Air balloons, Sick of Turkey, Lada's everywhere and reaching the caspian sea

We set off to meet my brother Jo in Goreme. It was an easy ride, on the typical Turkish roads that we were already getting used to. We encountered our first rain since Bulgaria and arrived in Goreme in the afternoon. Descending into the valley, with all its rock-formations, different colors and caves was very special. We met with my brother in the hostel and by coincidence Tom and Liam, 2 cyclists we met in Istanbul, were staying in the same hostel.

The next day we explored the valley and in the afternoon we set off to find a camp spot in the park to watch the balloons the next morning. We camped on top of the valley and had probably one of the best sunsets so far. The next morning, waking up with the sound of 150 hot air balloons taking off was a spectacular view.

Jo, enjoying sunset in Cappadocia

For the next 3 weeks Jo would join us through the eastern part of Turkey, towards the border with Tbilisi. Going east meant going uphill, a lot. We passed a few 2000m passes, had amazing views over the valleys and again were met with great Turkish hospitality. On our planned last day in Turkey, Eef and I got food poisoning. We found ourselves vomiting our lunch out at what would have been a great campsite next to lake Cildir. The next day we went to Cildir and checked into the only hotel, which seemed to be run by a 14 and 16 year old boy. We started to feel a little bit better and thought we could leave the next morning to Georgia, something we were looking forward to after almost 1 month and a half. That night Eef and I woke up to the sound of Jo vomiting dinner out. We looked at each other and said the same thing: ‘we will not leave tomorrow.’ So we stayed a night longer in this crappy, overpriced hotel. The next day it would finally happen, cycling to Georgia. We had an easy border crossing on both sides and immediately everything changed: roads were different (worse), people, towns and alcohol. Not that we’re addicts but it had been a while since we had a fresh beer after a day of cycling.

the views in Turkey

It was an easy three day ride to Tbilisi. Jo was still not feeling well, so decided to take a taxi while Eef and I would cycle it. Nature really is amazing in Georgia and the temperature much better. Not 35 degrees anymore but more like 25. Perfect to cycle. We arrived in the evening in Tbilisi, feeling very tired. Cycling these 3 days really took a lot of effort for our bodies which were still recuperating from the food poisoning. We stayed in an Airbnb as Eef’s sister was joining us for 3 days in Tbilisi. We had a week off the bike and really needed it. We spend most of the time resting, recharging and drinking real coffee. Finally after one week we both were feeling better again and left Tbilisi, onwards to Azerbaijan. Back with two, Jo and Bie flew back home.

Foggy morning the day we rode to Tbilisi

Azerbaijan was only one day of cycling away from Tbilisi. Riding towards Azerbaijan, the landscape changed again to flat roads and less green landscapes. The border crossing went smoothly. Again an example of the benefits of being a tourist in less touristy parts of the world: everybody lets you pass and they open an extra office for passport control. It felt more like Turkey. It was the Turkish hospitality, random people paying for our food and a lot of chai offers, but with a more soviet touch, alcohol everywhere and women on the streets.

We both had no idea what to expect from the country. In the end it feels like it was just a transit country, you just need to get through it to reach the Caspian Sea. But it also surprised us. It has flat desert-like landscapes but in the north it has mountains and beautiful green landscapes, friendly people and great camping spots. With just the main road to follow it meant a lot of traffic. The cars in Azerbaijan probably consist for 90% of old Lada’s producing a lot of smoke, probably not so healthy for us cyclists.

With reaching Baku the 2nd part of the trip is finished. We stayed in Baku for 3 days, exploring the old town and the new town with it big buildings and great architecture. The contrast between Baku and the country side couldn’t be bigger. You can see that most of the money goes to the development of Baku and the rest of the country just has to figure it out for themselves.

From Baku it was a day’s ride to the port, located 70km to the south of Baku. We were lucky having a tailwind so we made it just before midday and the real heat. We were prepared for the adventure of getting the ferry. Reading a lot of blogs, texting other cyclists who took the ferry before us. But it seems we were one of the lucky few and got the boat the same day we arrived, but that is a whole different story.

Until next time!

Baku

Baku