Diesel Nightmare on a Dreamy Roadtrip, Armenia-Georgia-Turkey

Diesel Nightmare on a Dreamy Roadtrip, Armenia-Georgia-Turkey

All the borders are closed. No possibility to help you! I mean no one speaks English here, so … [chopping noise] Big turkish buffet! They’re going to mix the diesel, and … This is what always happens in Armenia. They made me cry actually. I think we are in trouble.

– Bags are packed. – And we say goodbye to Yerevan! This is our story about going from Armenia to Turkey. An incredible road trip between two countries that share a land border but no direct road. Hold on tight, this journey will take unexpected turns! [mysterious music]

Our adventure starts from Yerevan, the captivating  capital of Armenia, that held us spellbound for weeks. But beneath its charm, winter pollution  casts a shadow, and we find relief in leaving. At this point we have no idea that problems are waiting for us on the road and it’s going to be an emotional roller coaster.

How far is it to our next  destination in Turkey? The whole trip is 21 hours, 2,000 kilometers. Is it so long because we have to go through Georgia? Yeah, unfortunately we cannot  go the direct way, even though Armenia and Türkiye are neighboring countries, but they are enemies, so all the borders are closed.

We are navigating through the Caucasus,  an ex-Soviet territory located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe, Western Asia and the Middle East.   Our route takes us through cities like Gyumri where we are reminded of Armenia’s war-torn history and ongoing conflicts with Azerbaijan.

We leave the urban area behind and enter unknown and remote territories. We are running low on fuel and I’m afraid that there is no gas station on the horizon in this remote mountainous area. [suspence music] In these snow covered landscapes at  high altitudes, civilization seems far away

And a wonderful silence surrounds us … but our fuel gauge starts to worry us. Finally we reach a tiny village … but no gas station emerges on the horizon. Is this one open? It looks so closed, but … the door is open. It’s all wet here …

Unfortunately, they don’t accept credit cards … and we don’t have any cash. But he said that there should be one … I mean I hope he said that because he only spoke Russian … there would be another one.

Here it says diesel … oh but this one looks definitely closed … or not? Let’s have a look …  Petrol … It’s open! Diesel? – You accept credit card? – Card? – Ok, thank you [in Armenian] – [speaking Armenian] [diesel pump noise] – Sweden? [in Armenian] – Switzerland! [in Armenian]

Thank you! [in Armenian] We are not aware that we may  have run into big trouble here. We are approaching Bavra, the border with Georgia. So this is the first checkpoint … – Nobody here … – Nobody here … we have to stop?

I don’t know … is there anybody? Look at this … there is nobody here. Okay, so this is the new one, the new border control. Let’s see … I have to go left or right? [in German] Filming is not allowed here, so we better stop.

Oh my God, I’m back in the car now. Roberto and me, we were separated at the border control. For me everything went well, my passport got stamped, but Roberto is held back and I don’t know what’s going on. He’s being questioned, he had to get his documents and … I’m nervous.

Oh my God what happened? What took you so long? We got a problem with the … with the road police. Oh my goodness! Why? We got … we were fined and we got three tickets! One for driving too fast and two for … probably like driving through red … I didn’t understand.

– I’m speechless! – At the beginning I didn’t understand anything! They just said that I have to go inside and take my documents and that I have to pay and … I didn’t understand! But they had proof that it happened? Yes they had proof … they showed me three images of the car.

I have to admit I’m impressed. They have the pictures, they have the dates … They do a very good work! Road police Armenia, please be aware, they are everywhere, and here are the tickets. Georgia is over there, but again we are stuck! I’m sitting here by myself, once again …

And Roberto is not allowed to exit the country because they forgot to stamp his passport! Ohh … let’s see! Okay, the stamp is here … done! I think it’s almost enough for today! Yes let’s see how is going now the next one … Georgia.

Georgia we are coming. You see the European flag … and here it’s written … Georgia. Let’s hope and pray. – How was your immigration to Georgia? – Yes it was okay … I said “hello” and “thank you” [in Georgian], she was quite friendly. I got the stamp, I’m safe.

– Okay, not like when we entered Georgia the first time? – Oh my goodness, they made me cry actually. Because they thought I was Russian, so when I was asking some questions they did not even answer me, so … Yes, it was a bad experience at the first time.

– How was your immigration to Georgia? – Yes, It was okay, I mean … The only thing was that they were surprised that the front plate of the car does not have the Swiss flag. And then the second one came and asked me and I said I have no idea …

I don’t know, maybe it’s because it’s an old number, maybe the new ones are different. Now we know that there are not many Swiss people coming, otherwise they would have known. So let’s go, we lost a lot of time here!

It’s really dark, the day is almost gone and we still have Turkey before us. Let’s switch the driver again. [mysterious music] Oh my goodness! The bad roads in Georgia are only minor obstacles to what happens later. Are you sure we are on the right way?

It seems like we’re in the middle of nowhere and I’ve read that this border control is actually not a very common one, so I hope it’s open. That was a short trip to Georgia, we are already at the border.

Oh my God, we are approaching the Georgian side of the border … [navigator voice] Türkiye border … let’s see what kind of surprise Turkey has in stock for us. – The Georgia border was easy. – Look it’s all closed, am I wrong? – There is a fence, oops! – Shit.

Okay, it’s only this line open, the other trucks are here to rest. – So, done with border crossings! – Three countries in one day, that’s enough. And here in Turkey the streets are better than in Georgia, definitely better. They are fabulous, look at this, it’s like Formula One.

– What was that alarm? – I don’t know what’s going on here. It’s an alert that we have to check the motor … and the four-wheel drive system. Oh shit! That sounds bad. [blinker noise] I think we are in trouble. I hope we can get to the next village. Oh my goodness.

Motor problems and … four-wheel problems …  three things … and VSC system … – VSC … I have no idea what’s that … – Here it’s written … warning … Oh my God this is so complicated … [we are receiving many calls at the moment, this can lead to long waiting times] [thank you for your patience]

We’ve been waiting for half an hour now. After a long waiting time we finally got the response and they cannot help us now. I’m devastated! It’s an 24-hour emergency hotline and then you call and say you’ve got a problem,  she says “okay, in which country are you?”

Oh Turkey, in the East? There is no possibility to help you and at this time, oh sorry, you have to reach out  to us again tomorrow during office hours. I don’t know, the next hotel is about 40-50 km away,  I hope we can reach there.

We cannot do anything else because we are here in the nowhere! – We just risk it, 100%. – Now we have to risk it, yeah. We don’t know … maybe it’s due to the diesel from the oldest gas station we have ever been …  –They mixed the diesel … – Maybe …

Maybe it’s a car problem, because our car is not the newest, it’s a pretty old car … who knows. – You cannot drive faster? – I cannot go faster than 30 km/h, it stops … Oh shit …

– The next town is 11 km away, we have to … – I hope we reach there … Thanks God we made it to the city and found a hotel. You saw the two on Booking, they were like $200, they profit when you come so late.

But now in the big city we have a good room for $40. Let’s hope that tomorrow we will find a mechanic that can fix the problem. And hopefully it’s not going to be a big problem. Too bad we didn’t find a restaurant because it’s too late …

But at least we have the snacks I bought at the vending machine at the border crossing to get rid of all the money I received back. – So this is going to be our dinner?  – This is our dinner, yes, I’m sorry … Oh my God … how healthy! [dogs barking]

– No, unfortunately they can’t help us here. – No, that’s impossible … We need to go to Erzurum, that’s about 250 km. That’s at least 3 or 4 hours when we drive 40 km per hour. What did the mechanic say when you asked him  if the diesel from Armenia was the problem?

I mean we’ve so often been warned that in these times when everything is so expensive that especially in these countries they’re going to mix the diesel and you end up getting very low quality diesel and this could damage our car. Oh listen … [muezzin calling] It’s prayer time.

This is what makes traveling so special apart from all the adventures with the car … – Oh my goodness. – It’s cool yeah … He said … I mean no one speaks English here so it was all done with the translator app and I explained to him what happened … and …

Our suspicion … so probably I  put him the words in his mouth but he immediately said that probably we tanked some wet diesel … Aha wet diesel, okay … I have to Google it … if it’s a real word or a wrong translation … but we can drive …

Not sure if we will make it to the Toyota garage in Erzurum we leave Ardahan, in the far North-East of Turkey. So going up it’s not going faster  than 30-40 km/h? I have the second gear and 30 km/h is the maximum …

And when I have the third gear then 50 km/h is the maximum! There are more than 200 km left … I’m pretty sure we’re going to need 5 hours for that. [dreamy music] We descend from the cold heights of 2,000 m, it’s going downhill which is perfect in our car condition.

Snow is disappearing and warm optimism feels the air. The landscapes of Eastern Anatolia are stunning and full of surprises. [dreamy music] – Wow the landscapes are amazing! – The landscape brings such joy … I wish there wasn’t the tension with the car.  We don’t know what’s going to happen.

– I hope they’re not stopping us. – Did you drive too fast? – Maybe too slow! – [laughing] After 4 hours of driving with a slow car we reach Erzurum, the biggest city in the region with 800,000 people. We hope to find the Toyota garage and help for our car.

– Okay here we are. – Toyota … Hopefully they can help us. [indistinct chatter] They take care of us immediately. The mechanics inspect the car and we wait anxiously for the revelation of the problem. After a warm cup of coffee follows the cold diagnosis. The diesel particulate filter is the problem.

It could be due to contaminated diesel or the car’s age or mileage. Immediate repair is impossible, the necessary parts won’t arrive in Eastern Turkey for weeks. They’ve tried a quick cleaning and say we can risk to continue to our final destination

But a huge investment of €2,500 for the car repair awaits when we’re back home. Unfortunately no speed Improvement,  the cleaning attempt failed. I’m so afraid that we don’t arrive in our final destination in Turkey because we still have 1,000 km to go … and … engine power is so low!

After 3 hours we reach Erzincan and stop for the night. The decoration looks like a martini glass. – To me it looks more like a string tanga. – Oh my goodness … Aha … Eriza … – Is this a night club or a hotel? – Let’s see [laughing]

Hello! [in Turkish] Passport … Late night food hunting. [indistinct chatter] [happy music] Thank you! [in Turkish] We are grateful to have found this place. They keep the restaurant open for us a little longer as the clock has already struck past 10:30 pm.

It was all very good, thank you very much. Can I pay please? [error beep] [success beep] I think we got the honeymoon suite,  there are only intimate lights … they want us to get romantic …! [hand washing noise] I’m coming …! [diesel pump noise]

Our journey continues and we’re hoping for a straight way, literally speaking. Let’s see how far we can make it today. [mysterious music] Unfortunately a new mountain pass reveals to us. [truck noise] The car struggles to ascent.

Are we about to damage our car or will we make it to our final destination Düzce? This is all you get? I hit the pedal to the metal and that’s all I get, I’m in the first gear, I cannot go faster than

– How much, twenty? – 20 … not even 20 km/h … Oh my God, and we have 794 km … 9 hours, but with 19 km/h it will take us forever! [traffic noise] Luckily, with great effort, we managed to climb the pass which is over 2,000 m high.

I can’t remember the last time I was so happy that the street goes down! Going down is easier! – Go for it baby, go for it! – I hit the pedal to the metal! [classical music] Other sound please! Okay! [rock music] – Another police control. – I think it’s the third or fourth.

We enter a big city called Tokat, but our aim is to keep going and reach Ankara by days end. [muezzin calling] – Oh no … police again? – Not again the police … I can’t believe it! It’s just a trap! [laughing]

Unfortunately, Ankara remains out of reach,  it’s already too late. But finding a place to stay  at this time in this remote area will be the next problem. On Booking there are no hotels in this region. But we have to find something, I’m so hungry and also sleepy.

I found one on Google Maps, it’s about 30 minutes from here. But I don’t know if it’s open … because I cannot book it and … let’s hope … let’s try … What’s the name of it? It seems all dark and closed …

– It’s here … Hotel Baykal. – It’s that one yes, but … it looks pretty closed. Now we made a detour of half an hour, wrong direction, and it’s closed. – Here’s another one … – It also looks closed …

– Oh there is another one …  – There is light over there! We don’t know what it is and how much it costs, but he said come in … Good evening! [in Turkish] After checking in, since it’s late and  everything in the village is closed,

The hotel family invites us to their house for dinner. – Bulgur Pilaw. – It is a type of rice. – Soup … – Yeah, it’s a soup of … goose. – So you just had dinner a few moment ago? – Yes. Turkish baklava, Turkish salad …

Our surprise visit allows us to enjoy all the delicious leftovers from their dinner so we’re eating like a real Turkish family. He’s like a little manager, a little hotel manager! [laughing] Wow, wow, wow! I can’t believe it … I take this …

We had the buffet like in paradise, big Turkish buffet! Good night! Thank you very much! See you again! They said it’s offseason and even their hotel is closed normally. So we were very lucky to find something. Yes now we have this room and it’s warm also.

Thanks God we have the heater. Today we really hope to finish our odyssey. Before aiming for Ankara and our final destination   we explore the village, seeking the joy of Turkish tea and nice encounters with the locals. [Turkish music]

We are still nervous about the car and not sure  if the engine will run until we arrive. I hope there won’t be any mountain passes  anymore until we reach our final destination. – Is that a sheep in the car? – There is a sheep in the car!

– Okay, this looks like Ankara? – This is Ankara!  – It’s nicer than expected … – Wow, makes such a good impression. Ankara is Turkey’s capital since 1923, replacing Istanbul for a more central location. With over 5 million people, it’s the second largest city after Istanbul with over 15 million.

Time for a lunch break. At the Bazar we discover Kokoreç, an Anatolian specialty made of lamb or goat intestines   wrapped around spiced sweetbreads,  lungs or kidneys and typically grilled. The rhythmic preparation is a feast for the senses. [chopping noise] [indistinct chatter] [muezzin calling] Do you like it?

– One for you … – And one for me … two for me! Uh la la … nice! [in Turkish] Yummy! I try the typical Turkish street food Simit, a bread encrusted with sesame seeds. Uh, it’s hot! Mmhhh … It’s the last leg of our journey. We’re only 250 km from our destination.

Every minute counts. We look at Ankara’s imposing skyline and are grateful for how far we’ve come. Our car has carried us this far, but will it make it all the way down to sea level, to Düzce? [emotional music] I think we’re lucky, it’s always going down, thanks God!

We are almost there! Luck seems to be on our side. What began as a planned two-day journey has turned into an unpredictable four-day adventure. – Last 10 minutes! – Only 10 minutes to go and we have 19 °C! Düzce! Here we are!

– Okay … I think it’s here. – Here we go … Where should we leave the car … Turkish residential area. Oh what a ride! – What is this? – Lemon! This is a good tradition … mmhhh … – Fresh lemon? – Yes, fresh lemon! Very good, thank you!

They were so friendly and offered me a coffee … This is what always happens in Armenia and we are sad to say goodbye … [laughing] Look there’s also someone sitting inside! Thank you for your hospitality, I’m really impressed! – Very beautiful … [in Turkish] – Also very beautiful … [in Turkish]

Have you ever faced problems with bad diesel? We would love to hear your opinions. Please like and subscribe, take care of yourself and we hope to see you in the next video.

Travel Vlog Documentary. 🇦🇲🇬🇪🇹🇷 Join us on a 2,000-kilometer ROAD TRIP (with DIRTY DIESEL fuel! ⛽️😱) from Armenia to Turkey, where 2 countries share a land border, but NO DIRECT ROAD (which takes us on a detour through Georgia)!

It’s an incredible road trip with unpredictable troubles along the way, including problems with contaminated diesel fuel and complex border crossings (emigrating from Armenia turns out to be more complicated than expected). Finding gas, shelter and food in remote areas of the Caucasus & Anatolia is another difficulty during our journey.

Our travel adventure starts in Yerevan, we navigate through the Caucasus, we pass through cities like Gyumri, we venture into remote areas, we pass through Georgia and we drive through Eastern & Central Anatolia (including a visit to the capital Ankara) with the goal of arriving at our final destination Düzce in the Black Sea region.

Will our car survive the dirty diesel? Will we make it to our final destination in the Black Sea region?

Experience the ups and downs, the uncertainties, and the breathtaking views of the diverse beauty of Armenia, Georgia and Turkey right outside our car windows!

Thank you for watching!

00:00 Intro
00:59 Yerevan & Gyumri Region (Caucasus)
03:02 Armenia mountainous region
06:03 Armenia border crossing (Bavra-Ninotsminda)
08:07 Georgia border crossing (Bavra-Ninotsminda)
11:04 Turkey border crossing (Cildir-Aktaş)
14:41 Ardahan (Eastern Anatolia)
20:31 Erzurum (Eastern Anatolia)
22:10 Erzincan (Eastern Anatolia)
28:26 Boğazkale/Hattusa (Central Anatolia), Dinner with locals
31:52 Turkish capital Ankara (Central Anatolia)
35:48 Outro (Share your thoughts)

P.S. Have you ever faced problems with contaminated diesel? Let us know in the comments! 💬

Much love xx
Nicole & Roberto

Travel video 22 | Filmed December 2023
#documentary #roadtrip #turkey #armenia #travel
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👩🏼🧔🏻 WHO ARE WE?
Hi, we’re Nicole from Austria/Germany and Roberto from Switzerland/Italy! We believe that traveling is more than just sightseeing! When we travel, we look for spontaneous and AUTHENTIC ENCOUNTERS with THE LOCAL LIFE (and local people of all backgrounds) in other cultures, the country (nature, villages, cities) and the food. Our travels are about uncovering the REAL & UNSCRIPTED LIFE in each destination, with all its sunny & shady sides! We try to find out what really makes each country unique, beyond the postcard-perfect images.

Thank you for being part of this journey! It means everything to us.
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