I cannot really say why, but I like cities in Turkey with names that
start with the letter 'E'. Such as the likes of Elazig, Erzincan,
Erzurum etc. That was why I decided to travel onward from Diyarbakir to
Erzurum, in spite of the weather warning that temperature in Erzurum
could fall to as low as -20 degrees Celsius.
Even prior to arriving at Erzurum, I could already see how severe and
harsh winter in this part of Turkey is. The bus from Diyarbakir to
Erzurum via Bingol and Karliova had to stop en route and deploy the snow
chains before crossing the mountain pass at Cat because of the heavy
snowfall. All along the way, numerous cars and trucks were forced to
stop at the roadside due to poor visibility and heavy snowfall. When the
bus arrived at Erzurum's main intercity bus station, the temperature
outside was already at -14 degrees Celsius, and it was so cold, it just
makes you want to escape into the nearest heated room available as soon
as you can. Usually I choose to use the free shuttle service provided by
the bus company whenever posssible, but in such extreme temperature, I
give up on my principles and decided to dish out 10TL and take a taxi to
the hotel, instead of utilising the bus company's free shuttle service
to the city centre.
