30 July, Bitlis to Tatvan, 20km
Tatvan Park Hotel 80TL (breakfast included) (negotiated down from 120TL)
A short day during which we took a 4km
ride with someone vaguely official who, seeing us on the road outside Bitlis,
said we were not allowed to cycle the 2km tunnel just a couple of kms ahead of
us. He suggested we go back the way we had come and take the considerably
longer, hillier route that would bring us back onto the main road beyond the
tunnel. I suggested he drive us through the tunnel, which he reluctantly did. Tatvan
lies a little higher than Bitlis. We did all our climbing in the first 10km,
then had a long flat run into the town squeezed between the lakeshore and the
mountains to the south. Today was the last of the three public holidays
following Ramazan and the lakeshore was crowded with strolling families and
youngsters shooting at balloons strung above the waters and men drinking tea.
It was warm, but considerably cooler than it was on the Mesopotamia plain. The
last time I visited Tatvan I ate roasted chestnuts and it snowed.
Between Bitlis and Tatvan
Tatvan
Tatvan
Tatvan
Tatvan