Week 14: to Cildir Golu: nice to be back in the tent

July 1, 2015

The elevator in the hotel is very small so we start early shuttling our stuff down. We are meeting Frans and Eveline for breakfast and we will all set out together.

Bikes loaded, pictures taken, the four of us set off on the road in front of our hotel that will take us out of the city, except it's a one way going right and we need to go left. We cycle up the street with typical Turkish traffic coming toward us.

The flowers along the road are in full bloom, spring has just reached this area--red, yellow, blue, pink, purple and white flowers. We reach the junction where we go right and Frans and Eveline go left. We say our goodbyes and hope to meet again in Georgia, though they will be a day ahead of us.

Our road quickly turns to big, loose gravel for a couple of kms, then a bit more hard packed and finally back to asphalt. There is a cross-wind making the 400 meters we gain tough going. "Where's the lake?" Patrick says, as we expect to see it around each bend in the road. Finally we get a view of the lake and the town 8 kms away. There is nothing of the town so our hopes are on the restaurant we were told past the town. We see the sign for the restaurant that offers picnic and camping...is it open? A car pulls in the driveway to the restaurant so we are hopeful. It's open!

We have tea and baklava that Patrick has carried from Kars. This time the tea is served with a pot of water and a pot of strong tea rather than in the small glass with a saucer. Later we go to the restaurant for dinner of salty fish (a fried carp) and salad of cucumber and tomato along with a dish of pickled vegetables and pickled cabbage. The owner of the restaurant shows us his guest book from 2003 to present and asks us to sign the book.

We end the day with a great sunset over the lake.

Tea bar at our hotel in Kars. Not the cheapest place one could find, but clean, comfortable and friendly.

We set off from Kars with Frans and Eveline and ride together for about 18 km. They are headed to Hanak in one day, we plan to take two days and go by way of Cildir lake.

Road construction, a dusty and unwelcome sight, on the climb to Cildir Lake.

The wildflowers are still awesome at this altitude.

First sight of the Lake. This place is especially beautiful in winter we are told, when the locals hold races on the frozen lake.

Just about every group of houses has a mosque. Stacks of cow dung are drying to provide fuel for warmth in winter.

We had spotted this restaurant on googlemaps and were hoping to camp there. We are surprised to find a little oasis with trees and grass along the lake. Camping is no problem and we have 4 or 5 dogs to keep the wolves at bay.

Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 4,466 km (2,773 miles)

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