13 August, Ağri to Eleşkirt, 38km
Öğretmenevi 35TL
A short, easy ride in preparation for two
longer days to Erzurum, our next biggish destination. In this, Turkey’s hottest
month, farmers and villagers everywhere are preparing for the long, harsh
winter. Animal fodder is being piled high beside modest homes and covered with
a tarpaulin, usually blue, sometimes yellow or green. Ditto cow dung patties,
recycled fuel. For safety rather than show, and also because the first thing
people ask us is “Where do you come from?”, Charl and I fly the South African
flag from a long rod on the back of our bikes. The rod is
angled into the road so that the flag flutters at the eye-level of a driver,
the colourful bunting suggesting politely that he give us a little more space.
Few people in Turkey have recognised the South African flag; a couple have mistaken
it for the Palestinian flag. On the west coast a policeman stopped me to say I
must straighten the rod so that is does not stick out beyond the width of the
bike. When my sign-language explanation of the purpose of the flag finally got
through to him, he grinned, nodded and waved me away.
Between Ağri and Eleşkirt
Between Ağri and Eleşkirt
Between Ağri and Eleşkirt
Between Ağri and Eleşkirt
Arriving Eleşkirt