15-Aug-2011 -- I was on a 4-month cycling trip around south-east Europe and the Middle East back in the summer of 2011. Two days earlier I had successfully visited my first degree confluence abroad: 39N 48E. The next attempt, visiting 39N 47E required a little more effort.
The previous night I had arrived in the town of Kaleybar. 39N 47E is located approx. 15 km north of the town, as the crow flies, and approx. 3 km east of the river of the same name. The area is pretty much uninhabited and not very inviting, but beautiful nonetheless. My research had shown that there is a track along the river that I could probably use up to a little tributary which I would then follow for a while before heading into the wilderness to the degree confluence.
Looking for that track, I discovered that there is actually a road being built along the river and the first 10 km were already finished. At first the guard at the entrance to the construction site didn't want to let me in. Partly, it seemed, due to some rock slide which had happened recently. When I promised I'd stay on finished, asphalted part of the road, he let me pass. Somewhere along the way indeed a massive rock and lots of debris had fallen from a cliff above the road and was barring it, but people were already cleaning up. I cycled another 10 km to the little tributary. It was dry and I cycled a few hundred meters in its bed. Then I left the bike behind and began hiking the final 3 km to the Confluence.
The landscape is very hilly, with many little (now dried-up) streams having cut valleys and ravines into the hills. I tried to follow those valleys as much as possible at first, but eventually had to climb. Vegetation consisted mostly of dry grass, thistles, little thorny shrubs, and ever-green bushes, with the odd little tree thrown in. 39N 47E is located on the northern slope of one of the higher hills, almost at the top. The views from there were just grand.
The return to the bike was easy. A peculiarly shaped hilltop served as a guide and from up there near the Confluence I had a great overview and could devise the best way so that I could avoid climbing into the valleys.
After cycling back to Kaleybar I celebrated the successful confluence visit with a hearty dinner.