Day 234: Mihalıcçık> Ankara
The day was excellent, with many descents, breathtaking landscapes and villages lost without any traffic, to change what we used to have. As the hours go by, we go from uncommon roads to dirt roads, where we meet men, women and children working in the fields to recover onions.
At the end of the day, to get to Polatlı, we took the highway for about fifteen kilometers where again, as for Istanbul, the cars are dangerous. Being a day trip from Ankara, we decided to take the bus to the capital to avoid staying on the highway until there. Obviously it was a mission to take it with our bikes, where the driver forced us to pay a supplement (more expensive than the ticket) to embark otherwise it left without us. After this misfortune, we found ourselves in a hotel (the hostel being full at that time) where we spend two nights.
Result of the day: 98 km
Day 235: Ankara
Today is the time of the visits, not the time to be silly! We were able to visit the city better than Istanbul, being better prepared this time. We also spend time drinking and eating in different restaurants and bars of the city.
For my simple and quick review of Ankara: Noisy, too modern, little charm. After that is only my opinion, not seeing Turkey at all like this before my coming.
Day 236-237: Ankara> Samsun
Knowing the risks and horrible feeling of pedaling through the city, we decide to take the last bus to take us directly to Samsun where we are now, but obviously it was complicated otherwise it is not funny. We took the lead by taking 2 tickets each to make sure we did not have a problem with the bikes.
Before that, we went through a bike shop to do the usual overhaul and repair my rear brakes (no longer from Belgrade). Already, this begins well, they do not know my hydraulic brakes, so no intervention from them on. Then, with the prices extremely expensive (and in euros), we left (by taxi) to the Decathlon of the corner to buy gourds).
In the shopping center where Decathlon is, we tested a 7D cinema to change the ideas, it was a very good experience! Once the gourds were in their pockets (and a new duvet for Imad), we went back to the bicycle shop where we had left the bikes for them to occupy.
After a return to the hotel to collect our luggage, we are back on the expressways to reach the bus station where we will wait more than 4 hours for our bus. We would like to thank Tarik, who offered us the meal we had taken!
Once the bus to the station (after 45 minutes delay), we had to fight to be able to take it, the drivers not wanting to take our bikes in the bunkers (when we took 2 tickets express!)
6 hours of travel later, here we are in Samsun, the Turkish capital of the Black Sea! It is 7 am when we have breakfast in a cafe a few kilometers from the bus station (it’s really convenient to put it 5 kilometers from the city ..). We then took our hotel downtown so we were not far from anything. Once installed and shower taken, we set out to conquer the city, much less impressive than expected. We are looking to parachute jump in vain, so it will be next time!
We also go through a “zouk“, but the modernity of the place does not excite me absolutely contrary to what I have already seen in the Sultanate of Oman, which is a pity. As usual, we go through the cinema box, where we saw the last film of Tom Cruise. We also went to a zoo, the cheapest and one of the sadiest I have ever seen ..
In short, it is planned to go karting tonight and leave tomorrow for at least 60 kilometers on the highway in order to stay on the side!
