Eastern Turkey is not an easy place to navigate, and we are thankful for the excellent skills of Abdurrahim Boz to organise the trip, and our guide Hasan Gekdal, to sort things out for us on the way via WhatsApp. These people have university educations in understanding how to tour the country! Normally we would travel on our own, but given that most people don't speak English, and the GPS doesn't always work, it was great to have the necessary help. Also, it would be hard to see the incredible sites along the way without local knowledge.
This is not a luxury type trip, but more of an adventure for those who love to be off the beaten track. Because the timing was post- earthquake, and the remoteness of the places, we thought the accommodation was maximum 4 star on average, hence the rating above. But having said that, we loved some of the converted caravanserays made into hotels, both in Kars, and Gaziantep, for example. Be aware that many of the rooms in hotels smell of smoke, or are not so quiet because of the call to prayer, so let your guide know about it so that he can help you out to make any necessary changes. We found that Mr. Gekdal did a lot to help in this. We thought that the choices for hotels were clever, and thoughtful ,and we would still do it again. We intend to rate every hotel on trip advisor individually, to help people know what to expect.
The included dinners were not in-hotel, but reserved at interesting and fun local restaurants, and not buffet meals. Mr. Gekdal worked over time to translate for us, and he was "on" most of the day because of this, eating with us. It was so enjoyable. Just know that the lunches are not included and the dinners were heavily supplemented with bread, because of the delicious local dishes. Buffet breakfasts were delicious and ample. The van was spacious, and the two drivers we had were professional.
As far as the actual sites, we are giving 5 stars. It was absolutely transcendent to visit places like Ani, Van, Ararat, Nemrut, Gobleki Tepi, Karahan Tepi, and Urfa to see the Pools and Cave of Abraham. Along the way to these stunning places, we stopped at the Tigris, Euphrates, ancient and modern bridges, and visits to stunning Islamic architectural history such as at Diyarbakir and near Mardin.
We would be happy to work with Far Out tours again, and it won't be a disappointment. Some of our friends are now interested in going and we will heartily recommend them. We only wish we could have stayed longer to see more. Maybe next time!