We have to be out of Turkiye by April 21st at the latest, however we will likely make a run for the Bulgaria border either the 19th or 20th. So, just over a week to go.
That will give us about five and a half weeks to make our way from the Turkiye/Bulgaria border to the northern tip of Denmark where we get on the ferry June 1st for the trip to Norway. A distance of about 3,100 kms (1,900 miles).
Yesterday, we got up at 6:00am again in order to avoid any traffic problems getting out of the center fo Ankara.
Yep, we definitely avoided any traffic problems!
We drove to a big grocery store on the outskirts of the city and waited in their big parking lot until they opened at 10:00am. Then we did some stocking up and carried on to a new RV campground north of the city.
Stopped to refuel, again at 19.99 lira per liter ($1.72 CAD, €1.25) or $5.14 USD per gallon.
While this will get us to the Bulgaria border, we will fill up one more time before we leave Turkiye because we won't be seeing fuel this cheap again for a long time. Prices are quite a lot higher through Europe.
Where old amusement park rides go to die.
Pulled into the Kurtboğazı Karavan Park which is located at a big picnic and day use park area on Kurtboğazı Lake. It's run my the municipality and they only built the RV park area last year.
There are maybe 15 or 20 sites, but when we pulled in there were only three available. And yet there was nobody around. We think that people from Ankara have long term sites here and only come on weekends.
Kurtboğazı Karavan Park.
But Max got himself a decent site with electric included for 100 lira ($8.60 CAD, $6.80 USD) per night.
We went for a walk and explored the park...
Kurtboğazı Lake is a reservoir that supplies Ankara with water.
It's a really pretty park with a lot of picnic areas.
Kurtboğazı Lake.
Looking back towards Ankara.
Another view.
Max in his spot.
GPS 40.273943, 32.693384
Every site has a picnic table, an outdoor light, an electrical outlet, an outdoor sink and faucet, and a big potbelly type of wood fireplace. There is also a large washroom building, but no showers.
The main reason we came here was to empty and refill, however we're glad to have the electricity as well. There's a cold snap coming through that started yesterday evening with overnight lows near the freezing mark so our electric heater got used. And tonight is supposed to get below freezing, but we're moving on today anyhow. We're still 400 kms (280 miles) or so from Istanbul and we want to arrive there on Friday. We like to break up the drive!
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Decent price drop on the popular Coleman Pack-Away Portable Kitchen.
And in Canada...
Strange that a big grocery store wouldn't open until 10:00 - you wouldn't see that in Canada.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we thought that it might have opened up at 9 am but it is in a big mall and it doesn't have a separate entrance so I guess it opens when the mall opens.
DeleteTwo suggestions for Bulgaria. The ancient city of Plovdiv has lot's of Roman ruins. The capital of Bulgaria Sofia is worth a day visit. Go early and see the monastery at Rila in the mountains (Great places to camp) southwest of Sofia. You may see Ukrainian refugees in Plovdiv.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestions we will definitely keep them in mind. We haven't put too much thought into our route back to Germany other than we want to go through Romania and we probably will take the most direct route we can to save a little on fuel so Plovdiv could happen, not sure about Sofia. Also the weather will probably dictate our route as well. What we don't see on this visit, we will see on another. There are still lots of places in the Balkans that we want to spend more time in when we have more time and better weather. :-)
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