Week 9 – Parting ways

To make use of the time until the Iranian border might reopen, at the start of week nine we went to a small ski area near the city of Van. It really was tiny: of the two lifts only one was running, so only one slope was open. Great for beginners like my companion; experienced skiers would surely get bored. The resort was mainly for locals. Everything was in Turkish, and we were probably seen as exotic. Lots of staff asked where we were from – a Nepali and a German probably didn't visit very often. We made the most of the glorious weather and spent two full days in the tiny resort. For lunch, instead of Kaiserschmarrn and Almdudler, it was köfte and ayran, of course.

On Saturday, despite there being no official statement from the Iranian government, we decided to give up the overland route. We'd discussed this possibility several times, because with the time pressure and the Omicron variant also spreading rapidly in India, it was becoming ever harder to reach our goal of getting to Nepal by car before March. On top of that, there was a sudden death in my companion's close family. So he booked a flight from Van via Istanbul and Dubai to Kathmandu, leaving on Tuesday. We decided I'd follow two weeks later, as I wanted to store the bus in Armenia.

So the bus journey will probably end in Armenia. For us, though, it's on to Nepal by air.

Besides the flexibility this gives us and fewer Covid uncertainties, it also saves us a good 3,000 USD. Shipping from Dubai to Mumbai would have cost around 2,000 USD without port fees, plus the cost of the required agent in India. The ferry from Iran to Dubai would have added about 600 USD.

In Armenia you can leave a private foreign vehicle in the country for up to 12 months, and through the overland community I found a good spot in a hall about an hour from the capital.

It wasn't an easy decision to simply give up on the big goal after getting various visas and finding alternative solutions. But we thought it incredibly unlikely that Iran would open its borders, since they had been closed because of the Omicron variant and case numbers had been rising steadily ever since. Wrong, as it turned out …

On Monday we heard of the first travellers who had entered Iran via Armenia. On Tuesday and Wednesday, both the Swiss and the German couple we'd met in Istanbul crossed the border at Kapıköy, where we had tried five days earlier. As of Tuesday there was still no official announcement. It's a shame we made the decision, but the border opening makes no sense to me and seems somewhat random.

Still, I'm happy with the decision, because it means my travel companion can attend the funeral and we can spend more time in Nepal, albeit without the T3. Our shared goal of trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp is possible despite the winter now that our schedule is more relaxed. Through local contacts with Sherpas we can probably start this 15-day trek in mid-February, as long as Covid doesn't stop us.

Climbing to about 5,380 m in winter – that's something.

After the ski area we parked at the eastern tip of Lake Van on a deserted peninsula. About 200 m off its tip lay another island with an old Armenian monastery, reachable only by boat. My attempt to swim to the island failed – at -1 °C outside it was a touch too cold – but I still wanted to take a quick dip in the lake.

At the end of the week we moved into a flat in Van. We also visited the Van Cat House, a breeding centre for the special white Van cats, which have one blue and one green eye.

Van cats

After that we went to the post office to send things we no longer needed back to Germany. For my Nepali friend to enter his home country, he also needed a negative PCR test, which we organised too.

On Tuesday, 11 January 2022, after 9 weeks together and 8,773 km on the road, we said goodbye at the airport. Apart from my family, I had never before spent so many days in a row with anyone. I don't think it could have gone much more smoothly or with less conflict.

Now I'm on the road again, heading for the Georgian border. I already know the way from there to Yerevan. In the two weeks until my flight to Kathmandu, I'll try skiing again and explore Georgia a bit more. In Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, I'll visit a garage that specialises in restoring T3s. When I come back after Nepal, I want to treat the bus to new suspension and have some welding done, depending on how much work and money it involves.

When I'm back in Central Asia, I hope to travel through Iran and drive back to Europe via the 'Stans.

Goodbye Van.

So week nine ends both a little sad and euphoric at the same time – looking forward to whatever comes next.

Journey from Germany to Nepal - VW T3 - Week 9 - Turkey (Van)Watch the video on YouTube