12.08.2020:- MOTORCYCLE Tour in the Northern Turkey & BLACK SEA / MOTOSİKLETLE Kuzey Türkiye & KARADENİZ Gezisi

 Day 6 :- Tunceli>>>>Erzurum (245 km)

During the breakfast in the Hotel Ayrikvadi I talked with Metin who is the owner of the hotel. He is a nice guy and very talkative. He had first started the idea of establishing a hotel among the family members. His son being a civil engineer has made the technical side and they have finished the hotel getting some subvention from the Government. 

After the breakfast I paid 200.-TL (approx. 20.-Euro) for the room and breakfast and 135.-TL for the dinner I had last night. I left the hotel around 09:15 and took the direction to Pülümür. After a few kms I took the road on the right hand side to the village Meşeyolu. There is one of our ex-coworkers living in this village. I wanted to visit Aynur and to have  a coffee at her house. 

It is a winding road uphill to the mountain. I passed 5-6 different villages and I arrived at the village Meseyolu. Despite the bad quality of the road pavement the view was good.Aynur was happy to see me in her village and we drank our coffee chatting about the last four years after she left our company. 

After one hour I was back on the main road in the direction to Pulumur. On the way, I stopped in the valley and took some pictures at the stream. The view in the valley between Tunceli and Pulumur is wonderful. I stopped at the gas station in Pulumur and bought fuel.  The pass (1,950mt) of Pulumur was nice and I stopped at the top . After twenty minutes I was on the main road connecting Erzincan to Erzurum. I continued my ride in the direction to Askale and then to Erzurum. When I arrived at Erzurum I found Hotel Dilaver which is right in the city. It is an old hotel, not to recommend. Last time when I was coming back from my trip to Uzbekistan I had stayed in the same hotel in 2014. 

On the same day, afternoon I went out and walked 300 meters up to the Cumhuriyet Street. I visited Yakutiye Medrese (Medrese is for the  univercity in the Ottoman and before Ottoman era. I also visited The Medrese with two minarets. It was closing at 5:00 p.m. but there was enough time to see inside. The mosque Ulucami was also just at the side of the Medrese. After visiting also the Erzurum Castle at the same square I came to a tea place and I took a few tea. 

After a walk of about 25 minutes I saw the historical Congress Building where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had gathered congress in Erzurum for planning the freedom war against the Europeans. 

Gürcükapı and the streets there are interesting. There is a lot people and daily trade in that area. It was getting dark when I sat at the Güzelyurt Restaurant at the Cumhuriyet Caddesi No.42. The food is

delicious and there are various alternatives.

11.08.2020:- MOTORCYCLE Tour in the Northern Turkey & BLACK SEA / MOTOSİKLETLE Kuzey Türkiye & KARADENİZ Gezisi

 Day 5 :- Erzincan >>>>Pülümür>>>>Tunceli>>>>Ovacık>>>>Tunceli (280 km)

After the breakfast at the Hotel Eriza I departed. The weather was nice and calm. There was some wind blowing from the north. I headed in the East direction. As mentioned before Erzincan is a city constructed on a flat plateau in between two (north-south) mountain chains. The width is something around 12-15 km.

At the eastern exit of Erzincan I filled up my tank at the OPET station. Then I continued on the road up to the junction to Pülümür. This section is climbing up. The main road was at an elevation 1200 meter but Pülümür is located on 1500 meters. After a winding road I crossed the pass of Pülümür.

Pülümür Pass : 1950 meter

Then I came down to the little town called Pülümür. I stopped there for a Turkish coffee. I sat in the town at the coffee house and chat with some people around me. I also saw the statue of Cemal Sureya, one of the famous poets of Turkey in the mid of 20th century. I am at the birth place of the poet now. 

In Pülümür

In Pülümür in front of the Cemal Sureya statue.

After the coffee break around 10:00 I continued on the valley road in the direction to Tunceli and Ovacik. The road and the nature around it is fantastic. Rivers are flowing along the road and lots of winding panorama in the valley. I reached to Tunceli. I rode through the down town which is located on the side of a hill. There was a lot of people in the city center and I continued the route to Ovacik.

Both sides of the route is rich with nature. It is fantastic around the route. I arrived at the town Ovacik around 12:30. It started to rain. I stopped in front of the food shop called Cadde Hamburger and ate my lunch. Lunch was comprising of beans and rice and yoghurt. After the lunch break the rain stopped and I decided to ride to the "Gozeler" which is the region where the water comes out from the mountain and is the source of the Munzur river.

I walked there. It is a place where the drink water with the brand Munzur is bottled. There is also a mystique dervish lodge "Munzur Baba" at the water source. After some time spent in that area I rode back in the direction of Ovacik and then I continued to Tunceli. The distance to Ovacik is around 14-16 km. The road is fantastic with the surrounding forest and mountains. The Munzur river is flowing all along the road up to Tunceli.

After the winding road I arrived at Tunceli but I did not ride into the downtown. I stopped at the Cemevi for a while then I continued further to Ayrikvadi Hotel (on the main street 10-12 km on the east of Tunceli). It is very nice hotel at the side of the Tunceli-Pülümür road. It has a view over the street and the mountains. There is also a big yard around the hotel. To be suggested for any traveler. The rooms are big and clean. 

I took a bottle of beer from the hotel and walked down to the bank of the river which is only 200 mt away from the Hotel. I swam in the river and enjoyed my cold beer there. There is a place where someone puts himself into the river and then the flow in water starts. After 80-90 meter there is a safe place where you get out from the stream. I stayed at the bank of the river approx. 1,5 hour and then walked back to the Hotel. Around 19:30 I was in the open door dining area of the hotel. The food is also good here. After a good dinner I got back to my room and sat in the balcony before I went to sleep.