After a last day of forced rest in Kars, following our rituals of napping, reading and internet-cafeing, the evening lifted our spirits as we could finally start perparing our departure. I did some laundry, brought my shoes to the polisher, started packing. What a nice feeling… I could already smell the road…
So, this morning the alarm clock rang relatively early, 7am. Mark went off to the hospital to change his bandage, once again. He came back around 8:15, but we had to wait another hour until the ointment would dry… But, what is one hour against already 6 days ? So, I took my Ipod and this last hour eventually passed.
Around 9:30am we were downstairs putting on our helmets, our gloves and our smiles… Broum, broum, off we were.
Since we had only 8 days left to get to Istanbul, we had to reformat our route. We had to cut all the south of Turkey as well as Capadoccia, eventually rejoining our original route in Sinop, along the black sea. 5 days to cross the heart of Turkey. We cut the distance in 5 little pieces, ie days, choosing big and good roads, in order to avoid long and difficult riding hours so that Mark´s hand could slowly get used to driving again.
Today’s target was Ezurum, 200km from Kars, a target which we reached within 3 hours, on a beautiful and straightforward road. Erzurum is situated just under 2,000 m altitude and is apparently Turkey’s highest city. It has even some mosques, medreses and citadels to visit. What a treat after 6 days in Kars. So, that’s it, we’re back on the road!
Stay tuned.
Crossing our fingers that traffic should not be too bad for these last kilometers, and that the changed route plan should still bring you to interesting sights and enjoyable scenery. Take much care! We are looking forward to more photos , more stories from an “uneventful” journey!