Day Seventy Four

 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 hills. Cool sections of river.Camp might prove tricky, I thought to myself as I join the main highway towards Kayseri. I’m tiring now, so cross the highway and train line, ducking down a track to find a spot in a harvested field. Just as I stop, a man in car shouts at me! He comes round to meet me and lead me out. It turns out he was the security and I’d entered some sort of farm with a perimeter. With no real options for a camp before Kayseri, at least not a peaceful one, I concede shamefully, to a hotel.  I cook in an industrial estate on the outskirts of the city, and book the cheapest hotel I can find. £15, 2star. I check in to a perfectly fine room, no AC but a window that opens fully - it hasn’t been above 30 today so I have no trouble sleeping.





RIP to a real one










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