Day 15 in Sirnak, Turkey

Today there isn’t much to report. I woke up early and caught a shared taxi (after waiting 2 hours for it to fill up) to Dohuk and then quickly caught another to Zakho where the driver offered to take me to the border for only a few thousand extra dinars which was a great deal. Found a taxi there and headed across. There was a massive traffic jam and I spent awhile standing outside enjoying the mountain views.

Got stamped out of Kurdistan without incident but of course getting into Turkey from Iraq is another thing. I got a few questions but since most of the soldiers and guards dont speak English, they don’t really bother me much, especially with an American passport. They made me open my bag but didn’t search it. Got into Turkey and quickly found a bus from Silopi (border town) to Cizre . I was happy at how fast it went. Then hopped off after the 30km ride and got right back on one to Sirnak which was about 50km away up in the mountains.

Scenery continues to be spectacular. I love the mountains already as I have almost no experience with them. It actually makes me really want to get to the Alps when I go home. Anyway, the car slowly made its way up the twisting road and I felt my ears pop. As it was dark, it was the only indicator of how high we actually were. I could make out a little landscape at this point but must have been seeing things as I could have sworn there was snow on the ground. Sure enough, there was. I go from the warmth of Iraq to snow in one day. Damn.

I easily found a good hotel, then a delicious restaurant and finally a highspeed internet cafe. Iraq was hell for internet. God bless Turkey! Tomorrow I’m off to Van.

Here are some pictures from previous days: