North to the Black Sea

Ali has to fly back today so we pack early and leave our cave and lovely Cappadocia behind. It is a magical place and I would love to come back here and see it more slowly. Definitely worth putting on your 'Bucket List'. We planned to be riding at 8am but in the end it is 9 before we get going and it is a beautiful cool morning. There is one last straggler balloon in the sky overhead as we leave.

Ankara is about a 4 hour ride away and I don't want to be rushing on these roads so we allow 5 hours. The scenery on the way is one of rolling hills and mountains in the distance with a 'Big Sky'…..the kind you get when there are no trees, buildings or hills close to get in the way. It reminds me of Patagonia except that it is much greener. We stop on the way to add the Turkey decal to the damaged pannier, and after I stick few more on, the scratches won't be noticeable any more.

On the way to Ankara, I came to a decision that I will keep going east and head for Gheorgia and Armenia. The sheer size of Turkey means that I probably never get a chance to ride to Tbilisi or Yerevan again so I will sacrifice some time in Bulgaria and Romania on the way back and maybe see those another time…they are after all only a couple of (long) days in the saddle away. At the airport, I park the bike in the no waiting area and go in with Ali and say our goodbyes over coffee. 45 minutes later, the bike is still there and nobody has paid any attention. Very civilised.

I pointed the bike north over the mountains towards the Black Sea and let the GPS choose a route. The high anatolian plain disappeared and the route became much more Alpine with a very familiar european alpine look to it. Very lush and green and the only thing that gave it away was Turkey was the dodgy roads and the Mosques and Minarets. I even went past a ski resort…

A long day in the saddle today, 480 miles in total and my butt is feeling the pressure this evening. I am in Sinop which is a very pretty coastal town which has the finest natural harbour on the Black Sea (according to the book of knowledge) It also has very reasonable prices and excellent restaurants. I just dined for £5 including beer, half the price of last nights fare…