Day Sixty-Eight

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 and cay. We talked via google translate - she told me her family had hosted a bike touring couple four years ago. She told me she liked to read and write also, and we did a book exchange! I got a Turkish copy of ‘I never promised you a rose garden’ by Joanne Greenberg, in exchange for my copy of ‘Full Tilt’ by Dervla Murphy. It was a nice moment. I met Caner too, a builder, and we all talked together for a while discussing my trip, and prices in the UK amongst other things. It was sad to leave my new friends but the road called. 

I carried on into the heat of the day and felt good over fairly flat miles. At 62 miles I lunched under the shade of some trees. After, I picked up some water from some friendly villagers who were interested in my journey, before tackling some small climbs. At this point my legs felt dead and sore. I powered on with a slight second wind courtesy of some music and the evening light beginning. I passed the biggest, scariest dog I have seen, fighting with some other big dogs whilst their owner desperately hit and dodged them trying to break them up. Luckily for me this commotion distracted them from me and I cycled past as fast as I was able. What felt like endlessly rolling farmland finished the day, as I struggled to get my tired legs to function. I had missed opportunities for campsites by now so was forced to camp on the outskirts of a village, on the edge of a field. I couldn’t face going beyond the village as I knew it climbed again. Food cheered me up after the stress of finding camp. 

 

Morning angle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bog

 

Ekmek

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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