Yearly Archives: 2016

Day 304 – Blingdenstone

So we did get to see a balloon even if it was not in the air

So we did get to see a balloon even if it was not in the air

Alright, enough about hanging out, it was time to get back on our feet for a bit. Not enough mind you to get up at 6 am to watch the balloons go up over the valley, but enough to set out on a day trip after a good breakfast.

We decided on one of the five underground cities of the area in D@#T. It was a short ride of about 35 km away and we were there by 11 am. The entrance fee was on the hefty side, at least for our tiny remaining budget, with $25 for the two of us. The general consensus is that these underground cities were used by the christian inhabitants of the land to evade several waves of invaders and/ or ethnic cleansing from about 800 AD into the 13th century.

This is the official way...try not to get claustrophobic

This is the official way…try not to get claustrophobic

Going down past several warning sings was an eerie experience. The access tunnels were all extremely narrow and low. The one to the deepest accessible point was probably 50 m long with three separate massive round stone doors that could be used to seal the inhabitants in. The guides had to shout up the corridor when they were leading a group through, since it would have been way to confined for two groups to pass. It was an impressive experience, but we were definitively happy to see the light of day again.

It took us a bit of a longer way back to explore some of the back roads. We had a brief look at an old monastery built into the cliff-side before moving on to find a spot to have our lunch. The perfect spot appeared not soon after in form of a picnic area at a reservoir lake about 20 km from Göreme.

We popped back to the campground for a second to pick up the map of the area and hit the road one more time. We just had enough energy left to have a proper look at one of the valleys that make Cappadocia so famous. This particular one is interchangeably called fairy chimneys or love valley, for obvious reasons.

A whole fairy army must live here ...

A whole fairy army must live here …

There was even enough time left that afternoon to finish up with a bunch of chores. All in all, it feels like we have rested enough to tackle the last stretch of our journey. The closer we get to Istanbul, the harder it becomes for us to motivate ourselves to still “do it”. I must be honest, right now, a lot of the times I would rater spend an afternoon with my favorite video game or have a BBQ with friends than to get on the bike to see another ruin, beach or city. We are going through the motions, waiting on inspiration as we go … but home continues to creep up on us.

Day 303 – Need more energy

Day 3 of relaxing. We briefly thought that today might be the day we get up and see some of the surrounding area but right after breakfast, we decided against it…yeah, nah…

So delicious, all of it

So delicious, all of it

So we had another day of charging our own batteries, snoozing in the tent, jumping in the pool and I finished my book which I started on our first rest day. 🙂 It just felt great to do nothing.

In the evening, we decided to go out for really good food in a restaurant that is slightly more pricey than what we usually go for. Flo was particularly hungry as he had skipped lunch. It took some searching to find it (google maps was asked once) but once we sat down, everything was great. Flo even found good beer which is a big thing after going through Oman and Iran where you just can’t buy alcohol.

Cappadocia, we are really grateful that you decided to be sunny and warm for days because we really needed this rest. Thank you.

Day 302 – Stats 111 Iran

Another extremely relaxed day at the campground. We went out for dinner, but that was it. So without further ado, another bit of trip data.

Country data #11: Iran

Full screen version of the map

  • 6141 km in total (5845 km of GPS tracked)
  • 22 travel days, 27 days total
  • $23.48 Average cost per night (15x room, 10x camping and 2x invitation)
  • 297.19l of standard fuel for $ 132.04 (4.84 l / 100km)
  • ~$11.13 for food eating out some times, 3x invitations
  • ~$1,600 in total.

All $ values are converted to NZD.

Day 301 – Stats 110 Oman

Oh, pleasant rest. For the first time in about 40 days, we deliberately do … nothing. That is, no traveling, no sight seeing. Just sleep, good food and a little bit of blogging as an when the mood strikes us. We did close out the day with tea and snack with the only other guests, a very cool couple from Iran. Thus, finally, there is some space to do another stats post.  

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Country data #10: Oman

Full screen version of the map

  • 4008 km in total (3908 km of GPS tracked)
  • 12 travel days, 27 days total
  • $9.69 Average cost per night (4x room, 8x camping and 15x invitation)
  • 250.25l of standard fuel for $ 143.43 (6.5 l / 100km – all Arabia)
  • ~$14.01 for food every day, eating out on the road, invitations while resting
  • ~$910 in total.

All $ values are converted to NZD.

Day 300 bonus – Stats 109 United Arab Emirates

This kind of did not fit in well with the day’s post, so I decided to celebrate day 300 with an add on! Hope you like it. The stats are not too relevant, since we did not really spend time in Dubai and had a lot of “special” stuff to sort out.

Country data #9: United Arab Emirates

Full screen version of the map

  • 481 km in total (470 km of GPS tracked)
  • 2 travel days, 4 days total
  • $35.56 Average cost per night (3x room, 1x ferry)
  • 44.14l of standard fuel for $  25.46 (6.5 l / 100km – all Arabia)
  • ~$10.25 for food every day, always eating out with two invitations
  • ~$2,309 in total – $1100 for shipping and spare parts and $460 for visa

All $ values are converted to NZD.

Day 300 – See you when we get there

To continue where the last entry left off: 440 km to Göreme. It kind of became our mantra. After breakfast and packing we just wanted to get to Cappadocia. Really, really in need for a break now. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Göreme wasn’t that great either but going on to the Mediterranean coast might prove too long.

So we got on the bike and rode. And rode. It was mostly cold and did rain a couple of times. For lunch, we found a posh looking restaurant which was great…until our main course arrived and, once again, chicken wasn’t counted as meat so I ended up not having a main course. *sigh*

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After that, we kept riding through grey skies and bad weather until Kayseri, where we took a turn to get to Cappadocia. Luckily, here the sun was shining so we rocked up on the camp ground, set up the tent and collapsed.

Day 299 – Moving on (and on …)

Hotels in towns have become a luxury for us by now, so after two nights in Trabzon with patchy weather, it was nonetheless time to move on. We used all the time to sleep in and get ourselves organized though. This included changing the brake pads around, taking the dodgy pair I got gifted way back in Pattaya, Thailand and swapping it for the most worn one. The Transalp uses CBS, which means that the foot brake also operates one of the two front calipers, which in turn wears faster.

Finally a shot of the main building without a school class

Finally a shot of the main building without a school class

On our way out, we did a brief stop at Trabzon’s version of the Aya Sofia. This one is a 10th century church, build on the same site as a roman temple that got converted into a mosque, ammunition depot, museum and now mosque again over the last 10 centuries. We mostly learned how to squeeze through endless high school classes armed with selfie sticks.

Then, we were back on the coastal highway. Riding is really smooth, even through the regular little showers coming from the grey sky. Soon enough it was time for lunch. We bought some supplies and found a really nice picnic spot right at the sea. We sat down, enjoyed our lunch and amused ourselves with the innocent romancing of high-school-aged teenagers.

No break without a hot cuppa :)

No break without a hot cuppa 🙂

We had no real goal until Cappadocia, 660 km down the road. So soon enough, we were faced with a decision: Take the shortest route now, or follow the fast coastal highway for another 100 km, adding 50 km to the trip. We made the call as the rain started back up and turned inland. The particular pass we chose turned out to be a bit annoying, because it was in the process of being upgraded to two lanes per direction. To make matters worse, it really started hammering down about half way in.

Flo decided to wear plastic bags over his shoes to stop the water from leaking in

Flo decided to wear plastic bags over his shoes to stop the water from leaking in

Thoroughly soaked (the Compañeros held true, but summer gloves and old boots not so much), we made it to the high point of the pass at 2200m. We had passed through the rain by then and at least up here, the sun was out. Not too much consolation, though, as it was pretty cold.

We still stopped for a bit right after the pass to have a chat with two huffing and puffing pushbikers on a snack break. Tristan and Francesco from Switzerland are on their own epic journey from Europe to central Asia (and beyond for one of them). We swapped some anecdotes, snack food and tips for our respective roads ahead before going our way to secure a camp spot. In parting, we heard they will be looking for a guidebook for Iran, so we quickly dug up our Lonely Planet and donated it to their cause. Definitively a much better use than collecting dust in our future home. Godspeed guys!

Lovely guys (just) starting on their journey: Tristan and Francesco

Lovely guys (just) starting on their journey: Tristan and Francesco

As we got lower, it got warmer again, but so did the clouds return. In the first town after the pass, we stocked up on rations again and soon after were in full camp spot hunting mode. The rain made it tempting to look at the hotels, but the idea of spending another $50 did not appeal to me at all. We got lucky anyway – off the main road, then a side road and into a dirt track we found the perfect little ditch in the pastures that could not be seen even from the little track.

We set up our tent in the light drizzle and soon gobbled up our dinner. Risini noodles and instant sauce made for a surprisingly good and hearty meal and a nice change from bread and cheese. Time to keel over, exhausted. 440 km to go till Göreme …