measures

We camped at a breath clouding 2.2km altitude 20 miles West of Erzincan to enjoy a 30 minute descent after breakfast. The road tracked a narrow gorge which eased into valley before flattening to a broad plain. Many a murder of crows cawed and banked around our bikes as we hurtled into the morning city sprawl. We lingered in cafes until evening; almost made camp out of town before speeding ten miles back for the forgotten phone. I enjoyed racing in the night-time traffic and eventually the full-darkness camping out on that plain. In the morning there were huge dogs feasting on cow spines on grass that could almost have been golf-course trim. The road on to Erzurum was beautiful, winding beneath great rocky promontories that bleed tons of scree and shingle to both supply and confound the ambitious and neglected looking infrastructure projects around the mountains. I made my fifth thousand mile just at the top of another high pass; it took almost 20 minutes. The next six down the other side to Aşkale took less than ten minutes, so it goes. Today in Erzurum marks my fifth month from home. I feel milestones literal and of a vaguer sort. I'm staying here with a wonderful family. Twice to dinner, the cinema for 3D zombies, icecreams, successful sleeping bag shopping (comfortable to minus 4 and alive in minus 20 all for 800 grams - forget the cost), castle tours and traditional çay/nargile houses; I was only allowed to pay the sleeping bag. I'll stay a few days, maybe ditch the bike to hitch a little South while I wait on that visa code. This morning an 8mm thorn came out of my foot where it'd burrowed and swollen for ten days invisible, as I suspected, to ultrasound... The eldest son is about to come home bearing a surprise - hopes we're hungry.