Not a normal day.

Place: Ankara

Tunes: No pockets in the motocross shirt, so no ipod. You can imagine what a vuvuzela sounds like. Make it a bit more boring and you know what the exhaust of the BMW sounds like.

We are now in Asia. It is almost impossible to pay for the toll roads though.

Finnish soldier, come and get some bread...

Driving at the speed of light.

This morning there was some completely unnecessary sightseeing. I did not go as I was trying to fix my lights. Now they are even worse than they were, not that it can get much worse. Maybe I can duct tape a glow-worm on the antlers to double the light output. Whoever designed these lights should be shot!

Count the credit card machines on the desk. Why?

As we were leaving Istanbul, there was a bit of drama with the parking lot attendant who had a different idea on the motorbike parking prices than on the previous evening. After much shouting and waving of hands there was a bit of wrestling and a two-by-four was brought out. He also tried to block us in with his customer’s cars. Without success. How pathetic is that! 

The local people watching the show sided with us and told us just to ignore him but this was a man of principle. We got out of it eventually without too much bother. 

Today there was a slightly different pace to the show on the road and despite a late start we made it to the hotel in good time. The total driving time was something like seven-eight hours lunch included making this one of the shortest days so far. The highways are good, but you have to pay for that kind of fun. The last 50-30km to Ankara was very scenic and nice. Rolling hills with a sunset and all that. 

Would I rather be using public transportation? Would you?

Ankara itself cannot compete with Istanbul in terms of interesting things to see and is really just a convenient stop for us.

Rest assured. The 12h days will continue the day after tomorrow if not sooner as we have two border crossings to make and a drive to Beirut from Adana.

Turkish hospitality. Very tasty.