Category: Daily Diary
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 50 – 24th September 2018
ODO 5877km Location Lake Cisor Weather 11-24 Today I’ve felt very down on Turkey and Kurds. After the stone throwing incident yesterday – this morning a young man shoots a cap gun out of the window as they pass. I’m so used to this now. Kids shout as I pass but I keep headphones in…
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 49 – 23th September 2018
ODO 5781km Location Digor Weather 11-29 Light showers Having stones thrown at you isn’t fun. I’d just stopped st a small town petrol station to top up my water bottles and chatted in my few words of Turkish and there’s of English. Pointing at the map and wondering if the border crossing I’d chosen would…
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 48 – 21th September 2018
ODO 5636 Location Dogubayazit Weather 8-25 Strong head wind The sight of the dark stone of Mount Ararat – the highest peak in Turkey – stirred in me a deep fear and excitement. A tightening of the sphincter I’ve only ever experienced by looking down in deep clear water to see I’m floating tens of…
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 47 – 20th September 2018
ODO 5488km Location Karabakac – just over the pass Weather 7-25 Up at 5am before sunset. On the road with the overnight lorry drivers and nobody else. Seeing the sunrise. The earth turning imperceptibly yet methodically like my wheel. It’s a real surprise to see someone coming the other way with a loaded bike. Today…
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 46 – 19th September 2018
ODO 5338 Location Ezisiye Weather 15-28 In turkey the earth takes on colours I’ve never seen. The earth rises thousands of metres between purple and black to the neon blue of the sky. Starting a deep grey on the morning with grizzly clouds licking the summits. Opening up onto ochers from life and death. The…
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 45 – 18th September 2018
ODO 5228km Location Past Erzincan off the highway Weather 5-30 a contrast from mountain to valley What is it with men shouting out of vans trying to scare me? The people I meet and the cars on the road have been growing progressively more and more friendly as I head east. Yet there is still…
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 44 – 17th September 2018
ODO 5078km Location Up a mountain near Kasaplar Weather 11-26 gusty headwind As I broke through the 5000km mark the mountains began. Just as they did with approaching Istanbul. Small undulations in the road. 20m up. 20m down. Then they grew to sweeping mountain climbs as the wind picked up to resist and buffer my…
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 43 – 16th September 2018
ODO 4942km Location Sivas Weather 5-26 I slept beautifully thanks to a new set of earplugs I bought to drown out the snores of the hostel room in Göreme. Waking a little before sunrise to pack up quickly and head back onto the Sunday highway. Quieter than the day before. 100km rolled by before lunch…
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 42 – 15th September 2018
ODO 4819km Location Saniglan Weather 15-26 Tailwind At the Cappadocia hostel I met a guy called Len who’s currently living in Mumbai and works for a company that owns some of those new top level domain names. Like .sucks and .limousine (his company owns more reputable ones than that but you get the picture). Technology…
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Ben Around the World Diary – Day 41 – 13th September 2018
ODO 4675km Location Göreme Weather 11-29 Windy! I was looking forward to flying in a balloon. As a kid I would be riding a scooter down the lane or playing with toy planes in the garden on a Sunday afternoon you’d become aware of a chatter coming from above. Looking up to the sound of…