A Long Way For A Curry

  25/07/25 I was keen to try and catch the famous balloons in flight, choosing not to ride in one. I cycled down to love valley for 5am, where I’d been told was the best place to place watch them. I wasn’t sure on the exact spot to see them, so I followed a few cars down a mile further to an obvious place. I waited and waited but they didn’t fly. Still it was an amazing view of the rising sun. Many others had the same idea and were taking wedding photos. Back at the gaff I had breakfast and got my kit together. I said farewell and thank you to my host, he apologised for being busy which was touching.  A lovely downhill followed, as I    took in the last of the cappadocian formations. Then came a big climb to a town where I had fun exploring the underground city. It was just my luck that a tour bus arrived just before me - I’d chosen this particular one because it was the quietest, supposedly. As I lunched by a lake, memories of cappadocia lingered in the surrounding ...

23/07/25   I don’t think I could have asked for any more from a day off in Cappadocia! I lay in sleeping decently considering the heat and the loud call to prayer. I enjoyed a leisurely morning, cooking a big breakfast of eggs and doing some bike maintenance. I discovered a crack in my front rack - I knew it was a mistake to have bought aluminium. I helped to secure it with cable ties, and hoped that it’d hold till Tbilisi. I’d seen if I could get a steel replacement or failing that a weld. I got out of the house at the crack of noon, checking out uchisar castle (from the outside) and beginning the walk down to Goreme. This is where my micro adventure began!  I entered Pigeon valley - so named because of the use of pigeon manure to fertilise the wineries. I had the place to myself, I couldn’t believe it! I spied spike that looked climbable and scrambled up it, taking in the views down the valley/canyon, as well as a couple of snaps. It was a bit windy up here, and the down cli...

23/07/25 An eventful day today, just what we like. A pleasant breakfast of honey and bread, basking in the morning sun. I left as the sun began to gain some strength, and whizzed along to the town of ortakoy. A couple in a car stopped me telling me I was going too fast and asked about my trip. They gave me red bull and a water. Then they gestured me over to a fruit stall, and bought me about 3kg of grapes. That’s not exaggeration. Thankful, but thinking to myself, what was one man meant to do with such a mass?! I found a cay place in a park and had a coffee. In classic Turkish fashion a man sat down next to me and so we talked enjoying the moment together. He even paid for my coffee too! Then got me a cay too as his friend came to join. As I tried to leave ortakoy, two metallic twangs rang out. The battle damage assessment was two rear spokes broken. I thanked my fortune as I was only 600m from a bike shop. Sipping on cay while he worked, I anxiously watched as he struggled to get my c...