October 22 The border crossing between Georgia and Turkey is relatively uneventful. We are the only team in the group that do not have Turkey as part of our standard car insurance cover and are taken aback at the amount of money we have to pay to get temporary insurance for 30 days (168 Euros). …
Author Archives: soene55
The Caucasus
The Caucasus is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea and is mainly occupied by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia. The Caucasus Mountains include the Greater Caucasus in the north and Lesser Caucasus in the south. The Greater Caucasus runs west-northwest to east-southeast, from the Caucasian Natural Reserve in the vicinity of Sochi …
Iran; the North West
The North West of Iran is the most ethnically diverse region of the country. Whereas the Persian or Fars people are the largest ethnic group within the 86 million Iranian population as a whole with 51%, the majority of people in the North West are Azeri people. The North West of Iran has been a …
Iran; the Persian heartlands
September 30 We drive toward Shiraz now on our way to the ancient heartlands of Persia. This is a quiet day, just getting out of Yazd, into the Zagros mountains, doing some miles to get closer to Persepolis. The route out of town is easy and we manage to get some engine oil of the …
Iran; into to the desert
September 24 We drive south today past Qom and onwards to Kashan, an oasis town. It is very hot. We decided earlier that we would not visit Qom, although it is a famous city in Iran. Second only after Mashhad in religious importance. The old Shia saying attributed to the Imam Musa al-Kashmir in 799: …
Iran; from Mashhad to Teheran
Mashhad is the capital of the region Khorasan in North East Iran. The name Khorasan means ‘land of the rising sun’ and was given during the the Sassanian period (third Persian empire 224-651 AD). It is the western half of the old Persian province of Khorasan, which included parts that are today in Iran, Afghanistan, …
Iran; first impressions
Sept 12th Stern Turkmen border guards, but more friendly Iranian border police. We must give our beautifully written car documents back to the Turkmen guards and get our Iranian papers and ‘carnet de passage’ duly stamped. The police who come to inspect the car want Roelf to put on his long trousers first though. Dress …
Turkmenistan
Some 800 years ago Turkmenistan was at the epicentre of the Silk Road trade. The ancient city of Merv was founded by the Achaemenids in the 6th century BC and build upon by subsequent rulers until it reached a population 200.000 in the 12th century AD. In the 8th century AD Turkic-speaking Oghuz tribes moved …
Uzbekistan
The early history of Uzbekistan was determined by Iranian nomads who build large irrigation systems in the region 1000 BC. The region became part of the Achaemenid Persian empire around 500 BC until Alexander the Great conquered the region in 333 BC. His successors ruled until the Islamic conquests of the seventh century established a …
Kyrgyzstan
The land of mountains, rivers, lakes, horses, eagles and yurts. The Yenisei Kyrgyz are from the upper Yenisey valley. The Yenisey is one of Russia’s three large rivers and runs from central Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. The Kyrgyz were ruled by the Gokturks who established the first Turkish Empire in central Asia in the …
Central Asia Roadtrip 