Day 31 – 26 Sept 2017 – Çamoluk to Göreme (Turkey)
Is there anything more refreshing and free than waking up and opening the door to your tent?Last night in the dark we had found, what turned out to be, a perfect spot for camping……a spot that allowed us to prepare for a the big day ahead…~550km to Göreme, Cappadocia……the girls were ready and waiting!Somewhere in the big open spaces in the middle of Turkey (maybe somewhere near Zara?) we stopped for morning tea, and this guy wondered what the hell we were doing……when actually he just wanted to say hi 🙂
…but trust us we when say we often wondering what the hell we were doing…
…although sometimes it was abundantly clear!!!
…we arrived in Göreme perfectly timed right on sunset, unfortunately our photography didn’t quite capture the absolute beauty of the moment (probably the shear exhaustion of the looooong day)It seemed like the best way to recuperate was by taking a rest on the TRONO……the sunset, the TRONO, the successful day, the phallic rock – a beautiful moment……HALLELUJAH!! This is why we’re doing this crazy trip, for moments like this 🙂We rode into Göreme and found a great little hotel looking out over a glowing version of rocky HobbitonJust waiting for some hobbits to pop out……surreal place with rooms cut into the rock. This was the Premium Suite, while we crammed into a hole in the wall.The girls taking a well deserved rest after a big effort today. Well played ladies 🙂
Day 32 – 27 Sept 2017 – Göreme to Kurtboğazı Barajı (Turkey)
The morning sky over Göreme dotted with hot air balloons, it was like something we’d never ever seen before……we just sat and stared, in awe of such an amazing sight…and the sound was unreal too – the intermittent burn of gas……whichever way you looked and framed the balloons they looked spectacular……and they just kept rising above the horizon one after another, after another, after another……and then the Ferrari version of the balloon world tried to land on our hotel balcony!!!After recovering our senses we headed off for a unloaded bike trip around greater Göreme, it was spectacular……the horse tour guide stopped and gave me his card and asked me to send the motorbike/horses photos – Nadia is now probably part of the local marketing material……but that can’t be a bad thing, when everywhere you look are insane views….…even if the world is slightly off, or is that Nadia…it was Steve’s fault!!We were buzzing, it was just incredible riding around these horse tracks, and a lot of fun on bike that felt so light without all the gear……until we got a little lost and had to come down this path – it looks gentle but trust us, it wasn’t, and there were mounds of loose sand for some extra fun/challenge……so we stopped for a freshly squeezed OJ, the little kids loved us…..and then we found out that we were, in fact, being rather naughty riding our bikes in this area and some grumpy dude tried to stop us……we carried on and continued enjoying ourselves……it’s like Lyubov’ and Nadia had found another home……a crazy, spectacular, unreal home……but we were in heaven, until we had to head on towards and beyond Ankara.
Day 33 – 28 Sept 2017 – Kurtboğazı Barajı to Istanbul (Turkey)
We rode well into the night searching for a place to pitch the tents, and again scouted well targeting Kurtboğazı Barajı…….as camping by a lake is always good, waking to a beautiful sunrise helps too – what you can’t see is that there is so much rubbish around it’s actually pretty gross……but we were happy to be alive and ready to attack another day……we were now looking like hardened adventure travellers, with that air of joy and happiness hidden behind the tired eyes……we hit the road and raced to Istanbul to meet with Sam again. We felt fantastic arriving in the jewel of Istanbul, a city with 3 times more population than our country!!!
Sam had already arrived and found a hotel…
…we got lost via The Blue Mosque so did some sightseeing on the way…
…and then once settled in wandered to Hagia Sophia… …and enjoyed the night vibe of the melting pot of Istanbul.
