A train wends its way through the mountains of eastern Turkey
Istanbul's skyline was dominated for hundreds of years by these two great buildings - the Suleymaniye Mosque (left) and the Hagia Sophia Travelling from Istanbul to Iran overland is thrilling, whether the journey is made by road or rail. Trains allow passengers freedom to choose their vantage point, while buses offer routes through the hearts of communities.
Named after the sultan who commissioned it, the Suleymaniye Mosque dates from 1557
Hagia Sophia is one of Christianity's oldest buildings dating from 537, it became a mosque in 1453 (hence the minarets) and is now a museum
The old town of Istanbul had many streets with these wooden fronted buildings
The style of the Suleymaniye mosque, a central dome supported by half domes, is similar to the Byzantine church Hagia Sophia
Like almost all great cities Istanbul has altered dramatically in the last 40 years since these pictures were taken. Now the skyline is dominated by skyscrapers and the old buildings, many of which were past rescue, have been replaced.
Istanbul is beautifully situated at the confluence of the Golden Horn (a large estuary of two creeks) and the Bosphorus, and so has water on three sides. Looking across the Bosphorus to the Asian part of the town (Uskudar and Kadikoy) the building which dominates the view is the Haydarpasa Campus of Marmara University.
Looking across the Bosphorus to Asia
A faded picture of historical interest for the view has changed: the Istanbul skyline seen from one of the old ferries, before the skyscrapers arrived!
The train from the Asian side of Istanbul takes three days...
...to meander its way to Tehran
From Istanbul to Tehran is nearly 2,000 miles, and is as rewarding to the traveller as it must have been challenging to the makers of the railways and roads for the mountainous country of eastern Turkey is spectacular. By train the line goes via Lake Van, while the road goes by Erzurum.
Taxi's were still horse drawn (in the 70s) with brass fittings
Mountains surround Erzurum
The alternative to the train is the regular scheduled three day bus journey. This has the reward of views of Mount Ararat at the border with Iran and Armenia. And takes the traveller to the town of Erzurum which sits in the heart of eastern Turkey's mountains.
A taxi waiting for trade in the central area of Erzurum
Delay is inevitable for bus journeys through mountains - the wheel of our bus is off
Eastern Anatolia is all about space big big space
Passing traffic with a friendly wave
The drivers view is of flags and flowers as much as the road, but then this man's eyes often seemed closed anyway, as he and his co-driver struggled with the long journey
To naive westerners (like me) the sheer scale of Eastern Turkey impresses
Villages like the one invisible on the opposite hillside blend totally into their surroundings
Ararat - ever present on this road
The great attraction of the bus ride is the views it gives of Mount Ararat, whereas the highlight of the rail journey lies in Lake Van where the tracks are joined onto a boat and the train drives on board
The road from Iran, that leads to western Turkey, crosses the border through this gate which frames Mount Ararat - the sign says Erzurum 321 kms
The train from the west arrives at Tatvan station, on the western shores of Lake Van. After various 'normal' delays, it goes from the station to the pier
The railway lines at Tatvan lead into the boat
Turkey still ran many massive steam engines in the 1970s; no one seemed aware of the smoke!
The train journey to Tehran reaches Lake Van so that it is crossed at dusk. Lake Van is 5,000 feet up and some 70 miles across, so Van town on the east shore is reached after dark, and the journey on through the mountains of western Iran is also in the dark. But the lake has already provided a fitting end to the journey.
The next page
continues the journey into Iran, visiting the Sassanid carvings at Kermanshah and going on to Tehran.
The last page showed the latest bridge to cross the Firth of Forth
A page with the mountains shown above seen from above
