East of the Moon, West of the Sun Archives - Ivan Pankev / Иван Панкев / Johnnie B GoodeIvan Pankev / Иван Панкев / Johnnie B Goode

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Nov 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 16: Freedom camping

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. I spent most of its night freedom camping. Go to part 15: “Wild camping” In the previous chapter I showed you the most interesting places I camped throughout Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Abkhazia. Now you will see some of my bivouacs during the rest of the journey – Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Iran. Armenians are very proud that their country was the first in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 A.D. There are ancient churches scattered […]

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Oct 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 15: Wild camping

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. I spent most of its night wild camping. Go to part 14: “16 peculiarities of Iran“ It‘s only fitting that I add a chapter in my story, dedicated to wild camping. For five months one orange piece of nylon, surrounding an area of 2 sq. m., represented my idea of home. I spent over 2/3 of those 140 nights in it. It protected me from rain, wind and cold, ensured my privacy. It served me well in the heat of the […]

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Sep 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 14: 16 peculiarities of Iran

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. In this part you will learn some peculiarities of Iran. Go to part 13: “The Long Way Home” After the end of the short story in pictures of my eastern adventure, I decided to write a chapter for the peculiarities of Iran that surprised me the most. Some are well known and future visitors of the country should be aware of them, others are just curious. 1. I will start with the practical peculiarities of Iran. Because of the economic […]

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Jul 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 13: The Long Way Home

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. Many funny incidents and numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Go to: “Part 12: Half of the World” My stay in Iran was brimming over with historical sites and numerous curious meetings with locals. But the end of my 30-day visa was approaching and I forced myself into even more hectic rhythm trying to visit more places. Falak-ol-Aflak was extremely preserved Sassanid fortress and the only reason for my visit to Khorramabad. The price of the entry ticket for foreigners of […]

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Jul 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 12: Half of the World (Isfahan)

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. In this part you will walk around “Half of the world” (Isfahan). Go to: “Part 11: Ivan in Iran” After almost 20 days of roaming around the vast Iranian territory it was time to visit the imperial cities of Persia, glorified as some of the most beautiful in the Islamic world. Rasoul, his wife and two sons picked me up at sunset. He offered me to accompany them to his wife’s brother – Dr. Kargar. In the evening they organized a […]

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Jun 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 11: Ivan in Iran (Ancient Persia)

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran (Ancient Persia). Go to: “Part 10: Johnnie in the Middle (East)” The first 10 days in Ancient Persia had passed quickly and imperceptibly, but the country was so rich in cultural, historical and archaeological sites that rather than slowing down the pace, I increased it. Arg-e Bam dated back to the VI century BC. It was considered the largest adobe building in the world and was part of the World Heritage List. In December 2003 a massive earthquake destroyed more than 80% […]

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May 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 10: Johnnie in the Middle (East)

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. Go to: “Part 9: Armenia’s Roof” After almost four months of roving around Turkey and some of the former Soviet republics, it was time for the last and most exotic part of my journey – Iran. Until now it was way too easy to communicate with locals. I spoke mainly in broken Bulgarian (Russian), sometimes in English, occasionally in Turkish and rarely in Spanish, but Farsi was going to be a challenge. However, in the northern parts, populated mostly by ethnic […]

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May 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 9: Armenia’s Roof

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. Go to: “Part 8: Republicans” To recapitulate the first 100 days: For a number of reasons my journey so far looked like a sleepwalker’s rambling – Bulgaria-Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Armenia-Nagorno Karabakh-Armenia-Georgia-Turkey-Georgia-Abkhazia-Georgia-Armenia – and it was not over yet. On the way to Yerevan I visited the Sevanavank Monastery. It had a great location – on the tip of a peninsula jutted into Lake Sevan. Besides being very beautiful with its sapphire blue waters, it was the largest body of water in Armenia and the […]

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May 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 8: Republicans

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. Go to: “Part 7: Caucasians” After two weeks of nice tiring “vacation” – trekking and climbing a 5-thousander with my girlfriend – I was again alone on the Road and it would remain so until the end of the journey. There would be no more “guests”. I applied for Iranian visa and I already had a letter of permission to visit the Republic of Abkhazia. There were still a few days until its entry date and I used them to check […]

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May 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 7: Caucasians

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. This part is about the treks we did in Ushguli region. Go to: “Part 6: Mission “Prometheus“” We had climbed Mt. Kazbek (5047 m.) mostly because of luck and stubbornness. Krum and Lyubo flew back to Bulgaria and Tatyana and I headed to Svaneti to do some hikes in the surrounding mountains. It would have been wiser to start with the treks for acclimatization and then lunge for the high peaks, but we were pressed by time. Mestia greeted us with […]

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Apr 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 6: Mission Prometheus

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. This part is about our accent of Mt. Kazbek (5033 m.). Go to: “Part 5: The First Christians” Armenia was the smallest country in the region (not counting the controversial republics) but boasted beautiful nature and a number of interesting sights. I hadn’t seen all, but had to go back to Georgia. Two and a half months had passed since the beginning of my journey and my friends would arrive in Tbilisi soon with two bags of gear – everything necessary […]

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Apr 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 5: The First Christians

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. Go to: “Part 4: A Country of Taxi-drivers and Policemen“ Because of my surprisingly short stay in Azerbaijan I was in Armenia a month ahead of “schedule”. It is a small mountainous country with beautiful nature, many historical monuments (mostly monasteries) and hitchhiker friendly. Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as an official religion as early as 301 AD. The country had numerous ancient churches each one of them more beautiful and interesting than the […]

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Feb 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 4: A Country of Taxi-drivers and Policemen

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. Go to: “Part 3: The Green Mile“ After 40 days of travelling around Turkey and a relatively short stay in Georgia, I crossed the border with Azerbaijan. Right from the start I realized that hitchhiking here was going to be easy enough. I only had explained in advance that I wasn’t going to pay for it. Qobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape State Reserve was one of two Azerbaijani UNESCO World Heritage sites. It boasted over 6 000 rock engravings dating […]

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Jan 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 3: The Green Mile

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. Go to: “Part 2: 13 Cups of Tea” After 40 days travelling around Turkey – a long-distance trek and numerous castles and ancient cities, I crossed over to Georgia. Although a part of the Westerners think that Bulgaria had been one of the 15 republics, I stepped on the territory of the former USSR for the first time in my life. Going so soon to Georgia was a surprise even for me, but I definitely needed a change because my […]

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Jan 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 2: 13 Cups of Tea

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. Go to: “Part 1: The Long Walk“ Once we reached Antalya and finished the 512 kilometers of the Lycian way for 20 days of walking (+2 days off), the journey entered a new stage. Tatyana caught a flight back home and it was time for me to go on my own. In addition we were travelling only on foot, but now I switched to hitchhiking. This allowed me to cover much longer distances. Other aspects remained the same – I continued […]

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Jan 2017

East of the Moon, West of the Sun – part 1: The Long Walk

This is the story of my 5-month eastern journey through Turkey, Georgia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran. This part is abouth the Lycian Way. Two days after I returned from South America I had an interview for BiT and I was caught off guard by the question: “What is your next destination?”. My spontaneous response was: “Southeast Asia”. Then I changed my mind – the “Stans” of Central Asia seemed more attractive to me. I gave up this idea though, because of the need for visas for each of them. Meanwhile, my girlfriend and I were thinking about a […]

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Sep 2016

East of the Moon, West of the Sun

East of the Moon, West of the Sun / На изток – в нощ, на запад – в ден 01.05.2016 – 19.09.2016 English: That’s what my last 5-month Asian walking/hitchhiking adventure looked like. The map shows 5 countries (Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran) and 2 (somewhat) autonomous republics (Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhasia), 3 seas (Mediterranean, Black, Caspian) and 1 gulf (the Persian), around 20 000 km. (it’s impossible to calculate an exact number, because I crossed Armenia 2 times and Georgia – 4). But you can not see on it the fatigue of the Lycian Way (520 km of trekking), the snow […]

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