As expected, Ankara is not exactly an oriental beauty - there are a few Bauhaus-style buildings left, like the main train station(Which is unfortunately hidden behind a lot of trees) - but most of what i've seen so far are late 20st century concrete buildings.

My silk-sleepingbag-liner has teared after using it for 5 years, but instead of buying a new one(Which would have taken some effort to find a shop selling this special piece of equipment) i got it professionally fixed by a tailor for TL 5.- - good for another few months i guess :-) I had planned to board the Doğu Ekspresi train to Erzurum in Ankara - the deadline to pickup the Iran-visa in Erzurum is getting closer and with the current pace by bike i won't make it in time. I also wanted to get to Iran before heavy winter in the turkish mountains sets in. So far for the plan - unfortunately the train is completely booked up for the next week due to the Bayram celebration. I'm not really eager to take a 12h bus-ride instead(I love riding by train) so i'll probably continue by bike until i have a better idea - one option would be getting a ticket for the train in Kayseri in one week, it's 340km from here - but this is still getting a close call to get to Erzurum and Iran.