Our next stop was Al-Sulaymāniyyah, a city in northeastern Iraq in the Kurdistan region close to the Iranian border. The town lies on the Tānjarō River and the lower slopes of the Azmar Dāgh range. It experiences severe temperature extremes in summer and winter. While economic and...
In Erbil, we exchanged money (500 EUR / 803000 IQD) and took a diesel at our favorite North Light Oil station (1350 IQD / liter). Then we started our long scenic drive through one of the most beautiful regions of Kurdistan. We drove around Koya, surrounded by the Bawaji and Haibat Sultan...
After some research and heavy thinking, we drove to Mosul in northwestern Iraq. From its original site on the western bank of the Tigris River, the modern city expanded to the eastern bank and now encircles the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. Probably built on the site of...
We spent a few days in Erbil, one of the most ancient cities in the world, dating back at least to 2300 BC. Erbil has long been an important trade center, and It has been inhabited, over the millennia, by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Mongols, and Ottoman Turks. It was already an ancient...
We spent two nights in the breathtakingly beautiful little historic town of Akre. The town was built on the side of a mountain range at the edge of the Nineveh Plains by the Kurdish Prince Zand in 580 BC. It was traditionally a mixed town of Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Nowadays, Akre...
If you read our post about the horrible experience at the Turkish border crossing, then here you will find the second part from the Kurdish side, where we spent another 6 hours. Maybe this little guide will help you to cross it more smoothly than us. After crossing the bridge, you will...
From our parking location behind Eruh, it took us two hours to get to Cizre. We did good shopping in Migros, and after that, we decided to take the cake with coffee and leave the town around 10 pm towards the Ibrahim Khalil border. It was supposed to be the easiest crossing between Iraqi...
We drove from Kars to Lake Van through several mountain passes (2100 – 2400 m) for the whole afternoon. Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey in the Armenian highlands at 1,640 m above sea level. It is a saline soda lake (pH 9.8), receiving water from many small streams that...
Truck spare parts for our scheduled service arrived in Tbilisi from the USA late (probably because of Xmas time). The customs delayed the delivery for more than 1,5 months, and the communication with them was terrible and, most days, impossible. Ultimately, they did not allow logic...
Our first stop in Armenia was a beautiful monastery occupying a commanding position overlooking the Debed gorge. Founded around 976 by Queen Khosrvanuch, who funded the construction of the domed Church of the Holy Cross (Surp Nishan) at the center of the complex, it saw a building boom in...