In search of Persia" >Border crossing Iran

Journal entry 21 October 2011


Today was the day we had dreamed of. We were going to Iran to search for the sites of ancient Persia and to savor modern Persian lifestyle.

Citt my traveling companion on this journey (our youngest daughter)
and I traveling on the bus. Maku to Tabriz Iran,

(Persia is derived from the Greek word Persis. The area was called Persia by the Greeks in 330BC)


I hope you can understand our trepidation on this day. 
The media paints Iran as a terrorist state ("part of the axis of evil")*  We are given to believe that all Iranians are terrorists and we could be shot, held hostage, or even put in jail. 


The always question - why are you going there. It was easier to say, "going to Turkey",  or in some cases evade the question. The reasons are easy and in hindsight we can look back and say that was a good idea. There is no reason not to visit a country as to me people are basically decent. They love their kids and still have to put the rubbish out on Friday.  

I said to Citt 'No photos in no mans land' but she took this one anyway. Turkish-Iran border.

Rules exist for journeys "to places less trodden". It is wise to stay away from areas of civil unrest, armed conflicts, shady corners and dark alleys. And of course Mum's advice "not to speak to strangers" is out the window. Apart from that, let it all hang out.


Persia (Iran)
The historical significance of Persia is huge.
The earliest man lived here 10,000 BC and from there it all happened. The Empire of the Persian was founded in 728BC by Cyrus 559BC-529BC) The most impressive thing about the Persians is the long history of civil rights and freedom of speech. It is ironic the present regime is so repressive when throughout the Achaemenid Dynasty 559BC until Alexander the Great 330BC all men were treated equal in a bill of human rights. 

I am Cyrus (559BC - 529BC) the Great who founded the Empire of the Persians.
Grudge me not therefore this little earth that covers my body.

The Persian Empire dominated Mesopotamia from 612-330 BC. The Achaemenid Persians of central Iran ruled an empire which comprised Iran, Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, and parts of Asia Minor and India. Their ceremonial capital was Persepolis in southern Iran founded by King Darius the Great. 

Persepolis was burned by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. Only the columns, stairways, and door jambs of this great palace survived the fire. We plan to visit this palace later in our journey.

Darius relief Persepolis Iran    
(Image Citt Williams)

The empires.
The Medes          
728BC - 330 BC
Aechaemenid Period (the golden age of Persia)
530BC - 330BC
Hellenistic Period (Alexander the Great)
330BC - 312BC 
Seleucids
312BC - 238 BC
Parthians
170BC - AD226
Sassinads
AD226 - 650
The coming of Islam (Arab)
AD650-1219
Mongol invasion and occupation
AD1219-1500
The Safavids and a new enlightened Persia
AD1500-1722
Persia and European influence
1722-1914 "The great game". Britain, France and Russia.


Since the first world wars, Iran has become a political football due to the fact it is the top producer of oil and gas in the world. Azerbaijan (was a part of Iran) has been the top producer of quality oil for 125 years. Hitler tried to control this in the 2nd world war and the Russians resisted in the famous battle of Stalingrad depriving the Germans of much needed oil for the war machine. Known as the Eastern Front it is estimated 30 million souls perished in this conflict between 22 June 1941 and 9 May 1945.

http://www.historyofwar.org/Maps/maps_stalingrad1.html

Through the back door May 1941
The Germans then tried to put a pincer on the allies through the Greece peninsular and Crete to land in Lebanon but the British and the Anzac forces foiled that one in the battle of Crete 1942. The allies lost this one but in the meantime won the war. It is not well documented but this battle was the most critical in the course of the war as Hitler lost all of his elite corps to the Anzac forces on Crete.  Most of the surviving allied force was taken POW (estimated 5,700) however The New Zealander Mauri corp at Heraklion Crete repelled the glider attack. The Mauris subsequently were the most feared by the German troops. A band of Australians and Kiwis escaped into the hills and became guerilla forces. 

The battle of Crete

There is a stark reminder at Horas Phakion on the south Crete coast the final place the allies evacuated by sea (submarine and destroyers). There was a glass case in the main square dated 1942 with every male head from the village with a neat hole in the skull. This was a warning to the locals not to assist the allies. (Pam, Kellie-Ann and I lived on Crete for 3 months in 1974 traveling in a camper. There was more than random acts of kindness from the locals). 


It is ironical that today Europe the US and its allies are still toying with Iran. Like the Germans before them oil is all important to their economy. (Please bear in mind the Iranians nationalized all of the assets of France England and the US in the 60s. It is little wonder the government and people of Iran are angry and they may have weapons of mass destruction. The Israelis have them and no-one is calling them evil? 


It is a bit like the small kid in school who has all the lollies and the big kids have none. But the little kid has a Taser and has found out how to use it.


There is a saying in this part of the world. 
Never tell an Iranian what to do! You could get hurt.


Forgive me I am getting away from the Iran story/blog but it all has a bearing on history and my thoughts when entering Iran.


Useful reading in a simple form.
http://www.crystalinks.com/persia.html


The ancient silk road led to Tehran, Tabriz and Shiraz on its winding way to Baghdad, the Mediterranean ports of Antakya and Anatolia, then onto Egypt and Africa. Trading wares from China in the East to Egypt and Europe in the West from early BC to modern 1900s.
Today highways are being built by China across the grasslands of Central Asia to take over where the ancient traders left off. Replacing camels with huge Scania and Chinese road trains.


Crossing the border 21/10/11
The day dawned clear and bright. We were so happy as that meant we could get a good look at Mt Ararat and maybe get an image for you. 

Mount Ararat Turkey

The dining room on the fifth floor roof of the hotel had a surprise for us. We met some Dutch cycle tourists en-route around the world in Erzurum Turkey and here they were munching on bread, cheese and honey. Inspirational people.  One of the guys has a prosthetic leg and the others are 50+.   Sold the lot to take an adventure. Why not?
They were stuck waiting for the customs to clear some spare parts for their bikes. Shit happens. 

The dining room on the fifth floor. One Dutch cycle tourist.

Saying our goodbyes we hoisted our packs and headed off to find our mini bus for the 20 minute ride to the Iran border. Our hope was to meet these intrepid travelers again in about 18 months. They are scheduled to be in our part of the world the beautiful Gold Coast Australia.


Border crossings are never my favorite pastime. (I remember in the 70s crossing with Pam and Kellie-Ann into Syria. It cost us Deutchmarks and a bottle of alcohol to get through) and it was expected this may happen here. 
But no such thing. 

Mini Bus to the border

We arrived at the border and changed some Turkish money to Iranian Rial. We of course got fleeced. Turkish money is useless in Iran.  
It is very confusing.
Iranian currency $1 = R11,050  
The currency is all in notes and comes in R500-R500,000 

10,000 rial (A$1.10) Front

20,000 rial (A$2.20) Back

We changed near $200.00 and the stack did not fit into my top pocket or my bag. The most annoying thing is the R10,000 ($1) note is the same color as the R100,000 ($10) caused some problems for me later on.
The real story of the crossing starts after the very civil border guards ushered us into Iran. 
Citt had put her scarf and head band on (her Iran outfit as she called it), as she must. She was so nervous as we walked out of the customs hall.


Then the pond life got hold of us.....


We still had a 100 Turkish Lire which we changed with one of the moneychangers. At a discount as always but that is business for these guys. 
Then the fun started our bus to Tabriz was in a town called Maku some 85 kilometers away and time was not on our side as we understood the last bus left at 13.00 and it was near 12.00. The mob got hold of me and tried to wrench my bag from me demanding R50,000 ($5) for the taxi ride. 
(Citt left me to it and watched at a respectable distance with a bemused look on her face. 
She said "that it was not a woman's place in Iran to argue with a man". We were to find out later that is not the case at all, but that is another story).  
I was getting nowhere as I realized that the fare was over the top by double and there was no way I was going to pay that sum of money. Then all of a sudden a motor bike wheel pushed into the crowd and a big muscly guy with a strong english accent addressed me. (Citt calls him Robo-Cop)  
Q> Where was I from? 
Who was I traveling with? 
Where did I want to go?
What is my business in Iran? 
He took it all in and then told me simple rules for traveling in Iran. He then told me how to deal with the mob. THEN he took to the mob in Farsi. They all stood there with mouths open. I am sure in hindsight he was berating them for treating a stranger and a guest in their country so badly. The mob were silent. He then revved up his very large mountain motorcycle and was gone Pooof. 
Me> I walked out of the crowd and walked to Citt. She could not stop laughing. Loves a drama........ (:

Yellow cab Iran style

I did as he said and walked to a yellow cab and guess what R20,000 to Maku. In Maku I did it again and there was another Robbo Cop as the bus was full but we got on thanks to these strangers. 

On the bus to Tabriz Iran

The rest of our journey these people with random acts of kindness were to be called.....

Angels.

* George W Bush President of the United States of America In his State of the Union Speech 29 February 2002; 
President Bush labelled Iran, Iraq and North Korea "The Axis of Evil".  describing these governments of helping terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. 
History has shown Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction but a lot of oil. it took 100,000 local lives to prove him wrong plus 4,483 US dead and 33,00 wounded. This official tally is reputed to be incorrect. 

Van, Tombs, Snow, and a fateful decision.

17^th October 

Urfa-Dayakbakir -Dayakbakir-Tatvan

Local buses 10 hours

Map of Turkey our journey so far.

This leg of the  journey takes us from the desert to the mountains-cape of southeastern Turkey. 

We had planned to go straight to Lake Van but we heard there were some spectacular historic grave sites on the Northern side of Lake Van. So after a fairly uneventful Journey on the bus we stopped in the town on Tatvan on the lakes of Lake Van. 

Tatvan at dawn with storm clouds threatening

The hotel was 70s style with eco friendly lights,  so friendly we needed a torch to read anything.

 On the side we were going to go for an evening stroll to look at the town, 5 minutes into the walk we both felt that maybe it was not a good idea. The streets were filled with testerone fueled young guys. We retreated to our hotel. It is the first time we felt any danger We were warned by the Polis earlier not to walk at night and not to go down alleys. 

Good advice. 

It rained all night with the promise of snow. We felt the cold after the deserts. 

After a spartan brekkie in our 70s style hotel that looked like an hospital. We grabbed the  mini bus for a 30 minute ride to Ahlat Museum miles from any where but right on the Historic tombs dating from 300AD Byzantine, Greek, Seljuk, Chinese Greek Armenian and Turkic tombs. 

Seljuk Tombstones 

The Museum adjacent was smal but very well done. 

Armenian grave 

The weather was deteriorating  as we went into he grave area. So much so we abandoned the project.  We changed into cold weather gear in the toilet of the Museum and just as well. The ensuing hours were to be uncomfortable as we were miles out and did not have a clue where to catch the bus to Van we knew the last left at 1330 in a town somewhere down the road. It was starting to sleet  we had no shelter as we waited for the bus. Eventually a kind guy stopped and took us to the local mini bus stop but this was not a friendly spot. 

Tea shop and restaurant.

We had some tea in a small shop. Out of the snow a bus appeared. We had no idea where is was going but we got on just to get out of that small unfriendly town and back on the road. 

Random acts of kindness happen! The people on the bus were helpful pointing us in the right direction. Eventually we arrived in Van after a long roundabout journey none the worse for our ordeal but in Van it was snowing and cold. The hotel we favored was full.  

Man not our day. That was not to be the case in hindsight.

Van had some interesting Armenian churches on an island in the lake. There was also some interesting villages we wanted to visit. It is an old Silk Road town on the route to the Med ports.

It was snowing so hard and so cold that we decided to get going next morning for Iran border crossing next day. 

It was a good decision the date was 19th October. 

Van: Sunday 23 October 13.41 pm an earthquake struck 7.1 on the richter scale at a shallow depth of 20,000 metres. The centre of the quake was 10 kilometres South of Van but the shock was shallow causing maximum destruction to buildings. The final tally 604 dead 4,152 injured 11,230 buildings damaged 6017 being uninhabitable. The after shock was 5.6 and caused further damage to the beautiful city of Van.

When we left on the bus we had no idea this city would be part destroyed.

Cit on our way to the bus station Van

Van to Dogubyzit Bus Turkey

It was snowing hard and it was cold. If it had not been snowing we would have gone to the lake and then to an island where an old Armenian church stood. We felt as we left Van on the bus that day that we had not done the City justice, 

It was to turn out that the snow may have saved our lives.

Off to Dogubaysit on the  Turksih Iran border. Our arrival was early in the afternoon this was a frontier town in the real context. But the food was good and in the process we met a Korean Lady travelling alone who joined us to visit the most amazing Ishak Pasha. 

Ishak Pasha Palace Turkey

One leg Citt in the main hall. Ishak Pasha Palace

An amazing Palace built high on a ridge looking at Mt Arrat and the plains below. Incredible in the process of being restored.

Dogubizit main street mall

Tomorrow we cross the border Iran and travel to Tabriz.

A visit - Date 9000BC Gobelki Tepe Turkey

Dear Fellow Travelers
You may have received this as an email some time ago.

We visited the site of Gobelki Tepe in Turkey on the 17th of October

Citt wrote the article and I wanted to share it with you.

On the outskirts of Urfa town Southern Turkey is the oldest unearthed temple in the world!! Gobelki Tepe dating back to about 11,000 years ago, When people were making the transition from hunter gatherers to farmers.

The Excavation site outside of Urfa Turkey

Perhaps the birth of religion...
Perhaps because of the abundant wildlife here during the receding glaciers, people didn't travel to hunt as far and stayed in the same caves, so they had time to gain an awareness of time,
seasons, stars...whilst beginning to control wild sheep and collect wild grass grains.

Malcolm at the site.

The site is radically changing the way we understand humans in that period of history, the temples construction that blows you away...

These were people who knew no wheel or pottery. It pre-dates Egypt (anything stone, large and permanent by thousands of years). The site is not well understood but is a series of huge standing stones in concentric circles sitting in the saddle of a desert mountain. On the stones are carvings of foxes, bulls, cranes, lions, snakes, geometric patterns and some fertility human figures.

The huge site is thought to be for the worship and reverence of sacred natural things. The whole place had a deeply instinctual resonance moving me for a long time to come.

A ring not excavated buried for thousands of years.

No human bones but many flint stones were found, Strangely it was completely covered over with soil in about 8500BC, preserving everything.
But why did they say, "Let's backhoe the temple"it's anyone's guess.

When we arrived, the place was alive as an archeological dig, and it overpowered both of us, Seeing the stones emerging from the hill side.

The standing stones

New knowledge right then and there!!

We even got to briefly meet the German Archeologist, typical looking... roly poly with intense, knowledgeable but sparkly eyes.

Yes, the whole of this region buzzes.

Ms. Citt Williams


Regards

Malcolm