Sunday June 22, 2014, 87 miles (140 km) – Total so far: 3,402 miles (5,475 km)

June 21, 2014 44 miles We slept in today and had more visa work to accomplish so didn’t get started until 10. It was a fine Saturday morning for a ride. We continued through the threat of thunderstorms and toured through the walled city Isnik for lunch. There were several wedding celebrations happenings with car parades on almost every narrow street. Someone opened up their car door on Jocelyn and partially knocked off a rear pannier. Fortunately she didn’t fall. We continued uphill for another 15 miles until we spotted a lake with several locals camping and fishing. We joined the lakeside unofficial campground. A large thunderstorm hit the area around 8 and didn’t stop until 12:30 am. The tent held up fine but it was a muddy mess in the morning.

June 22, 2014 43 miles We continued climbing then had a nice downhill run to the city of Pamukova where we restocked our camping foods and had a fine lunch. On the way out of town we spread out our tent to dry at a local gas station. Lots of people stopped by and tried to chat with us. Of all the countries we have visited Turkey is the friendliest and has the nicest drivers. It seems almost all give us a friendly honk and wave. We made our way to the start of the uphill climb to the capital city of Angora where we will visit two consulates for visas. The afternoon climb was exhausting but the scenery beautiful as we passed several mountain villages. Near sunset as we were looking for a camping spot we saw a motel in the town of Tarakir and immediately dropped our anchor.