Just before the sun started to get really hot, we headed to Ankara, our destination for that day. We decided to take the shortest route shown by Google, via Aksaray. But as we came near to Lake Tuz, located around 60 km (37.2 miles) from Aksaray, this immense salt lake in the distance caught our attention and we decided to take a closer look. As the second largest lake in Turkey, it occupies a land depression of 1,665 km2 (1034.5 miles2) in the central plateau of Turkey. The country’s three major cities—Konya, Ankara, and Aksaray all meet on its shores.
This Post is part of 15-day motorbike ride from Lebanon to Bulgaria across Turkey and back. Use the links at the end of the post for more insights about this adventure, the challenges and achievements
After a couple of hours of riding the highway surrounded by golden fields of wheat and other crops, we reached the lake at around noon. The approach to the lake was crowded with tourists and merchants selling their wares, but once we walked a little way along the shore, the noise began to fade and we found ourselves immersed in a special calm. As this was “the dry season”, a thick layer of salt was exposed. We lingered to contemplate the beauty until the reflection from the white surface of the lake blurred our vision, and we started to feel the burning sun on our skin. Additionally, we still had a long road ahead of us and the challenging mission of finding accommodation.
The road to Ankara was almost entirely straight, which made the few slight bends there were so enjoyable. To offset the mind-numbing effect of the monotonous scenery of arable land on both sides of the highway, we had a couple of quick stops to refresh ourselves and avoid dehydration with some snacks and drinks.
We reached Ankara at around 5 pm. Using the Booking.com app we identified a few reasonably priced hotels near the city center. We selected one called Maltepe 2000 and booked a couple of rooms for the night. Taking a stroll in the bustling city center, we headed to Biber Café & Bar. After a couple of drinks and a light dinner, we decided to call it a day. Although there was plenty of city life to explore here in the coffee shops and restaurants as well as in the nightclubs and bars with big outdoor terraces, we chose to go back to the hotel before midnight to get some rest. Having done a lot of walking, we were ready to dive into cool, clean sheets and enjoy a good night’s sleep.
The reality didn’t live up to our expectations, however. The Hollywood-themed rooms weren’t actually as promising as they looked. The air conditioning had stopped working and the heat and humidity in our rooms were unbearable. The hotel management was helpful and immediately tried to fix it, but in the end, they had to move us to another room. Just before the alarm clock rang, I woke up to the sound of dripping water. I thought I was dreaming but no —the ceiling was leaking right above my bed and straight onto the sheets. It was a nasty way to wake up. To be fair to the hotel, at least the breakfast buffet was good. After that, we were soon ready to start out on our next destination.
Read the whole adventure, day by day. Click on the links below
- TAKING THE FERRY BOAT FROM TRIPOLI, LEBANON TO MERSIN, TURKEY
- THE ROAD IS OURS: DESTINATION CAPPADOCIA
- UP AND ABOVE CAPPADOCIA
- THE ROAD TO ANKARA
- CROWDED ISTANBUL
- FROM WHEAT FIELDS TO SUNFLOWERS AT THE BULGARIAN BORDERS
- A PROMISE IS A CLOUD; FULFILLMENT IS RAIN
- WEATHERED IN VARNA
- LONG ROAD TO A SECLUDED BEACH HOTEL
- THANK YOU BODRUM FOR THE BREAK!
- THE BEACH IS CALLING! MARMARIS
- ON THE ROAD AGAIN
- BACK TO SQUARE ONE
- HOW DID IT ALL START?
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