Day 93 Turkey 20/12/2010, Selçuk – Aydin – Free-camp 20km north of Çine. 41.16miles/67.50km, 4hr15minutes, Av 9.7mph.

We had another good night last night, rather too good in fact, as we should have been getting an early night!

Somehow during the night I managed to crick my neck and woke up in a lot of pain. Not the best way to start a cycling day. This combined with the fact that Debs had fallen over in the bathroom, hurting her finger and knee a couple of days ago, made us into a right pair.

Nevertheless it is time to move on, especially if we plan to get somewhere for Christmas.

We bid a sad farewell to our friends of the last few days and were treated to a small waving off committee. Take care all of you and we will be in touch soon.

With a turn in the weather we headed out of Selçuk to bright sunshine. The temperature had risen by a few degrees as well, so much so that it was soon t-shirt weather.

It soon became apparent that Debs had hurt her knee slightly more than we had initially thought. Her injury certainly wasn't helped by the fact that the first part of our route was up a long winding hill. She carried on bravely and we were eventually rewarded by a long downhill section.

The combination of beautiful weather, great scenery, and a relatively flat road meant that we started to make good progress. With a stroke of good fortune, we even saw some camels all decked out in their wrestling gear by the side of the road. It may not have been the full event, but it went some way to making up for yesterday.

We had our first encounter with an aggressive dog today. It came rushing out of a gate charging at my bike and then snapped at Debs' leg (she was uninjured, but it gave her a bit of a fright!). Stopping and shouting at it seemed to do the trick and it soon retreated.

Arriving at the large town of Aydin we encountered what could have been a problem. On our map the 'D' road that we were on, turns into an 'E' road for a few kilometres. As 'E' roads are motorways we aren't allowed on them, we were not sure how to rejoin the 'D' road. Asking a passer by and a taxi driver, we found the alternative road and our concerns went unfounded.

Leaving the town we stocked up on water and carried on for about another 10kms until we found a lovely free-camp. Hopefully we will have an undisturbed night and be ready for whatever tomorrow has in store.

Day 92 Turkey 19/12/2010, Selçuk. Camel wrestling.

We woke this morning to quite heavy rain, staying put looks like a good call. We will definitely have to move on tomorrow though, if we are to get anywhere nice for Christmas.

According to the information we found the camel wrestling starts at about 11am. At about 10am we headed on mass down to the dolmuş stand to get a bus to Kuşadasi. We said camel wrestling to the driver and he nodded his head and pointed towards the bus, we were on our way.

Arriving in Kuşadasi is where it all went wrong as the driver suddenly had no idea what we were talking about. Despite the fact that there were posters up no one we asked seemed to have any idea where or even if it was happening. Finally we were told that the heavy rain had meant it was cancelled. The whole morning had turned into a great big disappointment. The only consolation being that it would have been a nasty day to be cycling in and it hadn't cost too much money to get to Kuşadasi.

After a brief and very wet walk around the town we caught the dolmuş back to Selçuk. As we hadn't been to the museum in town, we decided to have a look round and escape the rain. It is a really nice little museum, but it didn't really ease the disappointment of the day.

We are planning on spending Christmas in Dalyan, which is about 220kms away. Assuming the rain goes away and the hills don't finish us off (there are some quite steep ones coming up), we should get there by the 23^rd or 24^th of December. Unless the weather forces us into a hotel we should be free camping for the next few nights, so we better make the best of our last night here.

Day 91 Turkey 18/12/2010 Selçuk. Markets, kebabs and more cheap wine.

We woke this morning with a slightly heavy heads after the previous nights escapades. Over breakfast we were informed by Harry that the market was in town, which was great news as we really needed to stock up on some vegetables for the onward journey.

Three more guests arrived this morning as well, Pete & Anna from Poland and Tim from Denmark. While not full, the guest-house certainly has a bit more life to it.

The market was really good and we managed to stock up on some food that will last us for a while. Mainly though it was a great place to just do a bit of people watching.

As we had read that it was camel wrestling season we tried to find out if there was any on locally. No one seemed to know and helpfully the Tourist Information office is closed at the weekend. Finally while searching on the internet we found a website showing a poster for the wrestling tomorrow in the nearby town of Kuşadasi. It looks like moving on will have to wait for another day as it would be a shame to miss it.

Later that evening we all went out to a restaurant and then returned to the hotel armed with beer and yet more cheap wine. We had a great evening playing cards, chatting and drinking.

Camel wrestling tomorrow assuming we can find out exactly where it is taking place.

Day 90 Turkey 17/12/2010, Selçuk. Ephesus, cycle repairs and cheap wine.

We had a good nights' sleep last night and followed it up this morning with a hearty breakfast. As the weather didn't look too conducive to sight seeing, I decided to get the tyres swapped over on my bike and do a little bit of routine maintenance.

Clearly doing the maintenance was a good idea as when I had finished the sun started to shine and there was a visibly blue sky. With what looked like a break in the weather, we decided to go to Ephesus and have a look round. Not really wanting to take the bikes, although the site is only 3kms away, we were rather kindly given a lift by the owner of the restaurant that we had eaten in the previous day. The weather stayed fairly sunny for us and we had a good explore of the ancient city.

When we got back to the hotel via an overly expensive taxi ride (not really a surprise and we had got there free of charge) Debs pointed out to me that one of my newly replaced tyres was flat. It seems a little unfair for an inner tube to puncture before you have even ridden the bike. Still at least it gave me something to do!

While I was repairing the inner tube another guest arrived at the guest-house and introduced himself as Frank (His made-up name, far to complicated to explain here). It was really nice to have a bit of company as we have really haven't seen anyone since we left Istanbul. Frank is from Texas but spent much of his childhood in Iran during the cultural revolution. To say his life has been a little interesting is something of an understatement.

With the guest-house customer tally now up to three, we had a great evening over take-out food from a local restaurant (the owner was convinced Frank was Turkish and rather bizarrely kept asking him what we wanted, even though we were speaking the same language!), cheap and nasty wine, beer and foolishly, a bottle of Raki. It is just as well we weren't planning on going anywhere tomorrow!

Day 89 Turkey 16/12/2010, Izmir–Torbali–Selçuk. 39.11miles/63.71km, 3hr22minutes, Av 11.6mph.

Debs had a good sleep last night but mine was somewhat fitful. Perhaps it was concern over the days' cycling or perhaps it was the fact that Debs' bike was outside the guest-house chained to a railing (both bikes wouldn't fit in the lobby). There is no doubt that I feel responsible when the going gets tough as it was definitely my idea to do the trip on bicycles. I am aware that Debs feels she is a big girl and can make her own decisions, but yesterdays' almost foolhardy route, with a very real risk of injury has brought home the possible dangers of such an undertaking. Perhaps it has been a good thing; a brief wake up call!

On a lighter note breakfast at a nearby bakery was good; although we both rather overdosed on bread based products. The breakfast was rather extended as we had woken to torrential rain.

Eventually braving the roads, the morning started rather unsettlingly like yesterday ended. Multiple road lanes, heavy fast moving traffic, busy intersections to cross and this time in the rain! When we eventually passed Izmir airport (I had to ride blocker to stop Debs heading straight for the first available plane!) and the built up areas gave way to fields we breathed a sigh of relief. The spray from the traffic was still horrible but at least we felt a little safer on the road.

Feeling soaked and thoroughly miserable we pulled over onto a garage forecourt. The manager gestured for us to go into the office, where he pulled up some chairs and turned the AC to warm us up. The added bonus of a cup of warming çay, helped send us back onto the road in much better spirits. The sun had even made a brief attempt to shine.

Making better progress we headed into the town of Torbali (approximately our half way point) and stopped at yet another garage. This time the manager and staff put on the electric fire for us and made us yet more healing çay. Asking if we wanted a chocolate bar or biscuit they took Debs into the shop, where she picked some things out and they then wouldn't let her pay for them. The level of hospitality and kindness we have received over the last few days has counteracted any of the upset we may have been feeling. In the spirit of Karma, I hope that one day we will be able to repay the favour.

With about 10km left to go until we reached Selçuk, we stopped once again for a cup of çay and once again payment was refused. The owner spoke very good English and sarcastically told us how he really envied our cycling trip in this weather and then went on to recommend a guest-house in Selçuk. It was one that we had already considered but now the deal was done.

As we had ridden onto the forecourt I had noticed something shining in my front tyre. This turned out to be a piece of the duct tape that I had placed inside to mend the split. It looks like my front tyre has come to the end of its life. Fortunately the tape had been there, or there would have been nothing stopping the inner tube coming out. A blow out would have been extremely dangerous in this mornings' heavy traffic. Taking it a little easier, we made it into town tyre intact. Unless I can find a decent replacement, I will have to switch to my other tyres which I didn't really want to do this early on in our trip.

We found the ANZ (Australia, New Zealand) guest-house with ease and after being introduced to the slightly mad Harry, who's first question was 'why are you so wet?' we got settled in.

The bikes are safely secured, our luggage has been hosed down and the huge laundry bag has been put in. We will be here for a few days resting and taking in the sights. Hopefully the rain will ease, so we will be ready to hit the road again soon!

PS. Turkish wine is quite drinkable, we are branching out from the usual Efes. We did however have a Kebab for dinner, too much change is not good for you!