Van

The trip was long and exciting... But here İ am - fighting with the Turkish keyboard again. 

The journey to Van was full of excitement. 
İ got almost beaten up in the first plane, feared for my life in the second and spent a night in İstanbul with a random group of travelers heading for Iraq. 

Now İ settled in with my friends and enjoyed the first active day out. 
40 km up to 2350m - İ realized İ should have figured out a way for elevation training as well - air is thin but crisp! 
Even though İ was on a really deserted road İ got a nice çay invitation half way up :) 

No Kangals yet! 

On the way back İ passed through a little Kurdish 'meeting' - PKK seams to be alive and kicking. 
Everybody tells me Hakkari is fine though. İ will find out soon enough.