İsmet ŞAHİN | Tours | From south to north

İsmet ŞAHİN

My Land, My People- From South To North

TÜRKÇE

My Psychology about riding is not very well after I had broken my leg last year in Altai Mountains -Russia.

My fears have increased. Every moment I feel like I'm going to slide and fall, and this fear is locking me in. Even last month, the return of Kocayayla, friends wanted to ride on a full offroad trail. I joined them in fear and this fear caused me to fall 3 times. The path we rode was an unused pathway with stony pits. I also a-have fears on the asphalt, but it doesn't pose a problem, I just ride slower and more carefully.

I didn't have chance for a long ride due to economic and business reasons. I planned a few days tour by motorbike when I had to go to Maras - Goksun to visit my family on the occasion of the holiday.

I didn't see anything familiar at the entrance to Yozgat. The last time I came, It was more than 50 years ago, and I was a 6-year-old boy. Therefore, I had only memories of the house we lived in, the school I studied and the large area in front of the school, the clock tower and the provincial building. Navigation took me right to the center and suddenly I saw all the things I had in mind. Clock Tower, Square, Province building, but they have built a building between my school and the square. I found my school easily. Sakarya Primary School, my school has now become the center of an agency and they have built a ugly giant building next to it as a new school.

Yozgata girişte hiç aşina bir şey hissetmedim. Aradan 50 yıldan fazla geçen zaman ve son geldiğimde 6 yaşında bir çocuk olmam nedeniyle sadece, oturduğumuz eve, okuduğum okula ve okulun önündeki geniş alan, saat kulesi ve Vilayet binasına dair anılar vardı aklımda. Navigasyon beni tam merkeze götürdü ve birden tüm aklımdaki şeyleri birlikte gördüm. Saat Kulesi, Meydan, Vilayet binası fakat okulumla meydan arasına bina inşa etmişler. Kolayca okulumu buldum. Sakarya İlkokulu, okulum artık bir ajansın merkezi haline gelmiş ve yanına şekilsiz dev bir bina yapmışlar yeni okul olarak.

I stayed with my family a few days and then started the trip I planned. While passing through the Nurhak Mountains, I wanted to take a break in the village of İnekli but could not find it. but it was special to sit in the shade of a single tree on a hill dominating the railroad track running parallel to the creek flowing below and listen to the song "Nurhak Sana Güneş Doğmaz". I got emotional.

The building shown in the photo on the left was one of the few apartments of Yozgat 52-53 years ago. There were cellars in the backyard. There was a street in the front and no shops. We lived on the 4th floor. Before we moved in, we lived in a one-story house under the main road. There was a tree in the empty land against it, and I usually climbed up and slipped down to it. On one occasion, the head of the nail pinned to the tree as I slid down, scratched my belly from the bottom to the top like a bow. I still carry that mark on my body.

In this apartment, in the mornings, I used to wear my black school uniform and button my white collar and go to school. My sister was a baby, my brother was not born. When I first learned to read, I liked reading store names the most. I was a little younger than the other students in the class so everyone applauded when I first achieved to read.

It was nice to be able to find the building, to get in it to be sure it is the one we lived even if a bit of a change in shape. Of course the only thing changed shape was not the building, we are not the same at all.

I planned to visit Yozgat, where I spent a few years of my first childhood on the way. to Göksun where my family live. After spending a few days with my family in Göksun, I wanted to go to Urfa Göbeklitepe via Nurhak Mountains, Adıyaman Nemrut, Elazığ, Tunceli and Pülümür by Munzur River. I wanted to ride all around Munzur mountain and go to Kemaliye to ride Taşyolu that is a famous road to ride for riders.

From there I wanted to go to the Soğanlı Pass through Bayburt and ride on to D915 road that is so called the most dangerous dirt road of the world. (exaggeration). Then planned to visit Karaçam, Rize, Fırtına Creek, Çamlıhemşin, Ayder plateau, monastery of Sümela in Trabzon. I thought of going to Sinop from there, stay one night, see the historical Sinop Prison and return to Izmit. I had four days for all of this plan. You can watch the short video of my ride to Göksun the first day.

Fotoğraf Galerisi - sağ ve sol taraftaki okları kullanarak diğer fotoğrafları görebilirsiniz.

The first place I wanted to see was the Göbeklitepe excavation area near Örencik village in Şanlıurfa. Since it is 5000 years older than Stonehenge, which was considered to be the oldest finds, it is shown as the “0” point of human history. Of course the known history. Some kind of temple. It is a must-see point for anyone interested in history. I was very impressed while touring. I couldn't go but the statues and similar objects found in Göbeklitepe were exhibited in the museum in Urfa. It was very impressive to visit the historical site and watch the 3D presentations in the reception hall.

The next morning, after watching the sunrise, I left early. I didn't even buy gasoline to keep the sunset on my way. The warning light was on. After the warning light comes on, it will go at least 50 km. Now it would be inevitable to stay on the road if I didn't find an oil station and get petrol. I drove to Siverek and there were no petrol stations within 70 km. Fearing that I would stay on the road, I came to the entrance to Siverek and took a deep breath as I filled up gasoline at the first oil station.

I don't like this stress. The motorcycle has a 19-liter tank and took almost 18.75 liters of gasoline. With stress and exhaustion, I felt very hungry. I hadn’t had breakfast in the morning. I didn't want to lose a long time for breakfast. In the east of Turkey, bakers cook “pide” bread for breakfast. Pide tastes great with Urfa cheese melted in boiling water and with cold grapes. I wanted to buy pide and cheese for breakfast and stopped at a bakery next to a market in Siverek. I walked to the bakery. 3 people were sitting in the front of bakery eating breakfast. Hot pide with Urfa cheese melted in hot water and olives. :D I said “ Bon Appetite” and they replied “thank you, come join us”. This is not a real invitation this is a casual reply. But I took it seriously and said “0k” and settled next to them to share their breakfast. I love the people of my country, when I started to eat they stopped to let me eat more.

I rode about 50 miles towards Çermik. This time I was thirsty as I entered Çermik and stopped at the Kaya Petrol station. I got cold water and I drank. The petrol station staff and owner prepared breakfast and were going to have breakfast in the shade. They invited me. I thanked them and said “I just had”. But they insisted and said “ If you don’t join us, we can’t start our breakfast, come sit with us and eat only a little”. I sat with them had another full breakfast :) I want you all reading this paragraph notice that the the city life makes us unconcerned and rude to each other. The life in the countryside is more polite and humanistic. Our country and our people are natural, polite and concerned to each other a lot more than the people. I feel at home at every part of my country. I can communicate, make jokes, be their guest or argue with them

From there I reached Tunceli through Ergani and Maden. After entering Tunceli, I took a break to relax in a coffee house called Berceste. I washed my face, sat down and had two cups of tea. I relaxed. I wanted to pay the bill and move on. I went to the checkout and wanted to pay for the tea. They said you don't have to pay. Our offer. I said no, I want to pay. They didn't take the any money for the ta! Look what I've had experienced from morning to noon on the same day.

The next day I set out for Bayburt to make a route that I was afraid of early in the morning. At noon I reached Bayburt and then reached Soğanlı Pass. The road from Bayburt to Soğanlı Pass is usually asphalt. There are very sharp bends, but not ver difficult to ride. As it is said, it is not the most dangerous road in the world. But I think it would be a bit more challenging if riding uphill from Karaçam to Soğanlı Pass. Sharp bends is forcing me uphill.

A phobia occurred last year after I broke my foot in the mud on dirt roads. Every moment I feel like I'm going to fall and this fear sometimes locks me and I really fall. So I went to this road in fear in this route. But I didn't give up because there was a fear I had to overcome. As you will see in the video the road is dirt road but not extraordinary difficult to ride,

After 5-10 km, I entered the fog (Zopur, wet fog) and I began to get wet and visibility shortened. After another 5-10km, the rain began to drizzle and the soil became wet and especially in bends where the soil turned into crushed sand, it began to mud. In the meantime, a car in front of me is going very slowly and I can not pass, both prevent me to see the road from a distance and also slows me more than necessary. In particular, he cannot take sharp bends and stops and maneuvers and cause trouble. to me.

I was not so tired that day, it rained constantly after Rize. I got very wet. I decided to settle in the first hotel I will find after Zil Kale. I stayed in a hotel in Ardeşen. Meanwhile, I saw more than 50 Italian motorcycl riders in the Black Sea. Some were individual, some were group, all the touristic places were full of Italian motorcycles. The next day I wanted to visit the Sümela monastery in Trabzon and ride from Samsun and Sinop. We had decided to meet Güngör around Samsun and drive to Sinop together.

I went to Pülümür by the Munzur River from Tunceli. I don't know if it is called the Munzur valley, but I reached Pülümür from a valley along the Munzur river. I went to Pülümür because of a poem. Bülent Ecevit's poem "The Ageless Woman of Pülümür". I was very impressed when I first read it, I wanted to see Pülümür. I read that poem at the entrance To Pülümür. The only gas station in Pülümür was in renovation and closed, I was faced with the problem of running out of gasoline again and the nearest gas station was 70 km away in Erzincan. It was an exciting ride again. After riding 190 km from Erzincan to Kemaliye, I almost turned around Munzur Mountain. However, the road between Erzincan and Kemah -iliç -Kemaliye is definitely a road to be crossed by motorcycle. The asphalt is beautiful. Passing through the mountains, valleys, the road is full of soft bends and the landscape is exquisite. But the scenery is barren red mountains, hills and valleys views. If you come across a colorful sunset, you will enjoy it.

It was a rainy and wet trip again. Sumela monastery was under fog and it was not possible to see anything from outside. I climbed up but couldn't do anything but watch it from a place like a balcony because it was in the restoration. At least I can say I went there. I've seen in general, but I'm not very satisfied. They said the restoration would take two more years. Those who plan to visit should consider this.

It took quite a while to reach Samsun and Sinop from there. We entered Sinop around 22:00 at night. Sinop really welcomed us and we liked it very much. After settling in the hotel we went down to the beach and had some drinks. The next morning we visited the historical Sinop prison and Sabahattin Ali ward and then left for Izmit.

“In Erzincan, the Stone Road between Kemaliye and Divrigi is said to be one of the most challenging roads in the world and is completed in 132 years, with many tunnels, bends and sharp cliffs attracts adventure enthusiasts who want to walk and drive.” as written in Internet. But it’s in fact not a very difficult dirt road, just a dirt road. Only tunnels, passages parallel to the canyon make the road interesting. I advise motorcycle riders not to expect too much, otherwise it would be disappointing. This road between Kemaliye - Divrigi was 7km. However, it was closed due to a collapse at the 5th km. I rode back to Kemaliye after about 5 km, I could not reach Divrigi. Rather than this road, Kemaliye itself is definitely a very authentic, charming touristic Anatolian town worth seeing. There are activities such as zipline on the canyon and boat tour in the canyon. Also the wooden houses, hotels and the bazaar are very nice. I stayed at Dogaperest Kafe Camping on the edge of the stream in the south of Kemaliye. They had their own ready tents, just took off my sleeping bag and slept. It was nice to sleep with the sound of the flowing stream. Beautiful venue in the forest. There are also delicious meals and drinks in the cafe.

My heart rate is accelerating as time passes, my fear increases, I pray that the intensity of rain does not increase. I'm angry at myself why you came here without looking at the weather. But at the end of a 5-10 km or so after the black asphalt was such a relief that I can not tell. It was a very useful ride for me, I gained some self-confidence. What I write here is what I feel. Another person may have made the same route much easier, skillfully. It is not a difficult route that cannot be done under normal circumstances. High expectations should not be created. The beginning and end of the video is being played at high speed so that you can see the road as it is. Intermediate section at normal speed. I couldn’t ride the motorcycle faster than 20-30km an hour. It was very enjoyable to sit in a coffee shop on the Karaçam plateau and drink tea. Then I continued on the road to Çaykara, to Sürmene and Rize. I went to Çamlıhemşin and Ayder plateau along the Fırtına stream. I had dinner at Ayder and went to Zil Castle. For dinner, they recommended mıhlama to eat in Ayder. I sat in a non-touristic local cafe and ordered a mıhlama and tea. It came in plentiful butter. But it wasn't breakfast butter, it was cooked in melted butter, what we call cooking butter. I forgot the nameof that butter. My grandfather loved it. When the woman who cooked the mıhlama saw me eating with appetite, she came up to me and asked, “Gerçekten sevdun mu ula?” (Did you really like it). But that attitude and style of questioning can not be explained in writing. In Zil Kale I met with Güngor Akkur from Komoto. He was travelling with his mother. After a short talk we separated to meet again in Samsun.