In order to get to Georgia before the cold weather hits the mountain passes I make an intuitive decision to bus quickly through Istanbul to Ankara instead of the planned ferry on the Black Sea.
I got an unbelievable 8 and 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. The breakfast had a huge variety of Turkish specialties. A noon checkout was perfect to get all my bicycling gear fully sorted out.
Since I got a flat in the first 17 minutes of riding in Sophia I'll definitely buy a new tube and I could use a few other small items.
The ride through the city gives me an idea of what life is like here. For the size of the city it's surprisingly livable. There is a huge open space park where an amazing amount of temporary structures are being constructed. A summer festival is already running in another park and this event is theatre and cultural stage meetings for another long weekend in early September.
There is an enormous amount of construction going on in Ankara same as in Istanbul. A brand new football stadium for 45,000 seats, hotels, apartments, bridges and roads. It's not China, it's Turkey, where are they getting the money from?Read more
August 25 in Turkey