After a night on the road near Akseki, we continue our way, taking on snow-capped mountains. On the road, many families stop to improvise sleds with tires or plastic bags, drink çay (tea) under a tree or just take a picture, all in spite of the cold and the gray. Arty is still up to no good and loses juice at times (we suspect a problem with the tank strainer): let’s say we have pleeeenty of time to enjoy the scenery.

We arrive at Konya, cradle of Sufism, and city of whirling dervishes, at the end of the day. Its wide avenues lined with recent buildings, then large administrative and cultural buildings give it an air of an old Soviet city, a little sad. Small sighting in downtown (more beautiful and lively), before finding our parking spot for the night.

The visit of the city center will be done on foot. But before the culture, the food: a restaurant to discover one of the specialties of the region, the etliekmek, between pizza and flammeküeche. We feast on our food before taking a stroll through the cobbled streets of the center and enjoy the Mevlana Museum. And too bad for this time, we will not see the whirling dervishes: the shows, it’s only during the weekend!

Restart at the end of the day, towards the crater of Meke 100 km further, just after the city of Karapinar.

Very nice panorama the next day, the crater is surrounded by a lake covered with snow and frozen spots, but there is no access by land.

Assessment of the morning climb by the steep slope: Loïc, Edrian and me at the top, Maëlia third, and Ntyalé in ambush.

The sky emerges little by little, some cars pass by, visitors who come to enjoy the panorama and take a picture. Then, it is the meeting with Mithat, a journalist in an Ereğli agency, too happy to have a new subject for his next article. Improvisation of a photoshoot, videos and interview session and chop chop, the article is published the next day: « Lörc », « Nariom » and their children are now local celebrities, ha ha!

We end the day with a mini walk around the crater, before a second night on the spot.

Great weather for our departure in the morning, we make a quick stop at Lake Acigöl a few kilometers further (which would have made a nice spot for the second night), before heading to Cappadocia.