7 July, Doğanşehir to
Gölbaşi, 71km
Serhat Hotel 110TL (breakfast included)
What a fabulous ride, much of it downhill.
A 7km climb dragged us out of Doğanşehir
back onto the D300. We dropped then into a valley, cycling past small fish
farms, and pretty riverside garden restaurants. We had been dreading the
mountain pass shown on our map, but from the Doğanşehir side this proved to be
a 4km climb only; it is the road on the Gölbaşi side that qualifies it as a
pass. This flung us through a short stretch of roadworks halfway down a
mountain where the road clung to a cliff that edged the gorge and river below us.
Through a tunnel we went, surprised and shocked to find there were no lights in
it, plunged into complete darkness for its short length. Then down again into
the valley south of the gorge, where women washed wool in an aquamarine stream,
slapping it with wooden paddles, the sound echoing up to us on the road above. Then
one more climb and a 4km downhill into town where we have treated ourselves to
a three-star hotel. Each loss of altitude resulted in a noticeable increase in
temperature; as I write at after 18:00, it is 35 degrees in Gölbaşi.
Between Doğanşehir and Gölbaşi
Between Doğanşehir and Gölbaşi
Between Doğanşehir and Gölbaşi
Between Doğanşehir and Gölbaşi
Between Doğanşehir and Gölbaşi