A Long Way For A Curry

21/07/25 - Day Seventy Woke at 0530 to the loud call to prayer outside my window. Slept again. I walked back to Yunus’ house and had a big Kurdish breakfast spread! Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, peppers and spices. 3 types of cheeses. Olives, chips, grapes, yogurt, Kurdish layered flatbread, grape molasses sauce, homemade butter, cucumber. We visited Yunus’ uncles next door, a kebab man, and was invited to his son’s engagement party later that day! Next, we visited Yunus’s grandmother along with Isam, she made me some ayran with her organic yogurt.  Indecision set in about whether to crack on or stay. I decided to stay, engagement party sounded like too good an opportunity to miss, afterall it’s not everyday you get the offer to one! Yunus’ sister and her family arrived. More relatives came later. Then we all went to the party, Yunus left so his wife could meet his family and see the village. I met another German Yunus who looked after me well, getting a second portion of the food...

  20/07/25 - Day Sixty-Nine Slept like shit. I woke at 23:30 to the sound of dogs barking close by. I was wide awake instantly, as I heard one sniffing and scurrying around my tent. I quickly shut my outer door as I’d left it open to keep cool. I was just waiting for it to get aggressive and start barking at me, heart pounding. It ran off. I listening intently for a while as dogs barked at various distances from me. Hearing one come very close again I got my spray at the ready, but it soon went. It took a while to fall asleep after that.  Passing through the village next morning a man walking with kids said “market” and pointed. How did he know? So I followed him a bought some bread, having a coffee and brekkie. My legs felt a lot better today, sore but not dead. I stopped for a coffee and ended up having lunch. I was then startled by man popping head over the wall behind me. He wanted me to take pics of him at work, so I hopped over to meet him, and his son, and his son. I ta...

19/07/25 - Day Sixty-Eight I was gently woken by the sounds of goats or sheep being herded. The soft jangling of bells and the sporadic shouts from the herder. I lay smiling, as I woke up fully. It was nice to be back on the early starts. I was away by 7:15 to tackle the rest of the climb. I stopped in a village when I saw a public toilet and water tap, there was also a building with seating outside. When I exited the toilet a couple of old men had appeared. I sat with them and made my coffee. A friend of theirs a came along and gave me a handful of cucumbers!  Having passed a number of villages already, none of which had markets, I scouted one out on Google maps, 10 miles away and only slightly off my route. I rolled into the small market, buying some supplies but they hadn’t any cheese! A couple of men sat outside so I joined them offering them some chocolate sandwich cakes I had bought. The shop girl, Fatmanur, then joined us too. She was very sweet getting me some cold water a...

18/07/25 - Day Sixty-Seven Last night was the first time in a while where I conked out - mid blog writing. I woke shortly after, sweating profusely and had to peel myself off my sleeping mat, then wipe it down. I set up the tent on the terrace instead, as it was a more acceptable temperature outside. I woke to thunder and the pitter patter of rain, so snoozed a while longer. I went into the centre of Eskisehir to do some shopping - on the list was a kitan, some bike bits and to post my roll of film home. It was 12:15 by the time I set off to tackle the real miles of the day. It was flat with a slight tailwind on good roads so I flew along. The definition of crunching miles. I had lunch by a pretty mosque and some inquisitive children came and watched me making my sandwiches. They told me their names and asked me where I was from, but luckily they soon got bored, for I was weary.  Having said that, I felt good and strong after lunch, crunching more flat (ish) miles. An extended str...

17/07/25 - Day Sixty-Six Not a super eventful day, but the Turkish people never cease with their kindness. I sweated in the morning sun as I packed my bags, and got a few stretches in whilst I sipped on my morning coffee. Stopping for petrol for my stove, I went to buy an Ayran too, but the man wouldn’t have it and gave it me for free! I went to sit down with him at his table on the forecourt, so he promptly offered me a çay. Shortly after a quick phone call, a man came from the cafe opposite with two cups of çay! We sat together in peaceful silence watching the passers by. By-and-by, I said my goodbyes and left. There was a hill to be climbed after all!  It was sweaty business, but my legs felt strong after the rest in Istanbul. My mind still hadn’t fully hardened to being back on the road however, but the fresh legs made up for it. Before I knew it I was at the top! Part way up an older couple stopped at a water tap and encouraged me to join them in filling up bottles. We tried ...