Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Turkey’ Category

Ishak Pasha Palace near Doğubeyazıt

Different people have different biorhythms. While I like to stay up late and sleep-in the next morning my roommate Emilie likes to go to bed early and get up early the next morning. This was also the case last night when I went to bed around 3am and Emilie had a shower at 5:50am in the morning. She was even awake before this time but after a while she felt the need to get up. Therefore, my night was over as well and my planned sleep-in until 9am was gone.

We left at 9:30am to visit the Ishak Pasha Palace which is only 5km away from Doğubeyazıt. It doesn’t really look like a palace but more like a complex with different sections such as a mosque or a harem which seems to be typical for Ottoman architecture. The palace is currently under restoration so we could only enter parts of it such as the two courts, the men’s quarter and the dungeons. There was also a nice terrace overlooking the valley with a direct view on Mount Ararat who is with an elevation of 5,137m the highest mountain in Turkey. Unfortunately the peak was covered in clouds but we hope it will clear up later on today or tomorrow morning.

Next to the palace was also a small fort which was built into the surrounding mountains. It didn’t take us more than 1-2 hours to visit both, the palace and the fort. Afterwards Isabella and Jason prepared lunch at the parking space next to the palace which was delicious pasta salad made out of the leftover pasta from last night. In the meanwhile some of us talked to a student selling souvenirs outside the palace. He told us due to the earthquake a few months ago his university is currently closed and he bridges the time until the lectures start again by selling souvenirs. I’m not sure if this story is really true or he just tries to make money out of it.

In the afternoon everybody was up for something different. Emilie and Patricia went shopping to buy some loose-fitting clothes for Iran, Isabella went to buy some oven gloves, Alistair went on a hike, Andrew went to see more sights, Jason went to the Hamam, Chris was hanging-out with some soldiers he met in town and I was just chilling. Probably Chris’s activity was the most exciting one since the soldiers invited him to their place and showing him their guns. When he asked if they actually use them he was told “yes, against the rebels” which he found frightening to hear.

In the evening Isabella and Alistair prepared some lovely dinner for us using the kitchen of the hotel. We had chicken with salad, potatoes and fried onions. There was even desert consisting of tea, oranges and Halva, a local sweet. After dinner some people went out for last beers since we will not be allowed to have any alcohol during our entire stay in Iran.

The Border Town of Doğubeyazıt and Flood in our Room

After we had cereals, yoghurt and bananas for breakfast we were ready for another long driving day. Actually our journey through Turkey is less about seeing and experiencing Turkey but more about transferring to Iran where we will be in two days from now. Basically our visit to Turkey had two major highlights which were Istanbul and Göreme. Today’s destination Doğubeyazıt, a town on the border to Iran, is surely no highlight and the two nights we will be spending here are less about seeing the area but getting ready for our visit to Iran.

To get ready for Iran means something different to each of us. Probably most of us need to get familiar with the customs so we are able to treat the local people with respect. For instance as a woman I should avoid to seek direct eye contact with people from the other gender or shouldn’t shake the hands of the other gender unless offered to do so. Getting ready also means to get appropriate clothes which are long loose-fitting clothes for us women covering our arms and legs. It seems to be no issue to wear sandals as long as the ankles are covered. In addition all women are required by law to wear a headscarf at all times so you also need a couple of them. Lastly getting ready also means having last alcoholic drinks and communicate freely since popular websites such as Twitter are blocked in Iran.

At lunch time we stopped at a service station where the second cook group prepared lunch for us. They weren’t aware off we usually don’t cook during lunch time but have something quick such as sandwiches to not lose too much time while being on the road. However, the omelet with vegetables they prepared for us was very delicious and it didn’t take them long to prepare it.

We arrived in Doğubeyazıt in the late afternoon and spend quite some time driving around in town to find our hotel. Our driver Sam had to stop a couple of times to ask the locals for directions to our hotel and it seemed he really enjoyed interacting with them. After touring around for a while we managed to find our hotel which was situated in a busy narrow street. The hotel also featured a kitchen so instead of eating out in a restaurant cook group two prepared a lovely dinner for us. They even made the effort to set the table with proper dishes of the hotel. We also got some red wine with our dinner which makes it one of the most posh dinners I had out of the truck.

Our hotel room was basic but nice. As in all hotels in the area complimentary plastic sandals were provided to us who are worn by all guests of the hotel. I don’t like these shoes and never put them on since I fear to get athlete’s foot from them. What is also special about hotel rooms in the area is you don’t have any shower cubicle but a simple shower head in the middle of the bathroom. Therefore, when having a shower you flood the whole bathroom. If you want you can also be very efficient by sitting on the toilet and brushing your teeth while having a shower at the same time. The issue with our shower was the drainage being bit a blocked why I kept my shower time to a minimum. My roommate Emilie didn’t noticed the blocked drainage and was therefore not just flooding the bathroom but half of our bedroom as well. After avoiding the worst by throwing a couple of towels on the water we informed the guy at the reception of the hotel. We very much apologized for the mess in our room and we were worried water is dripping down on the people in the room underneath us. The receptionist apologized as well for the blocked drainage but didn’t seem to care for any potential damage we have caused. Okay, that’s fine for us.

Going East towards Erzincan

Today was a long driving day from Göreme into the east of Turkey. We were supposed to be by the truck at 7:45am to load our bags into the back-locker of the truck to be ready to leave by 8am. I woke up at 7:30am by someone signing his morning song in the corridor in front of our room. The three ladies around me were still sleeping which surprised me since usually they get up two hours before me. I even gave up to set an alarm clock since they wake me up anyhow. This morning it seemed vice versa thus me waking up everybody else. Before I kicked the other ladies out of their bed I went for a quick shower to clean my teeth and body from last night’s drinking event. Although I had quite some of the Raki I was feeling great this morning without any signs of a hangover.

After everybody managed to get up and have some quick breakfast we left Göreme at some point after 8am. Our first stop was a supermarket in the first town after Göreme since we will be camping tonight and therefore need to prepare our own food. Since Göreme is a touristy town the prices in the supermarket there are quite high why we decided not shop there but in any other place. The seven travelers in our group were paired-up into three cook groups of two. Chris is the only one who will not be cooking since he really don’t like it. Instead he will take over an additional job on the truck. I was paired-up with Andrew, a fellow traveler from the UK, and our group was the first one who was up for preparing the upcoming lunch, dinner and breakfast. Andrew and I quickly came to an agreement what to cook and on which ingredients to spend our money. We even managed to stay under the budget provided while the second cook group, shopping here as well, spent nearly 200% of what they were supposed to spend.

It basically took us all day to travel approx. 500km east. The landscape was quite hilly and we passed many snow covered mountains what I didn’t expect to see in Turkey in spring. Probably it’s the altitude in this area and the fact we going east which makes it a bit chilly.

We arrived in the area of Erzincan in the afternoon and started to look for a place to camp. The original plan was to bush camp but our leader Jason thought it’s better to find a campsite due to security reasons and also to have a bit of comfort in our first night of camping. We actually managed to find a campsite in a less scenic spot behind a petrol station. I personally prefer to bush camp, thus sleeping in nature without any kind of facilities, than in a dirty spot behind a petrol station but sometimes you have no choice.

While Jason and Sam gave a demonstration on how to set up the tents provided by Dragoman I was happy to have brought my own tent which is easier to set up and provides me with some private space. Afterwards I started to prepare dinner which was rice with stir-fried vegetables and chicken. Andrew wasn’t well but luckily there were many other helpful hands around. After dinner I was hanging out for two more hours chatting to some of my fellow travelers which I enjoyed very much.

Hot-Air Balloon Ride, Walking Tour, Hamam and Turkish Night in Göreme

Today was a very busy day. It started at 5:45am when we were picked-up for a hot-air balloon ride. I didn’t fancy the balloon ride itself too much since I was riding hot-air balloons before. But doing a ride over the lunar landscape around Göreme seems to be the number one attraction of the area so I had to do it. Every morning more than one hundred hot-air balloons take-off at the same time which makes Göreme one of the most popular ballooning sites worldwide.

Almost everybody of our group went for the hot-air balloon ride. It lasted one hour and cost 120 EUR which was the cheapest available option. When we arrived at the take-off area the crew was in the process of inflating the giant balloons with hot air which was spectacular to watch. Some of the balloons including ours had a Turkish flag attached to the balloon since it was the national sovereignty day. After our balloon was fully inflated we jumped into it. Our group filled half a basket of one of the balloons so we could enjoy this experience together.

Our pilot was Turkish but he told me quite a number of his colleagues aren’t. Due to the high amount of balloons taking-off at the same time there is a shortage of Turkish pilots and many foreign ones are employed here. Before taking-off our pilot explained the landing position to us and we practiced it once. You basically lean with your back against the basket in the direction of travel and bend your knees.

Then we took-off. The flight over the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia was truly amazing. It gives you the feeling of beeing on the moon and the one hundred other balloons surrounding you add to this special atmosphere. During the ride I also asked the pilot lots of questions about the ballooning business in Göreme and the functionality of the different parts of the balloon which he happily explained to me. After one hour our pilot landed the balloon on a trailer which wasn’t much larger than the basket of the balloon basket itself so precise was he in flying the balloon. We all received a certificate for having survived the flight and a glass of strange tasking champagne.

After returning to the hotel we had breakfast and then Andrew, Emilie, Patricia and I went for a walking tour. Other people did different activities such as Chris and Jason who went quad-biking. Our walking tour started at the hotel and led us to a number of differently shaped and colored fairy chimneys. The first ones we saw were the ones of the so called “Love Valley”. I was wondering why this name was given to the valley and thought it might be because of the phallus shaped rocks. Our guide corrected me and explained the valley got its name from turtles coming here to make love. Unfortunately we didn’t see any here but later on in a different valley. The walk was amazing because we could have a closer look at the rock-hewn houses and churches where people were hiding from their enemies in past times. Also amazing was the color of some of the rocks shining in stripes of white, red and yellow. Our guide also left us plenty of time to chat with locals over a coffee or apple tea and to buy some dried fruit from them. This extended the tour from the originally planned three hours to five hours.

Back in Göreme the four of us went into a Hamam which is a Turkish style bath. It wasn’t mixed gender so we had to leave Andrew at the entrance and go to a special ladies section. There we changed into our bikini. Emilie and Patricia didn’t bring their own bikini and therefore got provided with a tiny blue plastic bikini which barely covered their body. In the Hamam a lady came and put a face mask on our skin with which we went into a hot dry sauna where we stayed for about 15 min. Then we went into a kind of steam bath were our body was soaped and scrubbed by another lady. After a short dip in the pool we ended the Hamam visit with a massage. The whole procedure was very relaxing and made us feel five years younger. Andrew didn’t enjoy his visit to the extent we did since he didn’t fancy a big Turkish man washing, scrubbing and massaging him. Before the Turkish man actually touched him, Andrew made very clear to him which parts of his body he isn’t allowed to put his hands on.

In the evening we went out for a Turkish night which was a mixture of Turkish dancing, eating and drinking. The performance of the belly dancers and the whirling dervishes was very entertaining. Even more entertaining was seeing our leader Jason receiving a belly dancing lesson and our fellow traveler Chris practicing a special dance to attract the female gender. Unfortunately he wasn’t successful in his dancing ending up the Turkish girl he was dancing for denying him. While watching the performance we sampled Turkish specialties and had lots of Raki, an anise-flavored spirit popular in Turkey, with it. I didn’t liked the flavor of the Raki and had the feeling it didn’t contain much alcohol since I usually get tipsy very quickly. But after maybe five of us emptied nearly two bottles of the stuff it kicked-in so I found it a bit hard to walk in a straight line. This night Jason also offered a bet to us which will make him paying for all alcoholic drinks until the end of our journey to the one managing to have sex with our local Iranian guide which we will meet in a couple of days. Probably he thought it will be impossible to achieve in a Muslim country but in the end all men around the world think with their dick and why should this be different in Iran. Back at the hotel we finished this excellent night with another drink before I went to bed to avoid me getting completely drunk.

Ihlara Valley, Selime Monastery and Derinkuyu Underground City

I started the day with a Turkish breakfast consisting of bread, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives. Afterwards we left for a day-trip visiting the surrounding area of Göreme. There was an option of three tours creatively named red, blue and green tour. We picked the green one because it sounded most exciting. It included a visit of the Ihlara Valley, the Selime Monastery and the Derinkuyu Underground City.

After leaving Göreme we stopped at a view point out of town. Here we had a first view of the bizarre landscape. Looking at it made me feel like being on the moon. It’s truly fascinating how nature can form such tall, thin spires of rock. I would expect mountain climbing in this area is kind of interesting but unfortunately we don’t have time for this activity.

The first stop of our tour was the Ihlara Valley which is a 16 km long gorge cut into volcanic rock. What makes the valley interesting is not just the beautiful landscape but the history associated with it. Unfortunately our guide was not very much into history which my fellow traveler Andrew, who has actually studied history, spotted quickly. So much of what happened here was subject to our imagination or the stories the guide made-up for us. We spotted a number of dwellings and churches hewn in the canyon like rock of the valley. The walls of the churches used to be decorated with frescoes but unfortunately they weren’t well preserved. In this valley the first Christians were hiding from Roman soldiers. Sometimes I would really like to travel a few hundred years back in time to see how live here actually was.

After a walk through parts of the valley we stopped for lunch in a restaurant which had a very touristy appearance. There was no menu but plastic sample meals from which you could see what is the selection you can order from. I had the vegetarian option consisting of potatoes and mushrooms which was surprisingly good.

The second stop was the Selime Monastery. Same as the dwellings and churches we saw in the Ihlara Valley the whole monastery was carved out of rock. It’s said to be done by monks in the 13th century. When wandering through the monastery we spotted the dwellings of the monks, a church, stables for animals and a kitchen.

Our last stop of today’s tour was the Derinkuyu Underground City. It’s a whole city hewn into soft volcanic rock. It was used as a refugee able to accommodate 35,000 to 50,000 people. I find it hard to imagine this high amount of people actually lived here and had a sufficient supply of air, water and food. However, the city featured everything what people would have needed for their daily live such as a church, a kitchen, storage rooms and stables. Another interesting feature were the heavy stone doors which were constructed in a way that they can only be opened from the people living inside the underground city but not by potential enemies.

Back in Göreme we went for a group dinner to a centrally located restaurant with a beautiful roof terrace overlooking the town. Everybody sampled a different dish of the local cuisine including a meal in a hot pot. The pot looked like a simple flower vase but was very hot and contained a meat dish. Before you can actually start eating it the waiter needs to come with a small hammer and take off the upper part of the pot so you can access your food. On the way back to the pension we ran into a local folk dancing competition which we enjoyed watching for a while.

Drive to Göreme

We left Istanbul in the early morning at 6am. At this point in time I also met the complete group of people I’m travelling with for the next few weeks. We are a total of nine people: seven passengers and two Dragoman crew members. Mid of May more people will join us in Ashgabat where the number of passengers is expected to triple. Relating to nationalities we are from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and me from Germany. Our group also has a wide range of ages reaching from mid twenty to retirement age. Some of us will travel on this truck for six weeks, others for three to four months. Last but not least I met “Archie” which is the truck bringing us from Istanbul to Beijing.

Shortly after leaving the center of Istanbul we crossed the Bosphorus marking the boundary between Europe and Asia. It also makes Istanbul the only city in the world which is located on two continents. This gives Istanbul a very special atmosphere which you can feel when strolling through the streets of the city.

Since I went to bed pretty late last night I spent the morning having a snooze in the truck. I only got interrupted twice. The first interruption was breakfast. Our driver Sam had prepared lovely cheese sandwiches for us which we had in the truck while driving to save time. The second interruption was a stop of the truck because we were losing oil or so. Sam and Jason solved the issue quickly so we could continue our drive towards Göreme.

Around lunch time our leader Jason gave us a speech on how he expects us to behave while travelling on this truck. I was still sleepy but tried to pay attention. This was especially challenging because Jason tried to break the record of the longest introductory speech a Dragoman leader ever gave to his passengers. It lasted two hours or so and afterwards we knew every detail about where to find what in the truck, the jobs each of us needs to perform, how Jason plans to deal with relationship issues between passengers etc. I’m really wondering if everybody was able to absorb all this information. After the record-breaking speech we prepared lunch in the driving truck which was again cheese sandwiches.

We arrived in Göreme in the early evening. Göreme is a small town situated in the Cappadocia region of Turkey. The main attraction of the town is the Göreme National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here you can find the so called “fairy chimneys” which are tall, thin spires of volcanic tuff rock. Göreme itself is situated in the middle of this surreal landscape which makes it a very special place. We ended the day with a group dinner in the restaurant of our pension at which we had vegetable soup and a selection of local meat with rice.

Sightseeing and Shopping in Istanbul

I had a bit of a sleep-in this morning. Even my three roommates getting up early didn’t disturb me from sleeping until 10:30am. After a shower I had a chat with the hostel staff where to go best for sightseeing, money exchange and shopping. While doing so the leader of my trip from Istanbul to Beijing appeared. His name is Jason and he is supposed to be the leader who works for Dragoman the longest which is six years. The co-driver / mechanic will be Sam, a guy I have met previously in Manaus. At this time Sam had just finished a trip in South America and since then had some time off.

Since I missed the pre-departure meeting last night Jason gave me a talk on what to expect the following weeks. I actually missed the pre-departure meeting on purpose since I wanted to have two days back home (instead of one) and I have been to Istanbul before. Jason seems to be a very detail loving guy. When I arrived last night in the hostel I already saw his “Welcome to your Dragoman trip” sheet of paper but in addition to it there was another sheet full of rules on how he expects us to behave on the truck, e.g. daily seat rotation or sleeping bags shouldn’t be part of the main luggage but separate. I found it a bit weird to make all these rules in writing even before you have joint a trip and have met your leader but everybody has his own style.

Talking to Jason over a delicious Turkish apple tea was kind of fun. He’s a very positive, enthusiastic, straight talking person and really seems to care how the people on his trip are feeling to give them the best possible experience. Probably these are all characteristics which make a good tour leader.

When going back to my room to get ready for the city I ran into Emilie who will travel with me over the next months. While I will be leaving the trip in Beijing, she will continue even further to Ulan Bator. Emilie is from Australia and roughly in my age. While I arrived in Istanbul last night, Emilie is already here since four days because she is obtaining some of her visas in Istanbul.

Around lunch time I went for a walk around the city to visit the main sites of Istanbul. The Orient Hostel, where we are staying in, is right in the heart of Istanbul which made it the perfect starting point for a walking tour. My first stop was the Hagia Sophia which used to be a mosque and is nowadays a museum. Especially impressive are the dome, the mosaics and the candelabra lightening the room.

Next I wanted to visit the Blue Mosque but it was prayer time so I wasn’t allowed to go in. Therefore, I decided to visit the Grand Bazaar and return at a later point in time. On the way to the bazaar I met a Turkish guy owning an antique shop. He didn’t try to sell me anything but was just interested in me and wanted to talk to me. I spend maybe 20-30min chilling-out and talking to him before I continued for the Grand Bazaar.

I actually went to the bazaar not just to have a look around but also to buy a manteaux and a headscarf which all women are required to wear in Iran. A manteaux is a loose-fitting trench coat and there were a number of shops selling them. I just went into one of the shops and asked for an outfit which makes me adjust to the locals and the lady in the shop showed me a number of different manteaux and helped me to try them on. I ended-up buying two of them and then I continued to a shop across the street selling headscarves. Here I didn’t chose the ones with the most beautiful pattern but two simple ones which can easily be put on without the help of needles. Two outfits should do it for a roughly two weeks stay in Iran.

I’m really looking forward to experience how it is to be covered up at all times while being in Iran. I have visited many Muslim countries before (Egypt, Sudan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Oman, etc.) but in all these countries wearing loose-fitting clothes was fully sufficient. But with Iran it’s different because they make you actually wear a headscarf and you will be refused entry into the country if not doing so. I even needed to submit a picture of me wearing a headscarf when I applied for the Iranian visa.

After I finished shopping I had a look around on the Grand Bazaar which is supposed to be one of the largest covered markets in the world. The market also attracts lots of tourist and therefore the prices aren’t the cheapest when they identify you being a foreigner. And of course you are more or less expected to negotiate which I also did when buying the two manteaux. But what actually was very good here were the exchange rates so if you need to change some money the Grand Bazaar is the place to go to.

On the way back to the Blue Mosque I walked by a number of stalls selling Kebab and fruit juices which is what I had for a late lunch. When trying to get into the Blue Mosque I was required to cover my arms and wear a headscarf. So my new manteaux outfit became handy and I quickly put it on before entering the mosque. In comparison to the Hagia Sophia the Blue Mosque isn’t a museum and still used as a mosque. Therefore, you are requested to dress respectfully and take off your shoes which isn’t the case in the Hagia Sophia. There are also certain areas in the mosque which you aren’t allowed to enter probably because they are used for praying. On the other side you aren’t required to pay an entrance fee. So if you are short on time and budget come here. From the inside the Blue Mosque locks comparable to the Hagia Sophia. The main differences are the blue mosaics which give the mosque its name and the red carpet covering the ground.

After being back at the hostel I spent the evening chilling out in the bar attached to it. Here I met some local guys I had a chat with. Everybody here in Istanbul seems to be very friendly and I really enjoyed my time here even when it was very short. At 11pm people started to celebrate a birthday and I noticed I have forgotten to adjust the time on my watch and it’s actually midnight.

Stocking-up on US Dollar Cash and Flight to Istanbul

When packing the backpack for my next trip to Central Asia I discovered that my first-aid kit disappeared. I remembered I have packed it in Santiago so probably it got lost somewhere on the way to Germany. While most stuff in the kit can be replaced easily by visiting a pharmacy the Malaria tablets require a prescription. I don’t need Malaria tablets for my next trip to Central Asia but later on this year when returning to Africa and South America. As I only will be home for another two days by the end of August and one of these days is a weekend day I thought I’ll better go today and see a doctor to get the required prescription. It basically took me all morning to get it but in the same step I’ll got my Hepatitis B refreshment injection as well.

I spent the late morning in the largest outdoor shop in town stocking-up on equipment such as a fixing kit for my ripped rain-trousers, a fast drying towel, a water bottle, a waterproof bag for my camping equipment etc.

On the way back I stopped at Deutsche Bank to get US Dollar cash for my trip. The bank refused to provide any cash to me and all other customers in the bank since the computer system of the bank was down in all of Germany. They only said I can use the ATM to withdraw the daily maximum amount of 1,000 EUR but I will definitely not receive any US Dollar cash. It was already 2pm and I will need to leave for the airport in two hours. Somehow everything went wrong today.

Luckily I have another checking account with comdirect Bank, a direct bank of the Commerzbank Group. So I went next door to get the US Dollar cash from Commerzbank. Since I’m a customer with comdirect Bank and not directly with Commerzbank it wasn’t enough to show my identity card but they needed my comdirect Bank account number as well which I didn’t had with me. So I reserved the US Dollar cash I needed for one hour and went home to get the account number. In the end everything went well and I got my supply in US Dollar cash.

Back home I quickly packed my stuff and went to the airport. Since my apartment is located between the city center of Duesseldorf and the airport it took me only seven minutes by interurban train to go there. When checking-in I noticed my flight is delayed by 1-2 hours and I used the time to have some dinner at the airport.

The next thing which went wrong today was the security check. While taking my camping gear (tent, mattress, sleeping bag) as hand luggage to the plane wasn’t an issue on my flight from Germany to South America and back the inspector at the Duesseldorf airport refused me taking the tiny picks for my tent to the cabin. Unfortunately the check-in time was already over so I couldn’t check my tent in and I also wasn’t keen to leave my picks behind since they are special lightweight picks and probably not too easy to replace. However, I went back to the check-in counter hoping to find a solution. The staff from Turkish Airlines was friendly enough to make an exception and took my picks in order to give them to one of the stewards who will hand them back to me when leaving the plane in Istanbul. After successfully passing the security check I boarded the plane. While boarding the staff member, who had taken my picks, came to hand them back to me. He said I should better take them myself so they don’t get lost. I promised him in return to not harm anybody with them.

During the flight to Istanbul I met a friendly Turkish business man and had a chat with him about Turkey and my planned travel in Central Asia. We exchanged business cards when leaving the plane and maybe we’ll meet again one day. My flight arrived with a two hour delay. After seeing immigrations I quickly changed some money and took a taxi to the Orient Hostel which is my home for tonight and the meeting point of the Dragoman group traveling to Beijing.

It was already after midnight and the people in the dorm I was put in by the receptionist were sleeping. So I searched my luggage for my flashlight to not disturb anybody when entering the room. While doing so I heard somebody locking the door from the inside and I knocked on it. This made the same person to get up again to open the door for me. However, there was an issue with the lock and whoever opened the door for me needed to try it for 3-4 minutes until it finally opened. When I entered the room everybody was in their beds and I didn’t even saw the person opened the door for me. So I quickly found a space for my luggage and went to bed.