Ah the joy of free camping! Somewhere around 11:30pm I was woken by gunfire, which as you can imagine is slightly disconcerting. Debs did stir but then promptly fell back asleep, leaving me wondering whether there was going to be more shots and how close were they to us. As I finally started to drift off again, the heavens opened and we were treated to torrential rain, thunder and lightning. This continued all night, or at least I assume it did because at some point I did fall asleep, but when I woke at around 5am it was still going on. Between the rain outside and the condensation inside the tent, it is fair to say that by the time we did get on the road everything was very damp.
Despite a bad night and the wet, we got along quite well, perhaps buoyed on by the knowledge that we would be in a guest-house tonight.
The rain having eased we stopped at a garage for our first break. The road had been pretty easy going so far, with only gentle hills.
Leaving the garage the rain started once again and a few kilometres down the road we came across the first big hill of the day. It certainly wasn't the steepest we have been up, but at 3.5km long it didn't have to be. Wearing waterproofs to keep out the rain and climbing hills, don't really go together. Very quickly you start to overheat and sweat so much, that you might as well be getting wet from the rain. With more effort than it should have been, two tired, very wet and considerably less enthusiastic cyclists made it to the top and headed down the disappointingly short descent.
Lunchtime was approaching so seeking refuge from the weather, we stopped at a very nice but overtly expensive restaurant. The food was pretty good and they lit the wood burning stove for us, so two drier, fuller and more cheerful people got back on their bikes. Lunch had obviously been a good plan as the rain had stopped, plus we were now following the very attractive Mediterranean coast road. I would like to say that the good weather lasted, but it didn't. The rain started again this time joined by a gusting wind. Not to be outdone, the road surface was terrible and the hills got steeper.
In truth the road was probably the same as it has always been and the hills were probably no worse. When you are cold, wet and miserable however, it starts to seem like everything is ganging up on you. There was some evidence to suggest that the previous statement was true, as when we arrived just outside Kaş the low road to the town centre was closed. Instead we had to climb steeply until the next turning and then free-wheel down into the centre. All the more galling because we will have to go back up the same hill tomorrow when we leave.
The guest-house we are in is OK, but was doing a very good impression of looking closed. At the moment our room looks like a laundry as we try and dry everything out before tomorrow. The rain has continued and the addition of some thunder and lightning meant that the town suffered a power cut while we were at dinner.
Today has been one of those 'pull the blanket over the top of your head and hope tomorrow is better' days!
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