Saturday, 10 January 2015

Avoiding the rain in Bodrum and Aydin

Days 180 - 182

After the free booze last night I feel a little worse for wear in the morning. I look out the window and it is pouring down rain. I go back to bed. I certainly am not cycling anywhere today. 

Eventually I muster up the energy to head to the shops with Bec and Sam for some very late brunch supplies. We cook up a feast of eggs, bread, tea and coffee on my stove up on the verandah in the hostel. Bec and Sam are impressed that I have the means to make my own food. I am just happy I don't have to pay restaurant prices every time I want a hot drink or meal. 

As we recover from our hangovers it continues to pour rain. Since leaving on this trip I have a new appreciation for being undercover when it's pouring rain. 



By the time we finish our breakfast it's time to go to the pub. It is about four in the afternoon. We head to a nearby hotel, hang out at the bar with some Turkish locals, a creepy old English expat, and some very high Danish youngsters visiting their mum. 

With the bar empty except for us we are allowed to choose the music. Sam and I subject the crowd to some Aussie folk music and the bar tender tries to make me feel at home by playing Blue King Brown. I appreciate the effort but I really can't stand that band. The highlight of the evening is eating bangers and mash for dinner. The first pork I have had in months. 


During the afternoon I made a plan for the next few weeks.  My visa is due to expire soon and I still want to visit Istanbul and Gallipoli. The weather is also rubbish and not supposed to improve for a week or so. I can also leave my bike and associated gear at the Hostel in Bodrum. I invite myself to Bec and Sam's house and figure that from there I will bus to Istanbul and then to Gallipoli and back to Bodrum. From Bodrum I can easily get a ferry to Kas , a Greek Island close by. 

The following day Bec, Sam and I hop on a bus together and head to Aydin. I intend on going to Ephesus from their place but the next day it is pouring rain. I laze around the apartment all day. I do manage to cook a delicious beef stew for dinner which we enjoy with mash potatoes and a glass of red wine. 

The next day the rain continues. More lazing about for me. I purchase a bus ticket to Istanbul. It leaves at 10 pm and should arrive in The city at 8.30 the next day - New Year's Eve. My host in Van, Selçuk, kindly asks his old house mate if I can stay with him in Istanbul. With accomodation lined up I say goodbye to Bec and Sam, who were very kind to put up with me for a few days. 

Sorry there aren't many photos in this post but to be honest I didn't actually do much during the days I just wrote about and it pissed down rain most of the time. Yes, I am lazy when it rains. Where is summer? 

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