23rd September 2013 Sivas, Turkey to Erzurum, Turkey
A magnificent breakfast at Buruciye Hotel prior to departing Sivas. I can honestly say I have never seen a wider choice of foodstuffs... from honey comb, nougat, half a dozen types of olive, grilled aubergine..... many types of bread......
Eastern Turkey has a wild and dramatic landscape. Sparsely populated, expanisive and awe inspiring. The roads I followed, ran along valleys, crossed mountain ranges and huge plains. I reached an altitude of more than 7000 feet on several occaisions. At these altitudes temperatures plunged to 6 degrees. I rode through clouds..... Although challenging this is probably my most dramatic days riding thus far. Interestingly this year I have seen many other overlanders (on bicycles and motorbikes)... always in the opposite direction to me. Today I saw two cyclists climbing towards one of the mountain passes..... brave stuff.
Information for fellow travellers.... Today I have visited the Iranian consulate, Erzurum. I already had a visa authorisation code. The Consulate is located on Eminyet Sok. I am a UK citizen. Price was 180€ visa tomorrow... or 270€ visa today. To pay you have to visit a bank that is a 5 minute walk from the consulate. The bank is Ziraat Bankasi on Cumhuriyet Cad. When I got to the bank there was the mother of all Q's. Take a Q ticket as quickly as possible! I waited close to an hour before I got to a counter. The staff at the consulate speak good English. The guy who I dealt with is a Manchester United fan. I am fairly confident that my visa will be ready tomorrow. Not so difficult to pick up an Iranian visa in Erzurum provided you have an authorisation code.
I had another kebab..... quelle surprise. I then went on a beer hunt. Fail!
Erzurum mileometer 18824 (266 miles ridden)
I take the mileometer reading and then calculate miles ridden. Strangley the miles ridden that I calculate is always less than the journey distance given by Google maps?
A magnificent breakfast at Buruciye Hotel prior to departing Sivas. I can honestly say I have never seen a wider choice of foodstuffs... from honey comb, nougat, half a dozen types of olive, grilled aubergine..... many types of bread......
Eastern Turkey has a wild and dramatic landscape. Sparsely populated, expanisive and awe inspiring. The roads I followed, ran along valleys, crossed mountain ranges and huge plains. I reached an altitude of more than 7000 feet on several occaisions. At these altitudes temperatures plunged to 6 degrees. I rode through clouds..... Although challenging this is probably my most dramatic days riding thus far. Interestingly this year I have seen many other overlanders (on bicycles and motorbikes)... always in the opposite direction to me. Today I saw two cyclists climbing towards one of the mountain passes..... brave stuff.
I arrived in Erzurum, swiftly checked into Hotel Esadas 80TL (I stayed here last year ... the staff don't remember me!) I then walked to the Iranian Consulate to make the final arrangements to collect my Iranian visa.
Information for fellow travellers.... Today I have visited the Iranian consulate, Erzurum. I already had a visa authorisation code. The Consulate is located on Eminyet Sok. I am a UK citizen. Price was 180€ visa tomorrow... or 270€ visa today. To pay you have to visit a bank that is a 5 minute walk from the consulate. The bank is Ziraat Bankasi on Cumhuriyet Cad. When I got to the bank there was the mother of all Q's. Take a Q ticket as quickly as possible! I waited close to an hour before I got to a counter. The staff at the consulate speak good English. The guy who I dealt with is a Manchester United fan. I am fairly confident that my visa will be ready tomorrow. Not so difficult to pick up an Iranian visa in Erzurum provided you have an authorisation code.
I had another kebab..... quelle surprise. I then went on a beer hunt. Fail!
Erzurum mileometer 18824 (266 miles ridden)
I take the mileometer reading and then calculate miles ridden. Strangley the miles ridden that I calculate is always less than the journey distance given by Google maps?
No comments:
Post a Comment