16-22 July 2008

Cycling is starting to feel like a distant memory as we spent much of the week firstly trying to find embassies and then attempting to understand the visa regulations of the countries we plan to visit on our adventures. Substantial progress has been made and things are on the up, but there have been points when the team have felt like telling Iran where to shove its uranium, China its wall and Tajikistan its yurts. We love Kyrgystan already.

These experiences are an integral part of the way we have chosen to travel and we think the effort will make us appreciate these countries all the more.

Goreme-Ankara (bus)
We finished our stay at Kaya Camping at Goreme with a meal with lovely fellow New Zealanders Colleen and Dave from New Plymouth, who are touring Turkey in their Hymer campervan. We had a fantastic meal followed by tales of China and accompanying photos. The next day we had a photo shoot as we rode our bikes down the hill to Goreme to get the bus to Ankara.

Ankara has exceeded our expectations – we’d heard that it’s dusty and expensive but instead we found that it has its attractions and the poor air quality is really only noticeable when at the top of one of its many hills. And so the visa search began… Iran, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, China (see below).

Kizilcahamam
As we had a weekend to fill in the middle of the visa-quest we decided to do as the Ankarans do and head for the hills. We re-packed two panniers for a weekend break to Kizilcahamam in the Soğuksu Milli Parki (National Park).

Thanks to our guidebook we expected a fairly touristy spa town but instead found it to be a gritty local hangout with no camping. We pulled up to the Police Station in search of information and embarked on a surreal journey out of the town in the back of a classic police car to a 5-star resort where Turkey’s football teams train. We didn’t know where they were taking us and were subsequently grateful that the hotel was full and they found us a small pension/apartment that was much more within our budget.

A random weekend where we made unexpected friends (Di’s German came in handy again in conversation with one helpful local but she did feel slightly uncomfortable when she discovered one of his wives was doing sales at the market while his other wife was at home looking after the children) and had a non-luxurious but pleasant bath.

The Visa-Quest

Iran
In Istanbul we were instructed by the Iranian Consulate that we needed to use the services of an internet company called Iranian Visas for visa support. Iranian Visas obtain a code from the Ministry of Tourism in Iran which we needed to take to the consulate in Ankara to be issued our visas on the spot. It took us a couple of weeks to get this underway – emails bouncing back and forth between us and the company, the payment of EUR64 taking time to reach them – but the code should have come through on the day that we arrived in Ankara and in plenty of time for our train journey to Tabriz, Iran.

A visit to the Iranian Consulate in Ankara has revealed this is all completely unnecessary and they will issue a visa within 3-4 days, no code required. While this has made us EUR64 poorer and we have wasted five days waiting for the visa at least it’s now definitely underway and we should be crossing the border at the end of this week. We think.

Tajikistan
Visa requirements for Tajikistan change as regularly as the Stick changes her underpants (the Roller is excluded from this statement as this is one department he is not so regular in). We had believed that a Letter of Invitation (LOI) is not required to obtain a visa. Conflicting advice continues to prevail and we are still not sure what is required.

Our visit to the Tajik Embassy was an exercise in patience and diplomacy. We were turned away within five minutes (after spendıng two hours trying to find the embassy, then having to wait for it to open after lunch for another two hours). After hearing this news we kept our cool, although at this point body language may have indicated that relationships were frosting. 

In consultation with our contact in Tajikistan we ‘produced’ an eloquent LOI. Fresh from our weekend break the team were up early and at the doorstep of the embassy for 0900 hours with all paperwork and two crisp USD100 notes prepared for more tough negotiations through bulletproof glass. Unfortunately the Iron Lady (Tajik Consulate) was not interested in diplomacy and took the hard line quickly dismissing the team’s number one playing card (the LOI): ’I tell you it need be Ministry of Foreign Affairs – not Dr Tilghman’. Five minutes later the team were sent from negotiations empty-handed, however card numbers two and three are still up our sleeves. If all cards fail there may be no alternative but to impose a Spencer-Murray embargo on Tajikistan and consider other options (military force).

Kyrgystan
A breeze. Friendly, helpful, interested staff and the visa was issued on the spot. The Embassy has moved from its location on the Ankara city map so it did take us half a day to find.

China
We had a fruitless visit to the Chinese Embassy where we spoke to a voice on the phone from the security booth outside. We are currently conspiring a way to overcome the visa restrictions – watch this space.

At the height of our frustration we realised the NZ Embassy was nearby so we called in. Di fought back tears as the familiar accent and friendly face of the NZ Ambassador chatted to us and confirmed that we are unable to obtain our Chinese visas anywhere other than in the UK and NZ (as we have both passports).

Note to fellow travellers: many of the embassies in Ankara have moved to a new development way to the south of the city centre - we can confirm that taxis to get there are expensive but buses are regular, easy and cheap if you ask for directions…