving style. Too bad I can’t take one with me to give to my mother. They are to heavy but o so beautiful.

That’s it for Iran my beloved followers. You won’t hear from me anymore until the end of our journey. But my friend will keep you up to date for the last stops. Bye!

The capital of Iran

We arrived quite late in the capital of Iran, Tehran. We took a late flight from Birjand and landed around 22 pm local time. It was quite late to go to the hotel and again we were rather exhausted. But when we left the airport and saw Tehran for the first time, it was all worth it. What a beautiful skyline at night! We immediately noticed the difference with the East side of the country. Birjand was already a growing city but incomparable with Tehran.

When we arrived in the evening, we didn’t know much about this city, except that the people speak Persian or at least a dialect of Persian. We needed to wait until morning to learn more about this city and its inhabitants. So the next day we got up full of enthusiasm and went out to discover this huge city. We found out a lot about Tehran that day. I’m going to try to reduce the facts to a minimum. The thing that really shocked me is the fact that Tehran is in fact the 32nd national capital of Iran. And last year, they were planning to change the capital again! Government says it’s necessary for safety and administrative reasons. Now the plan is finalized and they’re started relocating all defense-related industries out of the capital. I was quite shocked when I heard this. I understood that they’re afraid of a potential earthquake that would destroy the entire capital.

It certainly is hard to understand when you know that the economy of Tehran is flourishing and knowing the capital is really important for the industry. About 30% of Iran’s public-sector workforce and 45% of large industrial firms are located in Tehran and almost half of these workers work for the government. Today many modern industries of this city include the manufacturing of automobiles, electronics and electrical equipment, weaponry, textiles, sugar, cement, and chemical products.
So as you see we found out a lot about the city. We discovered all this by moving through the city from the one location to the other with the metro. Perhaps I didn’t tell you this yet: Tehran has one of the most convenient, if not the most convenient, metro system in the world. I had never seen a metro this clean! It was a pleasure to cross the city by metro.

So as you see we found out a lot about the city. We discovered all this by moving through the city from the one location to the other with the metro. Perhaps I didn’t tell you this yet: Tehran has one of the most convenient, if not the most convenient, metro system in the world. I had never seen a metro this clean! It was a pleasure to cross the city by metro.

Maybe it was not a bad idea at all to do everything by metro, because another fact of Tehran is that they have to deal with a massive air pollution problem. It is estimated that about 27 people die each day from pollution-related diseases. So this was Tehran in a nutshell. It’s a fascinating city with unfortunately some big problems. It’s time to move on to the next and last stop in Iran, Tabriz. You’ll hear from us very soon!

Herat – beauty and art

Hi our dearest friends,

This is our last blog describing Afghanistan and all things we visited here and also happened here. As we told last time we will be travelling to Herat, Herat used to be one of the largest cultural and Islamic centers in the Central Asia and it’s is the third large city in Afghanistan. Herat is located in the western part of Afghanistan. Herat is known to have a very fertile ground and is also known for his wine. In comparison with the climate in 

Kabul Herat is much milder in the summer and also in the winter the cold is mild.

Economy

The economy of Herat is based on agriculture, the planting of cotton, rice, and wheat. Home industries produce rugs, carpets, silk materials, fur jackets and products of camel hair. Herat rugs have a worldwide value. The economic and agricultural are centered in the valleys of Hari Rod River. Herat historically has a great historic and tourist value. The traditional buildings and mosques, which form the dominant architectural accent of city, have been important to attract tourist to the center of the city. Just a side note Herat is 645 km 

west of Kabul.

The citadel

Built in its present form by Malik Fakhruddin in 1305 A.D.,

His citadel has a long history as conquerors like Genghis Khan and Tamerlane fought beneath its walls. This fort, originally built by Alexander the Great, suffered repeatedly attacks over the history but still dominated the landscape of Heart. Held by the Ghaznavids, the Seljuks, the Ghorids, the Mongols, the Timurids, the Safavids and others, the citadel is a reminder of the time of Kings, conquerors and great pageantry. 

After visting 2 cities here ,we are leaving Afghanistan, we had a rumbled time to say the least. But learned alot in our stay here. We hoped you enjoyed our stay in Afghanistan and hope to get more and more people in our experiences along the way!

That’s all for now, next time we will be leaving Afghanistan and heading somewhere else.. find out next time!!

Greetz

Frederic Vancoillie

- The Travel Crew -

following the balkan-route

Hi friends!

Our trip is almost coming to its end. We’re getting closer and closer to Europe. After Afghanistan, we followed the Balkan-route to Iran. The first stop in Iran was Birjand. Birjand is a big city in the East of Iran and is located on the “Silk Road”. That’s how the call the smuggling route.

A lot of drugs get shipped across the border. Mostly the drugs is from Afghan origin and makes its way across the Balkans to consumers in Western Europe, which is the world's largest heroin market. Approximately 30 million ton is seized every year in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In other words, for every kilo seized in the South East Europe, nearly 11 kilos are seized in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Luckily, the city is also known for other things like their carpet export for example. Saffron and barberry are typical products in this region as well. The main reason why we visited this city is because it’s a fast growing city. Birjand is becoming one of the biggest centers in the East of Iran. Because there’s an airport, we thought it’d be a good idea to visit this city and then take the plane to the capital of Iran.

But while we were there, there were enough places worth visiting. After we discovered the city centre, we decided to visit two of the most beautiful spots in the region. But therefore, we needed to leave the city and take the bus a couple of kilometers down South. After half an hour we arrived at our first stop:

The Band Dareh Dam is situated about 5 kilometers south of Birjand on the heights of Bagheran Mountains. Over the years it has kept its place. Not only is it a resort for travelers, it is also a source of hope for the farmers and thirsty trees of the region. After visiting the dam, we used the opportunity to discover the rest of the Bagheran Mountains. After walking a few hours, we arrived at our second stop.

Furg citadel

The Furg citadel is a citadel built in the 12th century. It’s an amazing construction and is well conserved through the years. As you can see, it’s situated on the top of a mountain and it gives an amazing view when you’re standing on the citadel. It was time to go back to the city because we needed to catch a flight. So we hurried towards the Birjand airport where we had tickets to go to the capital of Iran, Tehran.

Afghanistan – Recent happenings

Hello dearest followers,

Last time we left Kabul and talked about the museum and the city itself. Right now we wanted to talk about recent happenings in the news and the news that Osama Bin Laden would be dead. Osama would have been shot dead by the Americans in Abbottabad in Pakistan. Why would we bring op Osama when we are staying in Afghanistan? Well Osama fought in a war in Afghanistan and that’s where he created his anger against the western civilization.  But what has the death done to the people of Afghanistan?? Well Osama used Afghanistan to create his Al-Qaeda and create the terror he spread in our world. It started with osama who wanted to recruit everyone to fight against the United Front. His anger kept on building up until he made the earth stand still.( we are ofcourse referring to 9/11). From than on he is or better was public enemy number one. It has been 11 years now and now he would have been killed and immediately buried in the sea.. ofcourse this brings up a lot of doubt concerning his death! To be honest our time here isn’t the best moment of all to stay in Afghanistan. There is a lot of doubt, fear and anger here . Some people are glad that Osama is dead but are afraid al-Qaeda will react with new terroristic attacks, other people are mad because Osama wasn’t buried the Islamic way.

Just to give you an idea how to country is filled with military troops and it’s not really a touristic place :

The US is the largest nation with international soldiers in Afghanistan  now a total of more than 140,000.

The US has around 90,000 troops deployed with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan with an additional 10,000 deployed as part of the US Operation Enduring Freedom, mainly in the East regional command.

The UK currently contributes the second largest number of troops to the Afghan mission, with some 9,500 personnel.) 

we know this blog is a bit less touristic than all the other things we did but we cant’ ignore recent happenings and while we are here we have to discuss this matter in our blog.

Next blog will be much more touristic again and we will be travelling to Herat, Herat is the third large city in Afghanistan  and used to be a culture and Islamic center.  We hope you all learned something new and don’t hate us for giving this kind of lesson about Osama Bin Laden. We will be talking to you all later… and blogging a lot more.

Cheers

Frederic Vancoillie

Afghanistan - Conflicts and corruption

Hi our beloved followers,

Just checking in, as promised in our last blog we are moving out of Tajikistan and going to a new location, as you could have guessed from the title we are going to Afghanistan.We planned this journey months and months ago , but with recent happenings we weren't really trilled to come here. But let's start of describing this rather amazing country , Afghanistan or officially The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a very mountainous country. Afghanistan has an incredible history, there were military conquests from Alexander The Great to Genghis Khan, it has also been a source for a lot of other dynasties to base upon.

To be honest, we don't think it's really fun living in Afghanistan, since the late 70's there has been an ongoing war with every possible western culture or any other kind. (Soviets, Pakistani interventions and the US). The climate is very hard and dry and the water supplies are limited. Afghanistan isn't really a rich country, although they have a lot of natural resources.

The climate is rather contradictory , very harsh winters but also very hot summers. And as that isn't enough Afghanistan is also frequently subjected by earthquakes.

Kabul - capital of war
We know , you all must think we are crazy going to be Kabul in these times, but we really wanted to have seen something in this country. So we took a risk and went to Kabul, a minor sidenote Kabul used to be a very touristic place 30 years ago  but now it's like the time stood still. Reconstruction of the city is really needed to bring the city back to where they were. We decided to visit some touristic spots so we started with the Kabul Museum. The Kabul museum used to have one of the finest collections of antiquities but has been looted for three-quarters of it's finest collection.Also the taliban almost destroyed the complete building in 2001. So although we excepted to see some nice artworks, we were rather dissapointed. Their isn't much left in the museum and the museum hours aren't stable. They change all of the time so we were only able to stay there 1 hour because they decided to close the museum.

Secondly we decide to visit the gardens of Babur, these gardens used to be a very relaxing retreat near the city walls, later on they built a mosque in the towers and also Babur himselve loved the gardens so much, his last request was to be buried in these gardens. The gardens are being rebuilt.



Thats all for now, we just entered Afghanistan and will be roaming around here for a couple of weeks. We will keep you updated on all our upcoming adventures and hope you all enjoyed all of our past posts.

Greets,

The travelling crew