I awake on Sunday morning, not feeling too crash hot (self induced, I deserve no sympathy). My hosts Selçuk and Batikan head out early to go hiking. My ferry doesn't leave until after lunch and I spend the remainder of the morning dozing, interneting and watching movies.
I head down to the ferry and whilst I wait I have a little picnic - tea and baklava and other assorted Turkish sweets. By 3 pm we are off. By we I mean me. I am the only passenger. It is quite odd. There is space for a few hundred passengers and I am all alone. Of course the workers want to talk to me. The ferry connects the train line and carries train carriages.
One of the workers asks me if I am a boy or girl. I answer girl. He starts typing something on his phone. Using google translate he wants to know if I want to 'be together?' I guess I fulfill his criteria. Female? Check. Awesome. I gently decline, resisting the urge to kick him in the nuts. There is still about three hours of the ferry ride left and I am the sole female on the boat.
It turns out that daylight savings time has finished today. Sunset is at 4.30pm. Yes, 4.30pm. That is a short day. At least sunset from the boat was beautiful but vast majority of the ferry ride is in the dark. I am a little disappointed that I miss the view.
I am on edge most of the time. The crew only turn on two lights in the whole entire passenger area. I sit in a little circle of light, surrounded by a few hundred empty seats in darkness. Surprisingly, dinner is brought up to me - soup, lamb stew, rice and bread. Pretty tasty. Followed up by çay of course.
I am relieved to get off the boat and I find a place to stay in town.
I get an early start the next morning, daylight is limited. I cycle west, downhill most of the day. The view is pretty good, steep hills line the road, the trees are shades of green and gold, another reminder that winter is coming.
I cycle past a honey seller on the side of the road. He invites me for çay. It is morning tea time so I accept. I am snacking on walnuts and raisins that the man has kindly given me. It's all going well until he tries to hand feed me. I hightail it out of there.
I havn't had to deal with men like this since Kyrgyzstan. Every encounter with a male I am on edge. What do they want with me? Can I trust them? Are they being normal friendy or too friendly? It is exhausting.
I hate that a few bad encounters puts a whole shadow over every male I meet. The other problem is that 95% of the people that strike up a conversation with me are male. In the villages especially, women just aren't seen very often. The streets are lined with çay houses, which seem to be male only establishments. Men work in the shops and petrol stations. Where are the women?
Later in the afternoon I find a pretty good campsite behind a hill and all too soon the sun has set. I find myself setting a new earliest to bed record - 5.30pm. Practicing for old age maybe?
The following day is a boring day on the road. The scenery is rolling ploughed fields. I couldn't even tell you what they grow around here. Every spot of land that isn't a house, road, petrol station or mosque has been ploughed.
The road is constantly undulating, combined with a niggle in my knee it makes for tedious and mostly slow kilometres. All too soon it is time to find somewhere to sleep.
I wake up with the sun and yesterday repeats itself, same scenery, same hills.
I camp about 20km from Diyarbakir, a large town that I intend on visiting in the morning to find internet and then cycle out of in the afternoon. My highlight for the day is cooking a delicious, spicy lentil soup. This is pretty different from my usual veges and pasta and I am pretty pleased with myself. I watch the sunset from my hilltop campsite and listen to the call to prayer in the distance.
I arrive in Diyarbakir with plenty of time to do my interneting. I ask someone on the side of the road if they know where I can find wifi. He invites me to use his computer in his pharmacy. Whilst sitting there, sending out some emails and arranging some couchsurfing I am given tea and some sweet bread. After an hour or so I get ready to leave. I try to buy some ibuprofen and paracetamol but my payment is refused. My faith in humanity has returned... For an hour or so.
As I cycle out of town I stop at a park to have a bite to eat. I soon have company. My new friend (male) studies medicine at the university. The crowd around me grows. I am soon surrounded by university and school students.
One of the school students snatches my kindle out of my hands. My med student friend gets it back for me. I quickly pack up my things. It is time to go.
The same school student starts trying to remove things from my bike. I am a little tense and angry at this stage and backhand him across the face. He tries to kick me but the bike is in the way. His friends pull him away. The med student is at my side, holding my bike. We shake hands as I leave and he apologises. I yell a few choice words at the young student and cycle off in tears. Faith in humanity lost again.
I cycle out of town, the grey weather matching my mood. The head wind is just another slap in the face. I feel lonely.
Campsites seem few and far between. I stop at a petrol station for water and the owner starts chatting to me. He has passable English and asks if I need a rest. A glass of çay is brought to me. Despite my protests this is followed up by another four glasses of çay.
This person seems trustworthy. By now it is raining and I am shown a very dingy room in the back of the petrol station. It's pretty grotty but it is also warm and dry so I sleep there for the night, the door dead bolted closed from my side.
The morning brings grey skies. I head off and before long it is raining. A quick stop for morning tea at a shop and I am given yet more çay. Soon after I am offered a lift to Severk, the next town. It's too tempting and I say yes.
The drivers drop me off at a hotel in town and I spend the day in my hotel room, drinking tea, reading and washing my clothes. I venture outside only for a short while to find some baklava. My run of encountering horrible men seems to have ended, thankfully.
26/10 Van - Tatvan: rode 9km, ODO 3576km
27/10 Tatvan - just past Baykan: rode 80km, ODO 3657km
28/10 just past Baykan - just before Silvan: rode 64km, ODO 3722km
29/10 just before Silvan - near Köprübaçi: rode 73km, ODO 3798km
30/10 near Köprübaçi - just past Diyabakar: rode 38km, ODO 3834
31/10 just past Diyarbakir - Severk: rode 26km, ODO 3861
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