04 May – Turkey, 250 miles
Leaving the hotel in Cappadocia, some Turkish journalists turned up – taking video and photos of us and bikes… a little late, as most of the group had left – but they seemed interested in getting footage of my putting-on-of-helmet. Maybe there’s going to be some Turk-TV somewhere starring yours truly.
The riding – rather good…
~55 miles of standard highway…
~30 miles over a pass – the highest we’ve been yet, I believe – 1990 metres
I think I got a little off-route after that, with some very small country roads, lots of gravel, lots of stopping and double-checking the GPS vs route-notes… about 15 miles of that
And ~150 miles of semi-motorway – lots of long curvy roads up and down gentle slopes.
Oh – and the first traffic police interaction. Apparently 3 other guys in the group got given tickets, but I just got pulled over, and given a friendly/jokey chat “Ah – you’re going to Beijing, we come with you, which country you from, what’s your name, etc…” and eventually “oh, and, by the way – up to 100, no problem… 101 – ticket” (the speed limit on single-carriageways is 90. I’m pretty sure I was going well over 100 when the radar clocked me).
Got to Malayta fairly early – I think I was in the last four to leave this morning, and maybe(?)first four to arrive this afternoon.
So – spent the afternoon using the decent internet to update some previous/missing posts (Istanbul, and Cappadocia) with photos/etc.
Another hotel where we’re staying 2 nights – with an optional ride-out to Mount Nemrut tomorrow – which I’m almost certainly going to do.
