Continuation of the travelogue
Continuation of the first part, land trip to Europe by car
including the events and the return route from France to Iran. It consists of two parts: European and Asian.
European Part
Return from France
On the return route from the trip to Europe by car, we once again passed through the beautiful and well-designed Mont Blanc Tunnel and headed towards the port of Ancona on the highway.
Mont Blanc Tunnel In fact, if it weren’t for this tunnel, traveling through the snowy and icy peaks of the Alps could take weeks or even months.
In the port of Ancona, there was no hustle and bustle that was present when we left, and only a few cars were waiting for the ferry to depart. I easily purchased the ticket.
Port of Ancona Italy
The returning ferry belonged to the Anek Line company. In general, there was not much difference between these two ferries and their facilities, although they varied in design, but their amenities and services were almost the same.
Although I had been meticulous about the car and had brought some spare parts and even oil with me, I had overlooked the car battery.
Safety recommendation
Before recounting the problem that occurred on the ferry, let me mention something about the car oil. In the previous paragraph, I mentioned the oil. In long trips, naturally, you don’t have the opportunity to return to Iran and change the oil, and we shouldn’t expect oils that we come across to have a lifespan of more than 10,000 kilometers.
Therefore, there is no solution other than changing the oil during the trip. But there are two problems:
- Usually, companies in Europe guarantee car oil changes, and if any problems arise due to negligence in servicing the car and changing the oil and filters, they will take responsibility. For this reason, they don’t provide services for cars that don’t have a history.
- The cost of service and maintenance in Europe is usually very high and cannot be compared with Iran. It is possible that the cost of an oil change would be several times the price of the oil itself for you.
After boarding the ferry
But let’s continue the story on the ferry:
I was unaware of the quality of the car battery, and the car refrigerator gradually drained the battery. The longer we went, the shorter the refrigerator stayed on when the car was off. To the point that we adjusted it on the way so that we could consume the contents of the refrigerator inside the ferry and then turn it off.
To the point that we adjusted it on the way so that we could consume the contents of the refrigerator inside the ferry and then turn it off.
Unfortunately, on the return journey, I forgot to turn off the inverter, and as I mentioned before, access to the car is not possible after departure.
One of my concerns on this sea journey was what would happen after 17 hours.
I coordinated with myself to be the first person to reach the car and take action as soon as the captain announced for drivers to go to the parking lot.
Finally, the appointed time arrived, and without waiting for the elevator, I went down several flights of stairs and reached my car. I saw that, oh no, the battery was dead, and starting the car was not possible.
Unfortunately, this time my car was almost among the second and third rows in the ferry parking lot. And I imagined that now all the cars and trailers will be delayed and there will be a whole disgrace.
Rushing and being ashamed
I immediately remembered the sockets around the ship for connecting campers and trailers and quickly started wiring from the car to the first electrical socket.
As I was playing Iranian game, that is, connecting the inverter to charge the battery with a 2×0.75 wire, I saw the sound of wireless fash fash coming next to me!
I turned back and saw one of the Italian ship’s electrical engineers standing behind me and shouting, “What are you doing?” I explained the situation to him and he didn’t care at all and he just shouted and said with this wire?! There is a risk of death, three-phase, 380 volts and…
I saw that no matter what I do, my friend doesn’t calm down, I went and got a digital ammeter from the car and brought it and I told him that I am an electrical engineer and I know all this. Now he calmed down a bit, but he was still stuck. He said that you are an electrical engineer, yes, but he has no responsibility on the ship and all the responsibilities are on us.
In short, he said to hold back and leave it to us, then he announced on the radio and they brought a wheeled device like a welding machine with a long three-phase mobile cable, and it had such a high ampere that he just told me to start it, actually it was a battery. It was battery powered.
After that we became friends and shook hands, but it was such a shame that at the end he said everything is fine, the car started and you are alive!!
Finally, we reached Greece and started crossing Greece to reach the border of Turkey. In contrast to the outgoing route, where we mostly crossed the side and forest and mountain roads, on the way back, we often crossed the highways.
We had lunch in the beautiful and port city of Kavala in Greece, a very good restaurant that arranged the chairs in the door and had very delicious and cheap food.
Highway tolls
Of course, highways in Europe have tolls that start from one or two euros and can be up to 10 euros.
The tolls are automatic and generally controlled by barriers, and the machines accept all types of wireless tags, coins, bills and credit cards.
Asian Part
Entering Turkey
After passing through Greece, we reached the Turkish border at night and Alhamdulillah it was quiet and we entered Turkey without any problems.
Considering that we had already explored the northern routes of Turkey, I suggested to the family that after arriving in Istanbul, we should move towards the southwest and then the south of Turkey and visit the cities in between on the way back.
Port of Chanak Kale
On the way from Thessaloniki to Izmir in Canak Kale, we met the waterway again, that is, after traveling a long distance, the road ended and the navigation announced the end of the land route.
It was dawn and the sun was rising, I got off and rested a little and saw that the left side of the car was like a port or a small anchorage. After half an hour, the car barge stopped at a small place and we paid 12 Turkish Lira to get on it and crossed the sea and continued towards Izmir.
It is about 900 km from the port of Thessaloniki to Izmir, Türkiye.
Ezmir
After arriving in Izmir, we took a hotel for 3 days and took a little rest considering the long way we had come on the way back from the highway.
At the same time, we were looking for buying a battery for the car and also buying baby clothes for one of our relatives.
After a bit of searching, I found the Bosch dealership in Izmir and went there to buy a battery with the bicycle provided by the hotel for free. After checking the price of the batteries, I realized that the quality of the batteries is very good.
I was also looking for a battery in Europe, but I did not buy it because of the high price. The price in Turkey was much better than in Europe, but it was high compared to Iran.
In short, I don’t want to trouble you, don’t sell me the same battery!!!
They forced me to go to the international notebook (car card) and bring my passport and they issued me an invoice with a guarantee. No matter what I insisted that I don’t want a guarantee, they refused.
Of course, they asked the reason and I said that there is no warranty in Iran. The seller surprisingly said that you can take this battery anywhere in the world for 2 years and it has a warranty, I said, of course, except for Iran.
After insisting on them and denying me, finally the head of the company came and opened the site and started looking for a battery representative in Iran. I was sure it would not go anywhere! It happened the same way, after all Alafi said, I don’t know why Iran doesn’t have a representative, but we are at your service if you have any problems. I thanked him and attached a battery to the crack of the bicycle strap and brought it to the hotel and installed it on the car.
God, there is a battery too.
In the city of Izmir, which is in the shape of a crescent around the sea, there are bicycle lanes and beautiful green spaces along the coastal strip, and there are also “mechanized” bicycle rental stations. Something similar to smokeless that is now active in Iran. In addition to the hotel bicycles, the children also sometimes used these bicycles.
Alacati
I had been seeing photos of one of the most beautiful cities in Turkey called Alacati for a long time and I was waiting for an opportunity to visit it. Now this golden opportunity came to me.
On the way back from Izmir to other cities, although we went off the road to see Alacati, and in fact, according to the map below, we had to take a different route and come back, but it was really worth it.
Alacati was so clean, calm and beautiful that I recommend everyone to see all this beauty.
It was more like a place to relax and calm the nerves, no noise and no commotion, only the blue sea, the boundless sky, birds, flowers and green spaces could be seen as far as the eye could see.
We visited Alacati for about 1 day, but did not stay and immediately left for Iran from the southern belt.
Due to the proximity to the borders of Syria and Iraq, the checkpoints were much different from the northern parts, and their number was also higher.
More dressed soldiers and guerilla uniforms, most checkpoints were like trenches and protected with concrete and steel barriers, tanks and people were stationed together and…
Konya - Maulawi tomb
On the way to the city of Konya, we reached the mausoleum of Molavi, and we ate Seyhana there.
After breakfast, we went for a visit, but unfortunately the complex was closed and we couldn’t enter. We only took a few photos outside the tomb and the park, and after a little sightseeing in Konya, we headed to Diyarbakir.
Diyarbakir
Diyarbakir was a very big and religious city. Unlike most cities in Türkiye, all the women in this city were veiled.
As they say, Diyarbakir is one of the big cities of Türkiye. There were very big and luxurious stores there.
We toured the city and had dinner at the food court of one of the commercial complexes and got ready to leave.
I usually use Bazargan border to travel to and from Turkey, because it is open 24 hours a day and customs formalities and administrative procedures are easier. Other shrines work a little tastefully and have holidays and rest for themselves and…
In this trip, we moved towards Bazargan border or Gorbulagh (the Turkish name of Bazargan border).
On the way back, unfortunately, the car broke down, and while it was on and working like clockwork, unfortunately, it did not accelerate, and it was moving at low speed.
According to the GPS and guide signs, I saw that we are about 130 km away from the Saro border (Urmia). Therefore, I inevitably decided to take a shortcut and instead of the long distance to the Bazargan border, I quickly entered Iran with a broken car.
