Despite the fact that for a good hotel the sound proofing in the room was awful, it felt like we were in the mosque when the call to prayer sounded at 5:30am, we slept well. Breakfast was also a bit of a triumph, they had the best selection of foods that we have had from any hotel in Turkey. We ate like only a cycle tourist faced with a buffet breakfast can, piling on the calories for the day ahead.
Much to the disappointment of the bellhops we managed to sneak our luggage downstairs, so no tip for them. We loaded our bikes in the storeroom and then were quickly ushered through the foyer. Anyone would think that they didn't want people wheeling bicycles through the lobby!
For the last few hundred kilometres, we have known that we would have one more section of hills to cross before reaching the Syrian border. According to the 'bike toaster' website, we would be climbing to just under 800m over a distance of about 15km, with a long descent afterwards. Even though we have been over steeper and longer hills, we have somewhat built this one up.
After grabbing some bread and water, you never know what supplies will be available further down the road, we headed out of Iskenderun and almost immediately began to climb. Surprisingly the climb was not as steep as we had been expecting, in fact the only real challenge was the temperature. Like every day for the last week it was well into the 20s (70s for our Fahrenheit understanding readers) and with little or no cloud cover, the sun beat down heavily upon us.
We need not have worried about supplies as the road through the mountains was lined with shops. After being used to the narrow roads and limited supplies of most of the mountain passes we have been through, the wide, good-surfaced, built-up road came as a bit of a shock. The town of Belen seems to take up much of the pass; it must be one of the longest towns in Turkey!
After about 16km of cycling we were beckoned over by some bus drivers and given some welcome çay. Just before leaving, they told us that 1km down the road we would be at the top and it was downhill from there. True to their word, it was!
The huge climb that we had ahead of us was finished, perhaps it's because we built it up, or maybe after 5000km we find the climbs much easier, either way it was a bit of an anticlimax. The descent on a good road surface was a lot of fun though. Especially when I got the overhead speed sign to register that I was going 4km/h over the 50km/h speed limit!
Never expecting to get so far so early, we stopped for lunch and then continued on to the town of Kirikhan. By now it was about 2pm and we passed a sign telling us that Reyhanli was 39km away. There seemed little point in spending another day in Turkey if we could make the border today.
Setting off at a good pace on the now flat road, we would have made good progress if I hadn't had a screw pierce through my rear tyre. Seriously what is it with me and tyres?! The puncture wasn't really a problem but the hole in the tyre potentially is. I may try and get the tyre welded at one of the many tyre repair places that we keep encountering.
Puncture repaired and we were back on the road and making good progress. Once again we spent lots of the journey waving and shouting greetings to passing motorists. If the wind hadn't started to get stronger with 20km still to go, we would have breezed into Reyhanli. As it was, we both started to suffer from tired legs and it was with some relief when the town came into view.
Seeing a couple of hotels advertised we headed into the town centre, which of course was uphill, and eventually found one of them. It isn't the best place we have stayed, but it has a very hot shower and at the end of five hours in the saddle, that is worth its weight in gold.
As a nice farewell to Turkey we had one of the best and cheapest meals we have had for a while and a few cans of Efes put an end to what has been a great few months.
After 81 days and 2096km we are only 9km from the border; 'hoşçakal and teşekkür ederim (goodbye and thank you) Turkey'!
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