Day Sixty-Six

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 to chat but couldn’t understand much of what each other were getting at. Later on, I stopped to pick up some bread for lunch. I came away with a lot more than I’d bargained for as the sweet shop lady made me take a sweet treat, a couple of tomatoes and shaker of salt with me! Free of charge of course - I didn’t dare to try offer her money for it. Just as I was setting off for the town park, I caught a flat. I hurriedly swapped the tube for one I’d patched and made it the park. Just as I set my bike down the tyre went flat again! Turns out patching pinch punctures seems to be a complete waste of time, so I promptly binned the tube and got to scranning. 

The remaining miles were often on a busy highway and weren’t much fun, except the fact I flew along. I arrived to the bike organisation of Eskişehir, where I’d be staying the night, at 19:30. I was greeted on the doorstep by 3 fellas filming me, shouting “WELCOME MY FRIEND”, in heavily accented English. They were members of the bike association and one was the caretaker of the guesthouse for the month. After a tour of the accommodation, we sat a chatted for a while. Only one of them had enough English to converse. One brought out a drone, so we got a drone powered selfie. They left me to my own devices as it grew dark, which I was glad of despite their friendly company. The maintenance of the building had seen better days, but the shower was just about functional and that’s all that really mattered to me. After sweating in bed for 10 minutes unable to sleep I sacked it off and pitched up on the terrace. It was a much more sociable temperature out here, and so I got to sleep with no trouble this time.

 

Fresh start

 

Türkiye’s golden boy - Atatürk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Communal space used in the winter

 

 

 

Always following in the footsteps of the famous Isa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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