This week’s Travelsonabike2 on this day cycling post comes from Turkey on the 1st-December-2011. I’m halfway across Turkey on my World tour. And I’m trying to work out which way to go after my original route through Iran was blocked.
Thursday 1st December 2011 Duzce to Gerede. 70 miles.
After spending yesterday afternoon looking into a new route, I’m now having doubts. I think getting from Cyprus to Egypt could be a problem. And that’s even if I can cross into south Cyprus from the north. That border might be closed. There’s also the prospect of not being able to get a Saudi visa. They’re apparently hard to come by. I’m now thinking of flying straight to India.
I’ll sound out the Saudi embassy in Ankara, and if it is too difficult to get a visa, I’ll fly to India from Ankara. I’ve got a couple of days until I reach Ankara, where I need to make a firm decision. So I’ll forget about it until then. I could always try my luck and go via Iraq!!
It’s been a hard ride today, with a tough climb to start the day. Mount Bolu, at 950 metres, was made all the harder by the number of trucks spewing out thick black smoke when they changed down a gear. They were finding it as tough as I was, well maybe not quite, but you know what I mean.
This Iranian business has been really bugging me today. Iran was one of the countries I was looking forward to cycling through. But as I’m already having trouble getting a Pakistani visa, maybe it’s for the best, and it’s not meant to be.
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