ANKARA: Throw your dice, move a pawn and tighten your bum and start riding.

Not till alter we had consulted Cay’s coffee dregs did we decide to cycle to Kayseir and from there catch a bus to Ankara. We said good-bye to our new friends Bea and Gary, two Swedes who are planning to go round the World while visiting the most inhospitable places in the planet.
We have started things moving and we need to ask for our visas for Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the capital so that we won’t have to wait for too long in Teheran. We were a little gullible, as we didn’t know what was ahead. After 74 km we got to Kayseri pretty tired. The first we did was to look for a place to leave our bicycles. We tried at the bus station, but no luck so we decided to look for a hotel that would admit the bicycles, things get worse. Hotels are expensive and some expect us to pay for two nights. Tired of looping we sit down to have dinner at a Tavub Kebab.
The cold night is beginning to cover the city and our strength is reaching its limit. We ask at a bar and two men approach us offering their help. Our guardian angels have just entered the scene and they speak English. They offer their office for us to leave our bicycles. Mehmet Sefranti, the owner of a Turkish-Dutch importing company leads us in his enormous Mercedes to his office. We leave our bicycles there for two days.
After this problem has been solved, we find ourselves being taken full Speedy to a safe area where we can wait for the bus. At twelve, we take the bus and we spend the night coming in and out of our dreams. We reach Ankara at five in the morning, but,… this is another story.
We owe these people so much that we feel the obligation to continue telling the story of a proud, friendly and polite people.

Outskirts of Göreme. At last a truce

At last Alá and Nuberu have agreed to give us a truce and we have been able to come out from inside the clouds. There is still some light rain and weak rays of sunshine although it is still quite cold. According to Machús, “Wow, is it cold!”
We are holding fort in the camp site with the company of two Swiss cyclists who aim to go round the world travelling through the most inhospitable places in the planet.
The Capadoccia is without doubt one of these as well as one of the most touristy and interesting places in Turkey. We are attracted by the landscape, as it is so different to anything we have seen so far. We encounter one valley after another with a constant change in colours that contrast forming capricious figures that compete with each other to touch the infinite heavens.
The place was created by the volcanic eruptions that took place in the Miocene period and that have survived to the present, in other words, 10,000 million years ago the whole place blew up into little pieces. The lava formed an extract made of tufa of approximately 100 to 150 metres thick with differing thickness and hardness. The present-day formations are the consequence of the erosion caused by floods and wind. Perhaps the most interesting formations are the fairy chimneys whose name probably comes from the fact that they have similar shapes to the human penis or if you prefer, Shiva’s phallus. The chimneys have conic shapes with a cap-like formation at the end which is harder and more resistant to erosion, the so-called gland.
The Capadoccia was originally inhabited by Hititas (1759-1200 BC) but since it is a long historical tale that would probably bore most of you except, perhaps my friend Rodrigo, I’ll give you a quick summary and simply say that the first to discover the great potential of the rocky area of Göreme were the Romans in the 4th century. They began a religious life within the rocky formations. I leave the rest of the story for those interested, to find out.
As far as we are concerned, I can say that the area is well worth a visit. It is a place where you can easily loose yourself, or if you prefer, find yourself.
On the fifth day the sun is finally shining and we can enjoy a whole day without having to worry about the rain.

STUCK IN GÖREME, IT’S BEEN RAINING FOR THREE DAYS

Here in Göreme, a small yet magical town, which in my opinion is too touristy, is where Ala has decided to have us stay. For two days, we have hardly been outside the camping site so we have not been able to enjoy the incredible landscape of Capadoccia. We will be here until Monday when we are hopeful there’ll be an improvement in the weather. We have taken some creative pictures that have reminded us of someone who lives in far-away Asturias.
José, if you’re interested, it’s for sale. I can take it back for you so you can say that you have a red Ferrari in your collection.

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Konya - Akbas Han 47,5km
Akbas Han - Sultanhani 62km
Sultanhani - Selime 80km
Selime - Valle Ihlara 25km
Ihlara - Derinkuyu 69km
Derinkuyu - Goreme 41km

It’s been nine days since the last time we were able to have access to an Internet connection and we were anxious to read your comments and to tell you about our adventures.

From the camping site in Capadoccia, under a willow tree, hacking the “wi-fi” connection in the midst of a terrible storm, we’ll try to tell you all about our latest adventures, that is, if you can call then that.

After a few cold and rainy days came a few clouds, which finally led to sunny yet windy weather. In Konya, during our “dry-up” day we visited the incredible Museum of Mevlana. Mevlana’s tomb (1207-1273) is, nowadays, a museum but it has also been the dwelling place of the “derviches girovagos”, a religious mystic sect of the Muslim World. Mevlana was one of the greatest mystic philosophers of all times. His poems and religious writings are among the most respected and admired in the Islamic world. The museum is well worth a visit. It has a significant number of Korans including the smallest in the World. The tomb that has been ornamented in the Selyúcida style takes us back in time and helps us get a glimpse of how important the philosopher must have been.

In this very interesting city, trying to take cover from the pouring rain, we reach a marble mason’s workshop, but it is no ordinary workshop. It has specialized in tombstones. As usual we are invited to çay and since the rain continued, we continued with the çays and talking about death, the Islam, art and their tombstones. The following day we went back to say goodbye and we were surprised with an English-Turkish dictionary and a book of the Islam.

We had foreseen that leaving Konya would be a wet experience but in fact, we were like puppets in the strong wind and jolted for 41km by the uneven roads. We found ourselves in a flat, arid landscape. The rain continued to pour down and at the end of the 41 km we started looking for a place to take cover and spend the night. We thought we would find an abandoned tent but what we came across were the offices and the canteen of the road construction workers we had just been on. For a distance, it looked like a circus. The incredulous guard, after much insisting, allowed us to spend the night on the floor inside his shed. This is where we spent the night, with the light on and the TV on so that the nice old man could spend the night on guard watching the Turkish soaps that are so popular.

The next day, we stopped at Sultanhai alter a sunny day in which the wind helped us cross the Turkish steppe. This lonely village stands out for its impressive Selyucida Karvan constructed in 1229. It is the largest in Turkey. Huge walls safeguard the insecure outdoors from the inside. These places were refuge for the travellers who crossed the Route of Silk on camels in the 13th Century. These dwellings were built within 15 to 30 km of each other, the land covered in one day. The owner of Karvan Pension invited us to a few glasses of delicious wine from the area. The next day, the owner who had fallen in love with Machús, would not stop calling out her name. “María, María”, all over the pension so that he could say good-bye.

We arrived at Selime after pedalling for six hours and having travelled for 80km. At dusk, we decided to spend the night in an old town. We looked for the cave-house we liked best and we settled for the night. We had a rice, chorizo, onion and tomato bocata with the full moon lighting our romantic dinner. In the distance, we heard the calling for prayers.

The Ihlara Valley is found deep inside a canyon and it is protected by an arid steppe. It must be highlighted due to the churches in which one can find medieval frescos with their Pantocrator included. We had a quiet day following the Ihlara River to Selime. In Selime, we visited the Monastery, carved on the stone where we saw the stables, the kitchen and many houses that had also been carved in the rock.

In Ihlara, we took refuge in a vaulted, thick-walled construction. We were accompanied by many birds that had nested their. Unfortunately, we covered the windows with plastic and more than one was seriously surprised by the new architectural barrier.

Their singing and fluttering told us that it was time to get up but the cold keeps us inside our sacks for another hour. We apologise before leaving and pay them a few bread crumbs for any inconvenience. We are on our way to Goreme, but that’s another story.

Sunday, 5th April, 2009 It’s cold and it’s raining in Anatolia. Spring is giving us a hard time.

Once our break was over and we had got over our attack of laziness, we were on our way. We were at the mercy of spring and were able to enjoy an incredible landscape. Ibrahim, the friendly owner of the Lale Pension suggested that we take a short cut to get to Beysehir. So far, so good, only problem was that the short cut was nowhere to be seen on my maps. “This is normal.” I convinced myself, these Turkish maps are not as good as the roads. However, things began to change when we got to Aksu. After approximately 10km, the road not only disappears form under our wheels but it becomes a muddy track. Some may think that this is great but when you add pouring rain to the picture, things change.

At 4.30 we are forced to call it a day, we have found an abandoned house that has become our home for the night. We quickly clean our rooms and improvise a window with some plastic to avoid drafts and the cold from coming in during the night. The ride was well worth the effort even though the rain made it difficult. We crossed fields with apple trees surrounded by incredible mountains covered by snow-white peaks. Village after village each one more remote, would greet us with incredulous faces and easy smiles on seeing two foreigners dressed in such a strange way. The smiled even more when they realised that one of the strangers was a longhaired bay (man).

The next morning the weather seemed to promise a sunny day but it broke its promise as we started to climb the mountain pass that was on our maps. In only 10km we were 1810 metres high and it not only became freezing cold but a fine penetrating rain accompanied us until we reached Yenisarbademli which is 12km on the way down. Freezing, with no food and with no energy to continue we are invited to cays some of the elders who also lit the heaters so that we could warm up. Imagine the state we were in! An hour later, the sky was blue again and we were on our way once more. The rest of the journey would take part in an earthly paradise of different shades of blues, greens, and whites. Each curve would make our face turn right and then left trying to take in a landscape to beautiful to understand all a single glimpse. The immense Beysehir Gölü Lake with its crystal clear waters and snowy peaks struggled to become the main character in this spectacular landscape that was spiced with the misty dew of the intense green of a humid spring.

Beysehir wakes up with wet streets and a grey, rainy sky. We try to make a decision as to whether to go on or not. We decide to continue. Our luck is drawn. The day is to be a difficult on as we will have to cross 90km of unknown territory in the rain. We set off wearing all our clothes including our rain pants that our friend Luisa so kindly gave us. After 20km we have to stop at a petrol station where a very nice manager quickly lights the heater and invites us to çay. We talk for a while. Outside the storm was still strong, so we waited. Half an hour later and although the man insisted that we stay, we were off. We had only done 20km so we had to do at least 20 more. After 45km we had to stop as we were drenched from top to bottom at another petro station. These have become our modern caravasares where the managers are always friendly and treat us kindly. Davut, the bored assistant, is very surprised by our entrance but he eventually reacts by starting the heater and boiling water for çay. We take our shoes off as we are drenched. Machus changes her socks but I keep my feet close to the firewood heater. Davut is kind and gets some flip-flops for Machús and his other pair of boots for me. We communicate with signals and odd words here and there but there is something that inevitably works and human beings will understand our universal language if we have the disposition to do so. This was the case.

Outside it was snowing strongly and time was against us. We were in the middle of nowhere or as one may put it, the point of no return. We had five cays in an hour and eventually the sun made a timid appearance. We quickly got ready and decided to go all or nothing. We set off with Davut’s warnings that we should expect to find sharp slopes. We did.

Our legs slowly began to obey us; the clouds disappeared as if by magic and the sun reigned in the sky. We began to gain advantage and kilometre after kilometre we soon reached our first pass at 1560km. We didn’t mind as the sun was shining and our invisible friend was blowing in our favour. The second pass came 15km after Konya at 1460 metres but this didn’t seem to matter either as we were just 15km from our finishing line and ahead was dramatic descent. During the descent I am attacked by three furious dogs. Machús stopped to have a drink. We reach Konya at dusk and thanks to two happy youngsters and to their father who lent them his motorbike, we promptly reach our hotel. Otherwise, we would have been up and down the streets of the city that has over 750,000 inhabitants.

Mili and Machús informing with a belly full with four Tavk kebabs from the spotlessly clean Ulusan Otel in Konya. Recommeded even for the most demanding.