Wednesday 15 December 2010

Day 87 Turkey 14/12/2010, Salihleralti–Bergama–Yenişakran. 38.56miles/63km, 3hr41minutes, Av 10.5mph.

The rain finally stopped during the night and there is a hint of blue sky around. Thanks to Turkey's heavy clay soil we were both covered in mud and our bikes weighed considerably more by the time we made it out of the still open gate.

None of this helped my mood as somehow we had lost a water bottle and a tent peg during the previous day. When we got back on to the road having struggled to remove the mud from our panniers, wheels and most importantly brakes it was into a strong headwind.

Just one day of calm and warm would be nice, we jumped ahead to Turkey for the weather and now it is looking like we shouldn't have bothered.

Just to pile on my misery Debs got another puncture in her front wheel. Changing the inner tube on a freezing muddy wheel is just what you need when you are having a bad day.

We slogged our way through the next 30kms until we reached Bergama and turned south into thankfully a slight tailwind. It was still only midday but I was already thoroughly fed up with the day, which was pretty much how Debs felt about me!

Deciding on an early lunch at a nearby restaurant turned out to be a good call. Some warm food and a couple of cups of tea and I was feeling much better. Debs even started talking to me again!

Back on the road we started to make better progress and the friendly waves and shouted hellos from the locals helped us along. A warming çay given to us by a garage attendant when we stopped for chocolate was just what we needed.

Our plan today was to try and find the camp-site that was marked on our map and then stop fairly early. We found the site, but unfortunately it was closed, which was a shame as it looked really nice. Pressing on to the next town we stocked up on water and set off looking for another free-camp. Several hills passed with no suitable places to stop, we were starting to hope that it wouldn't be like yesterday. Just as we were considering riding to the next town and finding a hotel, Debs spotted a track to some olive groves. It all looked good and then we spotted some people working just a bit further down. Grabbing the phrase book we decided we may as well try and ask them if we can stay. They certainly looked a bit surprised as we crossed the track to speak to them. With some badly pronounced Turkish and some pointing to the phrase book, the answer came back as yes. Great news! We didn't have to move on and we don't have to worry about sneaking off in the morning at first light. The man even offered us a cigarette; it was almost a shame that we both don't smoke. The friendliness of the Turkish people is something that can't be overstated.

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I made a bit of a hash of dinner tonight which is a trifle annoying. At least it was still edible though. A lesson has been learned, don't put pasta into a pan of cold soup and then heat it up. The pasta takes ages to cook and when it eventually does it turns to glue. I will be returning to the more reliable stir fry next time!

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