Day 105 Turkey 1/1/2011, Fethiye. Happy New Year!

We rather dragged ourselves out of bed this morning. I am not altogether sure why we felt so rough, aside from the late night as we didn't actually drink that much. Breakfast was certainly welcome, even though my stomach is still not 100% (beer and a curry probably wasn't the best idea, but it was New Years eve!).

Back in the room we filled in the online application for our Syrian visas. These have to be done and then printed out, so I can sign my copy before Debs goes home. The application was quite straightforward, printing it out however was a right chore. I assumed that I would simply plug the guest-house printer into our netbook and away we would go. Apparently I had forgotten that if something plugged into a computer doesn't work then it is probably a printer. No matter what we tried it wouldn't work and when we switched and redid the applications on the guest-house computer, that computer then wouldn't submit the forms correctly. Perseverance did eventually pay off and we now have the required copies to give to the embassy. After that, printing Debs' flight itinerary was a breeze.

While we were messing about with the computers, we got chatting to a lovely Dutch couple who are staying at our guest-house. We had met them the day before when we rode to Kayakoy as they were heading the same way, just on foot. They used to do some cycle touring in their younger days and were very interested in our trip. Just before they left to go to another town, they made the lovely gesture of offering us somewhere to stay. They have an apartment further along the coast which is right along our route. So we will definitely be looking them up towards the end of January when we get that far.

Feeling good in spirit, if not in body, we set off into town to get some lunch. The beauty of being somewhere where there are lots of tourists and ex-pats is that you can get sausage, egg and chips and an all day full English breakfast, which is what we had. It felt just like being at home on New Years day, except for the the temperature, a man walking past wearing a American Indian headdress and two enormous Pelicans wandering about outside and then inside the restaurant. Life is certainly not dull!

Back at the guest-house we packed most of our gear up ready for leaving tomorrow. We really need to get moving again, the rest has been nice but we still have to get to Antalya in time for Debs' flight.

Fethiye has been good to us and we have lots of memories to take away with us. I should just mention that the Yildirim guest-house is very nice and its owner Omar is lovely and extremely helpful. I would still rather stay in these smaller privately run guest-houses than any of the big chain or resort hotels, even if they have better facilities. The quirkiness and personal touch more than makes up for any shortcomings they may have.

Camping tomorrow, we hope.

Day 104 Turkey 31/12/2010, Fethiye–Kayaköy–Fethiye. 10.98miles/17.9km, 1hr44minutes, Av 6.2mph.

We had a really nice meal last night and my stomach survived, so recovery is well and truly under way. Debs meanwhile must have slept in a peculiar way and has hurt her neck and shoulder, pretty much like I did a week or so ago.

Clearly the best thing for us, is to unlock our bikes and ride nearly 9km to the ghost town of Kayaköy. Just to make sure that two crocked up people get the full benefit of some exercise, we will make the route climb up to nearly 400m from sea level descend 300m then have them turn round and go back. Sounds foolish? Well at the time it seemed perfectly sensible.

The kill or cure approach must have worked, for me at least, as by the time we got to the village I felt pretty good.

After the treaty of Lausanne was signed and the borders of the modern Turkish republic were drawn up, a religious status based population exchange took place between Turkey and Greece. During this exchange the Christian based population of Kayakoy were exiled to Greece and the town was left deserted. For some reason the village was never repopulated and you can walk around what is left. Some of the buildings, mainly the two churches, are largely intact. Quite a lot of the village though, is slowly returning to nature. It makes for a strange experience wandering through a town that seemingly was abandoned overnight.

As we hadn't descended as far as we had climbed the return journey to Fethiye was slightly quicker. After riding the bikes fully laden for so long, they feel really strange with no luggage. The 4km descent should have been fun, but the road was very bumpy with lots of hairpin bends. Without the weight of the luggage the bikes are a lot less springy, which makes for quite a jarring ride. Plus like a fool I had left my gloves behind; gripping the bars with hot sweaty hands while you are rapidly heading downwards isn't a lot of fun. Neither is having an injured shoulder that you feel every bump through!

Having survived the morning's exertions it was time for a rest, to get us ready for a night on the town. In truth we had no idea what we were going to do to celebrate the New Year, past going for a nice meal.

Leaving going for dinner as late as we could, two already tired people wandered into the town to find a restaurant. People walking round carrying presents (the Turks give these at New Year) was a good sign, as at least it meant the New Year was being celebrated. It would have been a little disappointing if we had stayed in a larger town for New Year, only to find out that no one celebrated it.

We eventually decided on a Indian/Turkish restaurant as neither of us have had a curry for a while. I think the owners would have liked us to have the New Years Eve special menu, but it was quite expensive and consisted of far too much food. The curries were delicious and were swiftly washed down with some Efes.

That rather set the tone for the night, as soon we were being dragged into Turkish dances, plied with gateau and generally joining the celebrations of our hosts, their family and friends.

We never did get to see any fireworks, but we had a lovely night. Moving on tomorrow looks unlikely!

Day 103 Turkey 30/12/2010, Fethiye. Illness in the camp.

Any plans of doing much today were ended when I spent the night feeling terrible. I have no idea whether it is something I ate or just a bug, but the trips to the toilet and the hot and cold sweats have left me feeling totally drained. Which is terrific for Debs, because I am the world's worst patient.

Accepting that I have to eat, I did manage some breakfast and we even had a brief walk to get some fresh air, after which I ate some lunch. I must be on the road to recovery but there will be very little to report today.

New Years Eve tomorrow, so let's hope I am better and we get to visit the ghost town. Plus it would be a shame if I couldn't have a least one drink to see in the new year.

Day 102 Turkey 29/12/2010, Fethiye. Great views, a crumbly castle, rock tombs and a museum.

Despite the bed being a little lumpy we both slept well and woke to a beautiful day.

Heading up the quite steep hill behind our guest-house we went to have a look at the old castle and rock tombs that are carved into the cliffs behind Fethiye.

From the top of the hill the views over the harbour are quite beautiful, although some of the wooden lookout areas are a little on the precarious side.

The castle itself is little more than ruins, but it does offer yet another terrific view over the town. By the amount of broken glass laying around its also the place where youngsters (or maybe not so young) go for a drink.

As we headed back down the hill towards the town centre the rock tombs came into view. It looks like at some point in the past you have been able to get closer to them, but now they are fenced off. Having been inside a smaller one, there really isn't anything to see. Obviously anything of value or interest has been stolen or removed long ago. Nevertheless they are quite impressive, although a relatively common site in this part of Turkey.

On the way back through the town we made a brief stop at Fethiye's museum. The building is quite small and is probably not worth more than a cursory glance, although it does have a few interesting artefacts. It also has the least interested and least attentive staff we have encountered for a while, it was lunch time though!

With lunch approaching we bought some bread and returned to the guest-house. With the day still lovely and sunny we ate lunch on the patio. Then while I hung the tent out to dry, Debs became super busy emailing people and organising her return home.

If it wasn't for the heavy rain that soaked us while out for dinner it would have been a perfect day. All being well, we should be riding the 8km to visit the ghost town of Kayaköy tomorrow. Night all.

Day 101 Turkey 28/12/2010, Göcek–Fethiye. 12.78miles/20.87km, 1hr15minutes, Av 10mph.

I clearly spoke too soon about the levelness of the tent, because in actual fact it was far from it, or at least my side wasn't! Consequently I had another rubbish nights' sleep, fortunately we have a very short ride today.

Via a couple of gentle climbs we reached the highest point and were treated to a spectacular view of the sea around Fethiye.

Once again the promised tunnel failed to materialise, we are beginning to wonder if the cartographer got bored and started drawing them in randomly on our map. You would imagine it is quite difficult to miss a tunnel, but that is now two that seemingly don't exist and one we couldn't use. Mind you it would have been a job to see where they would have put the tunnel as we were already as high as you could go. The rest of the ride into Fethiye was largely downhill and we arrived in the town at about 10:30am. Despite a very long ride through the town we found the marina and located our guest-house of choice with ease.

Having checked in and showered we set off to have a look round Fethiye's Tuesday market. After some initial impressions that it wasn't very big, we explored a bit more and found ourselves walking round the largest market we have encountered since Istanbul.

We have found that in Turkey you have to take advantage of these markets, as outside of them, it is very difficult to get any variety of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Having stocked up, we stopped at one of several pancake stalls and had a light lunch and the obligatory cup of çay.

The marina and waterfront area of Fethiye is very attractive and it was along there that we strolled slowly back to the guest-house. Our first impressions of the town have been good. It is certainly a bit more lively than Köyceğiz, so we may well stay and see in the New Year.

The only issue that we have found, is that restaurants are more expensive than we have been used to. This was highlighted by the ludicrous bill that we were presented with at dinner. We will definitely not be reusing that restaurant!

We cheered ourselves up with a bottle of wine and then settled in for an early night. Let's hope I sleep well tonight.