Debs slept like a log, while I seemed to have a night plagued with thoughts. For some reason at 3am I decided I had to charge my camera battery, check on the bikes and come up with an alternative plan if Egypt is a no go area. Fortunately at some point I must have given up and fallen asleep.
After yesterday's rain we were greeted with a dry but grey morning. We quickly loaded, well at least as quickly as I move in the morning, handed back the key and then stopped at the market to buy bread and water.
We set off from the market and almost immediately encountered a hill, which continued for the next 9km. During the climb the grey skies were replaced by blue cloudless ones and the temperature rose quite dramatically. It was turning into a lovely if tough day. For once the views along the coast road weren't that spectacular; we had moved slightly inland and the road climbed almost dead straight through a pine forest.
When we eventually reached the top, the landscape opened up and we could once again see the sea. Our tired legs were rewarded for their efforts by a 7km descent which was a lot of fun if somewhat cold. The wind off the sea was quite chilly and I only had my t-shirt on, Debs had also neglected to put her coat on. It wasn't long before we were climbing again though, so we were soon warmed up. We were even warmer after we had stopped for a çay at a very new service station. We caused a bit of interest as we set off, watched by the passengers of a long distance bus that had stopped for a break.
The major roadworks that we have encountered over the last few days continued again. The whole of the south coast D400 is being straightened and widened. In Debs words 'half a job Johnson' is clearly involved, because you can be happily riding along a well surfaced piece of road and suddenly encounter a section of rocky dirt and gravel. This would be fine if these sections didn't go on for several kilometres. The long dragging hills and slippery unsurfaced roads were taking their toll. To help us along, a friendly wave or beep of the horn was never far away.
After a nice 2km descent we stopped for a lunch of bread, honey and crisps in a petrol station forecourt and then hit the road once again.
Unsurprisingly the road started to climb, this time though it was quite narrow which made avoiding the lorries and buses quite challenging. Fortunately like all of Turkey's roads outside of the cities, there wasn't much traffic.
The road wended its way precariously along the craggy coast, until we descended towards the town of Ovacik.
Being a coastal town we hoped to find a camp-site and then stop for the day. Although there were signs of big hotels being built, Ovacik has obviously not yet become a hotbed of tourism. We only found one guest-house, but they were asking too much money and it was pretty dire anyway.
The best laid plans having failed us, we stocked up on water and then carried on to try and find a free-camp. About 5km later and we have hopefully found the perfect spot. We are happily camped in a clearing, in the middle of some roadside woodland. It is one of the nicest places we have camped for a while, plus we are well concealed from the road.
I will attempt to have a thought-free night tonight, as I am sure we will be back in the hills tomorrow!
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