From Barcelona to Tehran: Day 45

Day 45: Turkey should be Ashamed of itself for its Roads; From Konya to Aksaray in Turkey

June 14, 2012; Distance covered today: 153 Km; Total: 3480 Km

I went to bed with one thing on mind: get out of this hotel as soon as possible. So I did. Woke up at 4:30, was out of hotel at 5:10. On my way, I stopped at a vendor’s stall and bought two bagle kind of thing with a glass of hot milk. After half hour so so, just outside Konya, I had two more with a cup of tea from another road vendor. Then I rode my bike; I mean nonstop. I knew I had a long way to go, about 140 Km so I would just push it so hard. The road was “OK” compared to other roads in Turkey, and that’s because it was flat. As soon as the roads in Turkey gets a tiny little bit of angle, you get tar on instead of bitumen.  When covered about 100 Km, I stopped at a gas station, bought a can of tuna with a loaf of bread. When I was having it in the corner of the gas station, three young guys with some snack joined me. We talked a little bit about why I am not married and how they could come to Canada to make “para” which means money. The grass is always greener, isn’t it?

Because I was talking to the guy, the lunch break took a little longer than I expected. It was hot already, but at least it was not uphill so I could do fast and let the air go through my clothes. I soon, at about 2, reached 25 km to Aksaray. I stopped at a shop, bought a big carton of fruit juice and sat there to cool myself off. There were three teenagers there before some other guys came by and we talked. I hate to repeat myself but I have to. One of them was arguing with me why I have to get married because I am a Muslim. I actually shot a video of him doing so. It was very funny.  Whatever I said, he would say, “I don’t care and I don’t know. You have to get married if you are a Muslim. That’s it, that’s all”.

The guys at the shop. Can you guess who was the person arguing with me?

I checked my GPS, and saw that there was a campground in Aksaray. Well, I had the same thing in Konya and you know what happened.  But when I asked the guys at the shop I had stayed at, they said that there was one. I kept riding. The road turned into a disaster. I just don’t understand why Turkey cannot deal with its roads. I mean seriously… how technologically and logistically complicated is paving a road?! Turkey should be ashamed of itself and Turkish people should be ashamed of themselves that they don’t complain to their government and mayors for such horrible condition. 

Tar and Oil on Gravel

I biked along the suburbs of Aksaray toward Ankara, then I was surprised to find a campground inside a hotel. It was called, Motocamp. I checked in, pitched up my tent, took a shower (boy was it refreshing?), bought some groceries, and enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing in the backyard of a hotel with no one in the site.  

Cooking although food is cheap in Turkey because normal portions do not fill me up