Erin is a cousin of my friend Aytuğ Sözüer. She joined us for breakfast in Istanbul back in August, and has followed the walk since (hello Erin!). Today’s walk was 32 kilometers (20 miles) from Tatvan to the village of Yelkenli. It was a nice, sunny day, and the...
There are a lot of miscellaneous things in my notebook. For example, "Today is for…" stuff. Itinerary details. Notes from a scouting trip. Prayers people try to teach me at religiously-oriented tea houses (this photo shows one of them, in the...
When I get really tired I start forgetting nouns. For example, "my notebook" becomes "that thing I write in." A cup becomes "that thing I drink out of." And even people I just talked to become "that guy" or "that...
Aytuğ is a friend of mine from Istanbul. I have known him since March of 2007. He has been either my right hand man or my indirect inspiration on multiple projects since then. Through those projects I have met some of the finest people I know. Thank you Aytuğ!
It snowed in Tatvan last night, so today I rode a bus the 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Tatvan to Van, and then back to Tatvan, to inspect the road I’ll be walking this week. The road’s elevation ranges from the lake level of 5500 feet (1700 meters) to...
I’ve walked all the way to Tatvan now. 88% of the walk is done. 1,848 kilometers (1,148 miles). What’s left: one week to walk from Tatvan to Van, and then a week to walk from Van to the border (or at least, to within a few kilometers of the border —...
Veli is my host in Tatvan. He and his flatmate Asım (pronounced "awesome") make some of the most delicious dinners around. In fact, right now Veli is cooking up some barbunya (beans in tomato sauce with potatoes), the smell is filling the house, and my mouth...
Aydın is a friend of mine from Istanbul Toastmasters. I first met Aydın at Toastmasters in November. He asked me an excellent question related to the trip, and I have been thinking about it ever since.
[Up to date, as of 9 April, 2013] This is the planning page for the walk’s final day. If you would like to take part on that final day, this is the page to keep checking. I’ll be posting updates as the day draws closer. Date: The walk’s final day is...
My host in Tatvan is Veli Deniz, appearing in this photo to my left. I visited a handful of classes today, but with this one I got to spend three class periods, since it is an intensive language class that stays in the same room for most of the day. The exercise Veli...
Yesterday on the bus to Tatvan there was a young man sitting next to me. I asked him what he was doing. He told me he was a soldier stationed in Mardin. I asked him what Mardin was like. He said the scenery was nice, but the people are bad. “Did he just say what...
Today I walked 26 kilometers (16 miles) in reverse, from Tatvan to Bitlis. I came up here to Tatvan-Bitlis yesterday. I have another 4 days of walking at a lower elevation to “catch up” to myself, but I came up here because I wanted to scout out the roads...
The snow up here around Tatvan and Bitlis is melting really fast, and much of the melt drains into the Bitlis River. The Bitlis River runs through the town of Bitlis, a narrow town built into the steep hills surrounding the river. Walking through the town is a great...
İslam is a new friend of mine from Silvan. İslam, I suspect your name is going to be in the book’s title, but only people who read the book are going to know it is a reference to you. Everyone else will think it’s a reference to something else. By the way...
After this chat over tea Dilan made the most delicious dinner out of carrots and rice, plus a tomato-based stew, that I’ve ever had. Or maybe I was just really hungry. Regardless, I ate like a pig, and was in heaven for hours afterwards.
…but not the Malabadi Bridge I was intending to cross. This is a new one that doesn’t show up on Google Maps yet, and there was no road signage yet. The one I intended to cross is 2 kilometers upstream, and was built in 1147 AD. As I realized I was about...
