Night slipped into day in an orange dawn and we stopped for breakfast. On the coach in the night we had become acquainted with an old boy who looked like a cartoon woodcutter, with a woolly peaked cap to hide his bald patch. He spoke a few halting words in English; a smiling thin man with a quiet voice who spoke of summary beheadings and blinding for opponents of the Ayatollah Khomeini regime; and a pleasant young chap who spoke good English and worked in an Iranian power station.
At the morning stop we became friendly with an Iranian student who was returning after 7 years in America for a “vacation”. He stood quaking with cold next to his mate (who looked like Sylvester Stallone facially) and joined us in complaining about the lack of access to our baggage in which our warm gear was safely stashed away. We sipped chai and the sun warmed the earth until it became very hot. Since leaving the great urban sprawl of Istanbul the landscape had become more and more barren. Rugged arid hills followed a wide plain which spread away on each side of the road, all of which were covered with scrub grass.
At about 17:00 hrs. we arrived at Erzurum which is a city in eastern Anatolia (Asian Turkey). It is the largest city in and eponymous capital of Erzurum Province. Here, together with our new travelling companion Jan Verdich, we booked into a 3 bedroom in the Hotel Hitit. A quick look around the town ascertained that there was bugger all worth looking at, and after a kebab meal at the café opposite the Hotel Hitit, we turned in for a well-earned rest at 20:00 hrs.
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