Into Olympos

Day 158 - 162

By the eighth day in Antalya and the seventh in Hassan's tiny apartment I was definitely ready to hit the road again. 

The cycling along the coast was undulating but not too bad. The weather a little grey, but warm enough. Neil is stoked to be in a place so warm that he can wear shorts and sandals. 

By early afternoon we had a decision to make. The offlinemaps that Neil and I both use showed a dirt road alternative that leads to Olympos. We checked with a local and were told 'no problem' for the bicycles. 

A quick stop in a village for some beer and food for dinner and we set off. Although the road was a little muddy we had no problems. The hills were a little steep and I had to push in places. 

A couple of hours of very scenic riding later and I found my self skinny dipping at a very secluded beach. Dinner that night was pesto chicken pasta - quite possibly the greatest camping meal ever, made even better by the ideal beach campsite and pairing it with an Effes Malt - my favourite Turkish beer. 

After our morning coffee and porridge we packed our tents and headed up hill. The Turkish coast was proving to have some very tough cycling, climbing steeply before descending back to sea level and repeat. To make matters worse the road quality was declining. On one particularly steep section I found myself walking my bike downhill, glad I wasn't going the other direction.  

At about lunchtime we make it to another beautiful beach and only about three kilometres from our destination. Unfortunately it was also a dead end. The map definitely shows a road but all we can find is a hiking trail, too rough and steep to even wheel the bicycles along. An old row boat offers a tempting solution to our predicament but is nixed when we find a massive hole in the bottom. 

Finally we decide to turn around. No cycle tourist likes doing this and the thought of going back up those hills made me feel a little sick. We are urged to make haste by the forecast of rain tonight. The terrible roads will be much worse once they turn into sticky mud. 

Of course this is when things start breaking. Neil's rear rack has broken, been welded and broken again. Now it has decided to completely give up. We spend half an hour figuring out the best way to tie his panniers onto his trailer. Now we are off. Only for 100 metres though before his trailer tyre gets a flat. 

We set off again and push our bikes up the hill. It is tough. This is one of the worst roads I have 'cycled' on. Super steep and large loose rocks. Sweat drips from the end of my nose. 

Despite the terrible road we are making ok time and should be back in the village on pavement by the time it gets dark. Then Neil has another flat tyre. We fix it and move on thinking, it's ok, we will get there tonight. And then it starts raining. 

The light drizzle gives us a sense or urgency. I do not want to get stuck in the mud. Unfortunately by this stage we are all out of snack food, thinking that we would be in olympos by lunch time. Hunger has set in and before long I will be Hangry. 

Despite these challenges we make it to Tekirova just as darkness falls. We go straight to the supermarket, grab a loaf of bread, dip and some soft drink. As we sit on the step outside, shovelling food into our mouths it starts pissing down rain. We made it just in time. 

The willingness to camp has been washed away in the downpour and we find a cheap pension to stay in for the night. It's a total dive but at least we have a solid roof over our heads. 

The weather is still dismal in the morning.  We only have to cycle about 30km to get to Olympos, where we can stay in a nice hostel until the weather clears in a few days. 

I layer merino thermals under all my rain gear and set out into the downpour. This isn't just a light drizzle. Within 30 minutes my 'waterproof' gloves are soaked through. I have a puddle of water inside my shoes. 

A dog has followed us from the village and has a great time playing chicken with the cars on the highway. It makes us very nervous. We do our best to chase the dog away but cycling uphill for two hours means that it can keep up with us easily. 

We turn off the highway and descend down a windy road, there are great vista of steep hillsides, covered in pine forests and patches of mist floating around. 

We continue into Olympos, a village that seems to exist only for tourists. Pensions and 'treehouse' hostels line the road. We head for Kadir's, reccomended to us by locals in Antalya. 

On arrival we are ushered inside to the common room, given a cup and told to help ourselves to çay. We meet a few climbers and hear a rumour from the staff about other cycle tourists from Belgium. 

After settling into our dorm and realising that solar hot water heaters don't make hot water during rainy winter days I wander through the grounds of the hostel and meet Hadeil and Joachim. They have cycled from belguim to Istanbul with their two year old daughter Lhasa. 

Over a cup of tea Neil and I get to know this lovely family better and arrange to cycle together once the weather clears. 

The following day the five of us set off. Not on our bicycles. We pack a lunch and hike past the ruins of Olympos, down the beach, through Caleçi (another village that seems to exist only for tourists) and up the hill to the eternal flames of Chimera. 

These are apparently the same flames used for the first Olympic torch. They are fueled by methane that seeps up through the rocks. It was quite an interesting place to visit and I wished I had some marshmallows to toast. 

The weather prediction or the following day was heavy rain and storms. We decide to stay another day. Apart from fixing my stove, I didn't do a lot. I am sure I drank a few cups of tea but other than that the day is a blur of laziness. 

5/12 Antalya - near Atbuker: rode 56km, ODO 5060km

6/12 near Atbuker - Tekirova: rode 25km, ODO 5086km

7/12 Tekirova - Olympos: rode 25km, ODO 5111km

Cappadocia

Days 137 - 142

I try and head off early from my couchsurfing hosts house in Kayseri but Ahmet inists on making breakfast for me. I happily sit around and eat a delicious toasty sandwich made with local salami. 

Inbetween Ahmet's office, his car and apartment my drink bottle has dissapeared. I check all three and it is nowhere to be found. A plastic 1L soft drink bottle kind of fits in the bottle cage and that will have to do for the moment. 

I seem to only lose things when I stay at people's houses. When I am camping I don't seem to have this problem. So far I have kindly donated a sock, my towel, a small dry bag full of tea bags and now my drink bottle to various abodes inbetween Central Asia and Turkey. 

Anyway, back to the cycling, it is cool and overcast as I head toward cappadocia. I have spent some time checking out the maps and decide to take some back roads to Goreme, the town in Cappadocia where my next couchsurfing host lives.

For those that don't know, Cappadocia is a very popular touristy area in the middle of Turkey. It is famous for its 'fairy chimneys', cave houses, underground cities and churches carved into the rocks. 

The landscape is otherworldly and very interesting. According to the people that love and work in the area it is the best place in the world to go on a hot air balloon ride. 

The road to Goreme is mostly very quiet back roads. The weather stays cool, cloudy and windy all day, sometimes head wind and sometimes tail wind . After about 90km cycling (I think I took the 'scenic' route) I arrive in Goreme. 

After spending about two weeks in Eastern Turkey I find all the touristy stuff a little overwhelming.  The people working in the shop can speak English (!!) and try to sell me everything. 

Unfortunately due to impending darkness and the long distance, I didn't have much of a chance to stop and check out the amazing views but I get a good idea that the next few days would be full of jaw dropping vistas and some great opportunities for hiking and exploration. 

Once in town I call my CS host. Turns out he is in the next village, only about 5km away but up a very steep hill. My legs are fried. For the first time since the Pamirs I find myself pushing my bicycle up a hill. 

I find my CS host and it turns out that he actually runs a guesthouse. That evening he asks me about tours I want to take. I am a cheapskate. I let him know I plan on hiking and cycling around the area. 

The next morning I am told I have to leave and that my room is booked for tonight. I am not really sure if he is telling the truth or just a bit miffed that he will not get commission from any tours that I am 'meant' to take. 

I manage to find another CS host in Goreme who accepts my request at very late notice. He also runs a guest house. I am a little worried that the same thing will happen again. 

I have a third CS offer as a back up. Turns out I don't need it and late in the evening my host has a cancelation and I get given a fancy hotel room - I was originally going to sleep in the common area. 

During the day I check out the castle in Uçhisar. It is the highest point in the area and there are great views. I have a little explore around the bottom of the castle and relish in the very relaxed workplace health and safety laws. If this was in Australia there would be barriers up everywhere and safety fences. Instead I have the freedom to crawl through tunnels, edge my way across narrow ledges with steep drops and explore. 

I head back down to goreme, leave my bicycle at my new CS abode and grab lunch. I know I am in a touristy area but I astounded by the price of lunch. It is about three times the price of anything else I have bought in Turkey and not three times bigger or more delicious. 

I go for a little explore around the area before I meet up with a carpet store owner for tea. Fatih also offered me a couch to sleep on in his carpet store. He convinces me to go for a balloon ride and gets me a pretty good deal - 80 euro instead of the 140-150 euro that I had been quoted a few times. 

The evening is spent getting beaten at backgammon by Chetin, my CS host.

The next morning I am ready to go at 5.30am for my balloon ride. I quick trip to the base for a rushed breakfast and then we are whisked off to the launch site. 

I am already astounded at the number of balloons being inflated or already in the air. It is an ordinary Sunday morning in the shoulder season and there are heaps of balloons. At one point during the flight I counted 50 balloons in just one direction. 

The balloon ride is better than I expected. Despite the cloudy weather and lack of sunrise the view is great. Somehow the pilot manages to fly the balloon super low through the valleys, rising just in time to miss the large rock towers, he skims over the top of the fairy chimneys. I am stoked.

I spend the rest of the day exploring around goreme. I can't express how impressive some of the caves are. There are multiple rooms and floors, tunnels, steps and churches. 

Before I leave the following day I sit at the rooftop of the hotel where I am staying and watch the balloons float over the village.  On the way out of Cappadocia I go for a quick walk in love valley on the way to Kaymakli. 

There is an underground city in Kaymakli that goes down eight stories. Only the first four floors are open to tourists but it is still immpressive. 

I am not sure I would want to live down there, narrows passageways, very dark and so dusty. There are wine cellars, food storage areas, living rooms and very deep ventilation towers. 

I continue west along some back roads. I am heading towards a gorge that apparently has nice hiking. It's starts getting late before I get there and I look for a place to camp. I stop a few times to check out potential spots but I have lost my camping mojo. I don't know what it is, scared of being cold during the night, worried about the wind flapping my tent all night, just don't want to be alone?

In the end I cycle into a village an ask to sleep at someone's house. Dinner is amazing, lentil soup, bean stew, Turkish version of dolmades, pumpkin, fresh bread, pickled veges. After dinner a bunch of extended family members arrive. I am not exactly sure how everyone was related but there were four generations of family members.

I move on the next morning into the fog. The cycling is enjoyable, through the quiet back roads. I am feeling lazy and take a long lunch break. I stop at the top of Ilhara gorge and find an abandoned school building to sleep in. 

I go to put the kettle on and my stove doesn't want to play. Although petrol is super cheap and easy to find the problem is that the stoves get blocked sometimes. I spend an hour fiddling and pulling it apart and cleaning with no luck. I give up and build a fire to cook on. 

The next morning I descend through a village, into Ilhara gorge. The desire to hike and visit more caves has waned, I  am all caved out.  I only stop for a quick look at a church on the way out of the gorge. 

My lack of desire to camp is especially low now that I know I have to make a fire to have a hot meal. A $13 hotel room in Aksaray is just too tempting. Even the wifi works. For $13 I get lovely linen with a picture of a tiger on it and a view of a wall with air conditioners hanging out out, all in a row. 

14/11 Kayseri - Uçhisar: rode 92km

15/11 Uçhisar - Goreme: rode 4km

17/11 Goreme - Cakilli: rode 54km

18/11 Cakilli - Bellasirma: rode 52km

19/11 Bellasirma - Aksaray: rode 39km, ODO 4703km

Darende - Kayseri

Days 131 - 136

I wake up after an amazing, warm sleep in my hotel room. I have grand plans for the day - rest, type some blog, eat, read my book etc. I go out only for a short while to buy some food. 

In my little hotel room I fire up my stove and make some food. My warm showers host in Van had made stuffed capsicums on the stove top. I was sure this could be replicated on my camping stove. 

I set to work and soon enough I have some delicious stuffed capsicums ready to eat. I think this is the greatest thing I have ever cooked on my stove. 

The following morning it is time to head off. I have a couchsurfing host arranged in Kayseri, 230km away.  I wonder if I can get there in three days. Normally I would say for sure but there are 2 passes to go over and the previous week had brought small mileage each day. 

I make fast kilometres in the morning. The landscape has changed. The muddy, ploughed fields of the previous week has been replaced by loose, sandy soil, the occasional sheep herder out and about. 

I make it over the first pass easily and then I head back down to the plains, at a lofty 1600m. I don't want to camp this high. It will just be too cold. About an hour before sunset I make my way into a small village and find a lady out and about. I go through the awkward sign language conversation of 'do you know where I can sleep?'  She points me in the direction of her house. 

I am hustled into the warmth, given çay and food and made to feel at home. The hospitality of Eastern Turkey continues to live up to its reputation. Despite a massive language barrier the family seems genuinely happy for me to stay and very interested in all my photos. 

After a large breakfast (roast potatoes and gozleme) I head further west. The last pass between Kayseri and me is a breeze. After a small descent I continue along undulating steppe.  I have a quick stop in town to find some internet (couchsurfing arranging) and continue to another village. I find two women washing carpets at the water fountain. Soon enough I have a warm place to sleep tonight. 

After two pretty long days of cycling I am fairly tired. The family are great. I am literally tucked into my bed. 

I only have about 80km to get to Kayseri and I am pretty sure I can do it. My expected descent takes 70km to appear. I just put my head down and grind out the miles. Mt Erciyes looms ahead of me, I edge closer and eventually past the giant monolith. 

I have heard so many amazing things about cappadocia and the landscape. I was expecting the ride into the area to be a little more interesting than it was. Turns out I still have a days ride before I am in Cappadocia proper. 

Nonetheless, I am now in Kayseri, I have a great couchsurfing host and plan on a couple of rest days before continuing. 

Ahmet, my couchsurfing host is an architect and is very busy running his business. He largely leaves me to my own devices. I spend a couple of days doing my washing, eating vast quantities of food, catching up on emails, afternoon naps, reading my book. I even get to have a bath at his house!

I do manage to visit the castle in town. Kayseri is famous for its pastrami and I buy a little to eat for my lunch the next day. It tastes pretty good but is very salty and I am not really sure what all the fuss is about. It's not especially cheap at about $USD35 per kilo. 

9/11 Darende - Kaynarca: rode 72km, ODO 4277km

10/11 Kaynarca - Emegil: rode 82km, ODO 4358km

11/11 Emegil - Kayseri: rode 85km, ODO 4443km

12&13/11 Kayseri: rode 17km, ODO 4460km