Thankfully there are blue skies when I leave Severk. I feel well rested after nearly a full day and night tucked away in my hotel room. It was nice being warm and dry but it has ended my run of 42 nights of free accommodation (camping, couch surfing and warmshowers).
I have now left the main highway and take a smaller road west. I catch a ferry across lake Ataturk.
The sun gives way to clouds and then showers in the afternoon. I manage to set up my tent inbetween showers but unfortunately I have only three quarters cooked my dinner when the thunderstorm arrives. I eat it in my tent.
I am relived it's not raining in the morning and head off. It's not particularly intersting cycling. I am aiming to sleep just a short distance from Adiyaman so I can use some internet in the morning and head out of town in the afternoon.
I find a sweet spot inside and abandoned building. I will be dry if it rains. Of course the night I have a dry place to sleep it doesn't rain.
I have been trying to decide whether to catch a bus part of the way to Cappadocia. I don't mind the cold weather too much as long as I am dry. The problem is that it has been raining on and off nearly every day for the last five days. I figure I will check the weather in Adiyaman and decide.
I arrive in Adiyaman and ask at a hotel if I can use the wifi. I spend a great couple of hours skyping mum and dad, checking email and of course planning what I am going to do. It looks pretty cold but the weather is great today. I finay decide to cycle to to Malatya and take a bus from there. The people at the hotel don't charge me for the internet.
I grab a kebab before I leave town and head uphill, out of town. My campsite that night is next to a building on a grape and olive farm. I have a great view of lake Ataturk and the sunset is lovely.
I have a terrible sleep - it is pretty cd and great bug gusts of wind make my tent flap all night. By the morning the wind has not eased.
The riding today is tough but beautiful. The quiet road winds it's way up, over and around the tree lined hills. However the wind is biting and relentless.
At about 1.30 I am invited into a house for chai. The family are tobacco farmers. They want to know where I am going. Malatya I tell them. 'Malatya tomorrow' they reply. Sounds good to me. Çay and gozleme is soon placed in front of me.
The wind the next day has eased only a little. The family tell me that it is too cd and I should stay another day. At that rate I would be here until next spring. I head off.
I head towards the highway, stopping briefly in a small town to try and find some internet to check the weather and arrange some couchsurfing. A man that owns the hardware store kindly let's me use his computer for a little while.
I decide to push on for Kayseri and not catch a bus from malatya. The weather forecast shows cold nights, cool days and sunshine. Shouldn't be too bad right?
I camp in an orchard of apricot (I think) trees. The leaves are chades of yellow and brown. It looks as though it will only take one big gust of wind to make the branches bare.
It's cold tonight. I can't keep my toes warm. One pair of socks. Nope, not good enough. Add another pair of socks. Toes still freezing. Wrap both my feet in my jumper. Bareable, but still not particularly comfortable. There is a heavy frost on my tent in the morning.
The road north brings more beautiful autumn colours and little traffic. I grab a kebab in town and push north. It says cool all day. I camp on the edge of a hill, surrounded by trees with very brown leaves. I prepare for another cold night.
In the morning I have to smash the ice in my water bladder and melt it to make my tea. The sun stays behind my hill for longer than I like and it is past 9am by the time I hit the road.
I make it over a 1800m pass before lunch time. I road keeps undulating, past a brown land. By 2pm I have barely made it 40km. I am tired. I haven't had a decent sleep since my hotel stay in Severk. I stop in a town and ask about a hotel. 30km further on to Darende I get told. I ask someone else. Same reply.
I decide to go for it, see how far I get. I do not want to sleep outside tonight. Thankfully I lose much of the elevation I gained in the morning. I cycle the 30 km at a cracking (for me) pace and make it to town by 3.30pm. I find a hotel and negotiate a reasonable price. I am staying two nights. I need a rest. I haven't had a proper day off the bike since I left Van.
1/11 Severk - just before Narince: rode 58km, ODO 3919km
2/11 just before Narince - a bit before adiyaman: rode 45km, ODO 3965km
3/11 a bit before - after adiyaman: rode 28km, ODO 3994km
4/11 a bit after adiyaman - house in the middle of nowhere: rode 38km, ODO 4034km
5/11 house in the middle of nowhere - a bit past dogansehir: rode 56km, ODO 4089km
6/11 a bit past dogansehir - past develi: rode 49km, ODO 3138km
7/11 past develi - darende: rode 64km, ODO 4203km
No comments:
Post a Comment