This week’s on this day post comes from the 2nd-December-2011, and I’m on my world tour in Turkey. But things seem to have fallen apart after the route I was going to take through Iran is no longer viable. And I’m now looking at an alternative route to continue my ride to Australia.
Friday, 2nd December 2011 Gerede to Ankara. 88 miles.
Well, I’ve made it to Ankara a bit quicker than I’d expected and just realised it’s the weekend. So the Saudi embassy is unlikely to be open tomorrow! But I’ll still go and have a look, just in case. If the embassy is closed, I’m certainly not going to sit around waiting until Monday for them to open. I’ll just book a flight to India and give up on Saudi Arabia, which might be the easier option anyway. Because even if I can get a visa for Saudi and manage to reach the UAE, I’ve still got to try and get a boat to India.
It’s been another tough ride today with two big climbs. The first climb was 1600 metres, and the second was just over 1100 metres! And there were still the trucks, spewing out their thick black smoke as they struggled up the hills!
Cycling into Ankara was odd! I was on a six-lane highway with only me on it! Which was a big relief. I was expecting the same chaos as I had when I cycled into Istanbul. And considering how busy the roads have been since leaving Istanbul, it was a big surprise. But I wasn’t complaining. I think it may have been a new road, which wasn’t fully open. Although I don’t recall passing any signs saying it was closed.
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