Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 22

KARS to FORREST CAMP Stage 103. 20 September, 2016 112.70 Kms SubT. Kms 2926.07. kms . Road Condition: goodWeather: cold 2c at start. MILD 17c. Blue Sky. Time in Saddle: 4:58:56. Av Speed: av. 22.6 kph. Av Cadence. 67. RpmElevation: 1014 m up; 1501 m downCalories burned : > 4500 Left Kars following the river valley, very scenic, but as it was in constant shade, the initial 15km was ridden in about 2c, very cold after past weeks, felt my hands becoming ice-blocks despite being in long fingered gloves. It warmed up mildly once we got into the sun, but with a mild headwind, it was still quite cool. The scenery all day was very appealing, a mix of woodland, cattle and sheep pasture, bubbling Creeks and small agricultural villages. The camp has green grass, is ... read more

KARS. REST DAY 2. 19 September,2016 Kars has many cheese shops and fresh honey stores. Cheesemaking, using cows' milk, was introduced during the Russian era 1875-1925. Bee keeping and honey production has been an industry here for a Millenia. The cheeses are large wheels of a tasty cheddar style. A cheese is also made using honey, I am still on the hunt! Like elsewhere along the Silk Road, there are many sweet cake stores. In Kars, the specialities are varieties of Baklava, (honey). Decided that I like Kars, it has attractive parks and buildings, a fantastic coffee house and some tasty food, and bustling city centre with promenading families in the evenings. Travel plans for the week ahead have been posted, 850 kms+, 7 kms of climbing and 9 kms of descent in 7 days, with ... read more

MAKU to DOGUBAZIT, TURKEY. 16 September, 2016 23 Kms SubT. Kms 2813.37 kms . Road Condition: ok Weather: MILD 27c cloudy. Time in Saddle: 55 mins Av Speed: av. 24.8 kph. Av Cadence. 71 RpmElevation: 150 m up; 0 m downCalories burned : > 1000 Today at breakfast we were told that the town we were to cycle to overnight had a terrorist issue with the PPK, the Kurdish Revolutionary Army, killing 7 policeman. Mid morning the Turkish Airforce retaliated bombing the village of the terrorists 15 kms from town. So the cycling after Iran was curtailed. Hence the short distance. We are hoteling rather than camping And tomorrow we will be bused to Kars, our next official rest day, one day early. We are restricted to the hotel building here in Dogubazit, which is 6 ... read more

Geo: 41.0138, 28.9497This wraps it up for us at the capitol of the Eastern Roman Empire. Off very early in the morning for Athens.A little about our impressions of Istanbul and the Turkish inhabitants. The setting is spectacularly beautiful. Blue water all around with often steep hills. Climate is also wonderful, low humidity and moderate temperatures. Highs were uniformly in the mid 70's.The inhabitants are profoundly diverse in appearance, at least the woman. The men generally are dressed alike, most with some degree of a beard, but otherwise dressing as folks would in the U.S. or Europe. By contrast the woman vary from full Burkas, who represent perhaps five per cent, to women wearing rather provocative attire. The Turks seem to accept this as a matter of course. We saw no signs of disapproval due to ... read more

Geo: 41.0138, 28.9497Set sail this morning traversing essentially the entire length of the Bosphorus Strait (its not that long). Best day so far at Istanbul. Scenery was quite nice, Bird enjoyed the history and the weather continues to be wonderful. Averages here are in the mid-upper seventies, which is what has been occurring. It was, however, very breezy. We did arise much earlier than yesterday. Perhaps we have adjusted to the seven hour time zone discrepancy.... read more