Dust storm on the silk road

We wake to a decent breeze and to turkish hospitality: the guard and garden workers of the Obruk caravanserai, in whose garden we are camped, all pass by to say hello and offer us fresh sesame rolls.

Today we will continue along the silk route towards Sultanhani, the largest Caravanserai in Antolia. Pedalling off on the side roads, we have the wind behind us passing through small old villages on the plain. We puzzle the enormous number of electricity pylons and the source of water for the irrigated verdant crop patches on the otherwise dry land. Does over-extraction of water account for the huge reduction in size of the lake, which must once have covered all the plain and which is nowhere to be seen, despite our optimistic map?

The wind is seriously on the rise and is increasingly across or against us. It’s getting very very murky with dust. By the time we are back on the main dual carriageway its a challenge to stay upright and to progress forwards. Alice decides that combining pedalling and braking helps with not whizzing sideways into the road. We are relieved to arrive into the relative shelter of town.

Gritty but still smiling we wander around the calm Sultanhani which in the 13th century would have offered free accommodation, stabling, food and baths to passing travellers.Read more