Erzurum was our first port of call after crossing the border with Iran, our first taste of Turkey. To get there we had to get through the border crossing with Iran and that proved to be very different experience to the rest of Persia. Like so many borders crossings it was very difficult to determine where to go and how the whole process works. The basics are always the same. First you have to find immigration to have your passport stamped and secondly you need to find customs to have the paperwork for the car processed and pay any compulsory insurance. The Iran/Turkey border crossing was full of dodgy characters trying to rip us off. This was not helped by the fact that most of the people who actually worked at the border wore plain clothes, which made picking out the imposters rather difficult. The first one we met saw our bright yellow carnet de passage and approached us with fluent English and a sense of purpose. He confidently led us into a different waiting room where he waited with us for a while and struck up a conversation. This seemed rather odd and our well honed suspicions were raised. Soon the conversation turned to a US$400 petrol tax that we would have to pay because the government subsidised the local fuel (it's 12.5c/L) and we weren't locals. He informed us that because he liked us he could cut us a deal and get us out of it if we gave him US$200 in cash to give to the local official. This is when I took our carnet that he was holding (we thought he worked there) and bid him a less than pleasant day. There was also some concern about the security of our car. Most of the worlds heroin is grown in Afghanistan and most of Europe's supply is smuggled overland through Iran and then through Turkey. Most of it passes through this checkpoint. We were concerned that someone break into our car in the carpark (as there is no security of any kind) and use us to smuggle something illegal. We weren't paranoid just conscious of it. Soon began the process of trying to find out where customs was, who of all the people in the room actually worked there and which ones to see and so on and so forth. It took quite a few hours. Before crossing there was the inspection of the car by customs. A double set of sliding gates are used to lock half a dozen cars into a secure space where the Iranian customs officials car go through your car at their leisure. It can take a long time. As fuel in Iran is 12.5c/L and fuel on the other side of the border is $2.50/L there is a strong incentive to try and smuggle fuel. The car in front of us was a classic example. The guards began their search in the engine bay where they found came out with 2L of fuel in an old soft drink bottle. This was followed by many more. When the search moved to the cars interior loads of bottles were hidden in the doors and under the seats and everywhere else too. 22 litres of fuel came out! When it was our turn they opened the boot and looked at our luggage and indicated that that was fine. They didn't even open anything. They weren't in the least bit interested in Westerners.

The drive through far Eastern Turkey was interesting one. The quality of the road made for a rapid transit which we needed after the long delay at the border crossing. Beautiful mountains and sweeping plains gave us an enjoyable and stress free dive all the way to Erzurum. The crippling fuel price made us very happy to have our little car with it's frugal four cylinders.

There has been a civil war raging in Eastern Turkey for many years. The area is an known as Kurdistan and Kurdistan freedom fighters have been seeking autonomy for decades. The Kurds are an ethnic group whose traditional region covers parts of several countries. They are generally discriminated against everywhere and this has been part of their drive for independence. Turkey has traditionally not invested much money into this region and the locals know it and you can see it as you drive through it. Change is in the air however with a Kurdish fighters leaving their mountain posts and the Turkish government being more inclusive and less frugal with the people of this area. We really enjoyed our time in Erzurum and wish had more time to make the most of the place and it's excellent food. However the journey to Paris was taking much longer than expected and we had to keep the wheels rolling and our compass pointing West.