Salopek and his walking guide Murat Yazar often spend the night in mosques
A farming couple from near Pashli, eastern Turkey.
Salopek walks his way across eastern Turkey from Diyabakir, the main city of the primarily Kurdish region in the southeast, and then north into the country of Georgia. In the process he visits Ani, the ruins of an ancient city that was primarily Armenian. Through his blog articles he sheds light on the genocide against the approximately 1.5 million Armenians, a case for which considerable evidence has been building. Opinions and ideas about this are told through some of the local people of Diyabakir.
In his latest blog we learn that he has been spending the night “under minarets”, in mosques, and that where he is in Turkey has become quite snowy.
Ruins of ancient city Ani. Closed Turkey-Armenia border is at river in background
Church fresco in abandoned ancient Armenian city of Ani, Turkey
Paul Salopek of the Out Of Eden Walk, has been walking from the cradle of humanity, the great African Rift Valley in present-day Ethiopia.
He plans to walk the entire journey following the rough path of man’s great pre-history expansion across the globe while he discusses modern issues. His journey will take seven years and will finish in South America. National Geographic is publishing his dispatches and full journalistic pieces. He is also collecting audio files, photos and photographic panoramas at regular intervals.
All of the blog installments are journalistic pieces in and of themselves that make for great reads. Please visit the Out Eden website here, and here is a map of his progress.
The Best Quest is an adventure travel company that specializes in planning unique, off-the-beaten path trips for the curious traveler. We are currently planning trips to Asia in 2015. Check out our full travel schedule or sign up for our email newsletter to stay in the loop about upcoming trips.
Salopek with guide Murat Yazar far in lead, Lesser Caucasus Mountains, Turkey.
Snowy scene outside window of mosque, Karacaoren, Turkey.
Photos by Paul Salopek, all rights reserved.
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