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2000 km of the journey and we have not yet begun

After I left the Kurdish areas and headed towards the high agricultural villages of the center, I accidentally met a second traveler on the bicycle named Cristian, an Austrian national. He was walking in the opposite direction and was coming from the north and heading south. We exchanged parties for an hour and a half and drank Turkish coffee after being banned on the fire of firewood. After the break I continued to penetrate the central areas to the border of the city of Gosksun, where I was invited to dinner and overnight by "Abu Rayan", a Syrian refugee generous and very good work as a craftsman carpentry workshop.

In this area I noticed a major preparation for the winter and snowfall by cutting and storing firewood that was dried during the summer by the residents of the region.

After dark, the weather became very cold and unbearable, the temperature is 02 degrees at 20 o'clock at night.

In the morning, after breakfast with the Abu Rayyan employees, I set off on my bicycle in a very cold atmosphere, towards the town of Pinarbasi, where I celebrated the second thousand kilometers of the journey (2000 km), between the heights of the Taurus mountain range. The weather was getting worse and the rain started to rain, and I had no choice but to continue the way until I found a gas station, that is, I got permission to camp for the night and take a breath after a mildly difficult period.

The next day, the destination was the huge city of Kayseri with one million and one hundred thousand inhabitants, known for its green gardens and squares, and resembles the founder of the Turkish Republic "Mustafa Kemal Ataturk" which is in the middle of the city. The village passed through the village of karatay hanı, which was named after the fortified karatay hanı, built during the Seljuq era by Jalal al-Din Karati in 638 AH (1240 CE), which includes a mosque, a hammam, the tomb of one of the sultans, and a huge gate. Contains wonderful Islamic inscriptions and Quranic verses.

After my visit to the castle, I continued my way to Kayseri, but in fact, I did not enjoy much of my presence there, due to excessive traffic, I took some memorial photos, in front of the old Islamic fort surrounding the city, which is now a market for many products such as clothes, shoes and Food, and set off again towards the countryside and small villages deep inside the Turkish Republic.

My presence on this occasion was at the invitation of King Tupi Kalpio III and with the blessing of his priests and can not officially participate and overcome barriers and strict protocols without getting blessed ...

(The rest of the pictures on the special page)

Every year the kings of the Iwi gather in their historic capital city of Notici to celebrate the great migration and remember the diamonds and tribulations of their ancestors, and to seek the satisfaction of their gods and the souls of their early ancestors until the harvest season is blessed.

All kings come from Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana to celebrate the occasion accompanied by priests, witches and dance groups to perform their traditional performances and rituals as stipulated by the Voodoo religion.These performances last three days and then conclude with the blessing of the king of their kings.

Legend has it that all the peoples of Africa trace their roots to a great kingdom that flourished at the Nile basin and after a massive flood followed by great wars dispersed into kingdoms spread throughout the continent ...

The first men migrated from Ethiopia through what is now the Sahara to the mouth of the Niger River. Before reaching Nigeria, one of the tribes settled on the Gold Coast between the Benin Highlands and the Volta River in Ghana.

The legend also says that King Agokoli, after being able to subdue the kingdoms and tribes of the Ewe, ordered to put everyone inside the great walls of his capital, which he built with sand mixed with sacrificial blood and human offerings and then put on talismans and talismans, using his priests and charm for all who try to escape or invade the city. .

Life inside the walls was difficult and cruel.Except for the hunters, no one was allowed to leave, and the penalty of anyone who violated those orders was murder, then he cursed his soul and prevented it from descending into the promised ancestral land after death.

The years of catastrophe and famine continued for a long time until the wall was destroyed by a trick by Hakim Anyi, who repeatedly pointed out the pouring of waste water to be drained on one side of the fence.

Although the king and his soldiers tried to trace the fugitives, he failed to do so after resorting to a signal from the wise to spread corn grains behind them to be picked up by the pigeons.

After many years of siege, the Iwi people finally recovered their ancient kingdoms.

 PHOTO BY MEHDI BELHADJ