From Calabria to Sicily

Day 242 - 247

After four nights in Salvatore's bungalow the weather has cleared a little and it is time for me to continue towards Sicily. The road climbs up another 200m before I ride down a very steep road back to sea level. 

Up again, 500m this time and it starts drizzling. On the way back down towards sea level I stop at a lookout and Antonino starts talking to me. He has lived in Australia for many years and still collects a pension from the Aussie government while he lives in Italy! He invited me to dinner and offers his couch to sleep on. I gratefully accept. 

In his house my bike hangs out next to the salami he made. Dinner is local sausages his cousin made served with wine made by one of his friends. I love this part of Italian culture. Different regions have different specialties and many people make and produce their own food, olive oil and wine. 

It's pouring rain in the morning and I leave the house covered head to foot in rain gear. As I continue down the hill the skies clear, I have a great view of Sicily and a rainbow appears. Pefect. I soon arrive at the port just in time to hop on a boat to the island. 

After a quick Skype with dad (Happy Birthday!) I am pushed along by some more tail winds. I have a couchsurfing host arranged in Palermo and I am meeting up with Charlie there in a few days time. 

The sunshine and tail winds hang around until about 3pm. And then the rain starts. The cycling is not the most pleasant, the road is busy and there are lots of industrial areas. I find shelter in a half constructed abandoned building for the night, happy that I am not camping in the pouring rain.

The next day emerges cloudy, better than rainy. A roadie cycled with me for a while. I was working hard to go 20km/hr on the flat to keep up and he often had to stop pedalling and coast to slow down for me. 

He spoke little English and my usual approach of using lots of hand gestures and body language to communicate was difficult whilst cycling. He was kind enough to buy me a peice of cake and a coffee for morning tea. 

The afternoon brought some stunning cliff side cycling, which was a little bit difficult to appreciate due to the howling wind and pouring rain. At one point I stop for a photo and notice the rain drops flying up over the cliff from the wind pushing them upwards. 

I find another abandoned building to hide in tonight. This one was a whole apartment complex, many of the doors unlocked and the apartments still furnished. I lay my tent ground sheet over and old bed and sleep on the matress. 

I wake up to sunshine in the morning! I cycle for a while with a group of men out enjoying the fine weather on the weekend. At one point I cycle past a sign that says 65km to Palermo. A couple of kilometres later a sign says 71km to Palermo! Where did those extra kilometers come from?

I enjoy some beer and chips at the beach watching the sunset before settling into another half built house that has been abandoned. 

It's sunny again in the morning and I actually manage to work up a sweat climbing a small hill over a headland.  The view of the med is amazing in spots and a few trees are in bloom, hinting at the upcoming summer. 

One of the most least enjoyable things about cycletouring is trying to cycle through cities. Palermo is not so bike freindly and even on a Sunday afternoon the traffic is horrible. 

I manage to navigate my way through town and out the other side. My couchsurfing host, Salvatore, lives in Sferacavallo, a village about 10km from Palermo. I eat some Gelato while I wait to meet Salvo. 

Once at his place, I drink a beer and then I am told his friend, Barabara, will be doing a yoga session. 75km cycling, a couple of beers and then an hour and a half of yoga, I was a little tired after that. 

Aksaray - The coast

Day 143 - 149

After a terrific sleep in my warm hotel room I continue on to Konya. The road is still flat and straight and fairly unintersting. I have two days of this before I arrive in Konya. 

It's starts getting late and I go through the usual routine of finding somewhere to sleep. There aren't many wild spots to camp - most of the land I have been cycling past is taken up by ploughed fields. 

I head down a dirt road to a little building next to a ploughed field. There are a couple of trees I can camp next to. As I get closer it turns out that the hut has no door. There is a water pump for irrigation in there and just enough room for me to lay down my sleeping pad inside. 

I sit around, have some bread and cheese for dinner and read my book. The farmer turns up. 'No problem' he says when I ask if it is ok to sleep there. 

About half an hour after it gets dark he comes back and tells me it will rain tonight. He convinces me to pack up my things and go back to a village a couple of km away and stay at his house. 

It turns out he has a spare room in a seperate building near some farm equipment. He fires up the stove, makes sure I am comfortable and leaves me be. I have a cup of tea and get settled for the night. About an hour after I arrive it starts pouring rain outside. 

The next morning it is still raining. I want to be in Konya on Saturday evening to catch the whirling dervish show. It is only Friday.

At about 1000 the farmer comes back and lets me know that it is fine if I stay. He returns soon with a bag of coal and another bag of dung and makes a firein the stove. The room soon feels like it is about 30 degrees. 

I settle in for the day, read my book, listen to podcasts, drink copious amounts of tea and hot chocolate, make soup. The farmers wife brings me lunch and dinner. 

I am largely left alone all day which suits me fine. I do get a quick visit from a couple of ladies and we go through the awkward sign language conversation. 

The next morning it is still raining but I really want to catch the whirling dervish show. I pile on some thermals and rain gear over the top, say thanks to the farmer and head off. 

It is super windy and rainy. A small turn in the road the the wind is coming straight into my face. Half an hour later the rain changes to sleet. Joy. 

My hands and feet turn to achingly cold bricks. My cheeks feel like they are about to fall off. After about 30km I manage to flag down a truck and get a lift the rest of the way. The weather is a little better in Konya, still super windy and cold but no rain. 

I meet my couch surfing hosts at the cafe that they own. Later in the afternoon another couch surfer arrives, Meri, from France. 

In the evening we head into town to see the whirling dervishes. We had been told by a few people that the show is quite boring. I didn't think so. I loved watching the ceremony and the whirling.

After the show we hang out at the cafe with some of our hosts friends. I really struggle with adapting my sleep schedule to my hosts. Turkish people tend to stay up late and wake up late. I am the opposite. Since Kyrgyzstan I wake automatically at about 6 or 6.30. When I am camping I am ready to sleep at about 7pm. Staying up until 1 am is tough. It is made worse when I wake at 6am. Obviously not enough sleep. Can someone tell my brain please. 

I spend Sunday being lazy and mooching around the apartment.  In the evening a few if my hosts friends meet up at the cafe and we all hang out. Afterwards Meri and I made dinner for everyone. 

I check the forecast for the next few days and about 10cm of snow is forecast in two days time. I don't want to hang around in Konya and there is not enough time to cycle to the coast. The temperature in Konya has barely reached 5 degrees. A 1800m pass in this weather does not appeal. I am going to catch a bus to the ocean. 

By Monday afternoon I am relishing in the sunny, 20 degree weather in Manavgat. I find a cheap hotel and plan to leave the next day. 

The snow that was forecast in the mountains arrives in Menavgat in the form of pouring rain.  I decide to stay another night. 

I mange to motivate myself to pile on all the rain gear and check out the neighbouring town Side. There are a bunch of old ruins right by the sea side. It's quite beautiful but I don't stop long enough to take photos or admire the view. My hands and feet are playing the frozen solid bricks game again. 

Once I arrive back at the hotel the worker there seems concerned about me. He rushes about, boiling water to make me a coffee. Half an hour later he knocks on the door and presents me with a hot lunch. This is far exceeding my expectations of a stinky $13 hotel room. 

After a few hours of reading and trying to warm up there is another know at the door. This time it's dinner. Bonus. 

Morning arrives and thankfully there is no rain. I have a warm showers host organised in Antalya, 100km away in two days time. I am ready for some cruisy touring. 

Before heading down the highway I go back to Side to check out the ruins in sunshine. Much better. 

The cycling is fairly unintersting, along a busy highway, no ocean views and a head wind for good measure. There is a wide sealed shoulder for me to cycle on. 

The mountains to the north have a dusting of snow, I am glad I am at sea level. In the afternoon I look for a campsite. Options include a cemetery, the dead end of a dirt road protected from the wind but with lots of broken glass and an empty field that is still a little muddy from yesterday's rain. I settle on the field. 

I go for a wander to collect fire wood and bump into some farmer women. They tell me it is no problem to camp in theirfield  which quickly changes to an invitation to sleep in their house. I grab my bike and head off with them. 

I am once again the recipient of warm, spontaneous hospitality. The language barrier still remains but so much can be communicated with body language. 

20/11 Aksaray - Kizoren: rode 89km

22/11 Kizoren - Konya: rode 38km

24/11 Konya - Menavgat: rode 13km

25/11 Menavgat: rode 26km

26/11 Menavgat - Serik: rode 54km, ODO 4926km