After a lovely time in Köyceğiz and the Tango guest-house, we returned to the road today bound for Fethiye. We have the luxury at the moment of being able to travel very slowly, as Antalya is about 300km away and we don't need to be there until the 10th January.
Yesterday's cloudier skies gave way to bright sunshine today and we were soon feeling the heat as we rode up the hills towards Ortaca. Having already seen the first 20km of our route from a dolmuş window, we had been forewarned of two reasonably long hills. Probably because Turkey is so mountainous, the hills have just become obstacles that you have to get past. There is no sense in letting them bother you, you just select a low gear and plod away until you make it to the top, safe in the knowledge that there will be another one just around the corner!
Leaving the town of Ortaca the road started to climb steadily until we came across a tunnel through the mountainside. What a sense of relief that we wouldn't have to go over the top! What a sense of crushing disappointment when we discovered that along with tractors, high lorries, horse and carts, pedestrians, people who are too tight to pay the toll and rather bizarrely cars that are on fire, bicycles aren't allowed to use it.
It was so disappointing that I forgot to check my odometer and didn't notice that we had passed the 4000km mark, 'go us'!
While the rest of the motorists continued through the tunnel, the rest of us ragtag bunch struggled up a winding mountain pass until we reached the top, where we then stopped to take in the view and sped down the other side. There are some compensations to having to go over the top, the views are definitely better and the descent was a lot of fun. If only we had seen a car that was on fire struggling over the hill, it would have been all the more worthwhile!
With about 30km to Fethiye we stopped in the town of Göcek and had lunch. Despite the fact that we were very close to Fethiye, the plan was to free camp and then have a really short day tomorrow.
Before getting back on the road after lunch we stocked up on bread and water and then set off once again, straight onto another hill. I can honestly say there is nothing like a good long hill to help you wear off a full stomach, especially when you have just increased the weight of your bike with 5 litres of water. Finding somewhere to camp sooner rather than later was going to be the order of the afternoon.
Perhaps it was that we were so close to Fethiye but finding a suitable spot became a bit of a chore. I hold my hand up and say it was all my fault, there were places to stop, but I couldn't get any enthusiasm up for litter strewn areas just off the main road. Especially when there was a comfortable guest-house waiting down the road. Staying in a guest-house was defeating the object though, we were supposed to be taking it easy and saving money at the same time, so a camp spot would have to be found.
Eventually we turned off the main road just as it started to climb and went to investigate a camping sign. We didn't find the camp-site but we did meet an off-duty policeman who gave us an orange each, showed me his gun and told us how far it was to Fethiye (which we already knew).
Turning back to the main road we spotted a possible camp spot and went to investigate. Success! We are now sheltered from the road and the tent is largely level! Plus the small amount of litter masked the pasta that I spilled while trying to drain the water from the pan. For once my inability to work out pasta quantities turned into a good thing, or dinner would have been a good deal less filling.
It will be a short ride tomorrow, possibly via another tunnel, assuming we are allowed to use it.
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