Antalya

Day 150 - 157

I enjoy breakfast with my host family, take a few photos and head towards Antalya. Despite the head wind I arrive in town by lunch time. 

My host for the night is Bryan, an American that lives with his Turkish partner. He lives in Caleçi, an old area of town full of narrow laneways, bars and fancy hotels. Whilst eating lunch he informs me that it is thanksgiving back in the states. 

Within a few minutes I have convinced him that I will cook roast chicken and veges for dinner. His partner is a little confused about this, I am only the second warm showers guest she has hosted.  In Turkey the guest is usually waited on and not expected to do anything, including help cook, clean up after dinner, make tea etc. Bryan and I let her know that sometimes this is how it works with warm showers. By the time dinner was served she seemed to be a little more relaxed about the situation. 

The three of us enjoyed a lovely roast chicken with baked apples for desert. Not exactly classic thanksgiving but pretty good considering the plan wasn't conceived until late in the afternoon. 

Bryan was busy for the weekend so after a lazy Turkish breakfast - honey, cheese, olives, fresh tomato and bread with a western twist - coffee and OJ, I packed my bike and headed to Hassan's house, a host I lined up through couchsurfing. 

I spent the day lazing around at his apartment before cruising back into town to visit the bike shop. I have had a clicking sound coming from my bottom bracket for the last 1000km. Bryan reccomended a good bike mechanic and I figured it was about time I got my bike serviced. The first thing the bike mechanic said to me was 'you need to wash your bike'. Three hours later I had a new bottom bracket installed, gears tuned, brakes adjusted, wheels trued and drivetrain scrubbed clean. The bottom bracket was only $50 and labour $25. Pretty good value I think.

Hassan is a keen rock climber and on Saturday I was lucky enough to be able to join him and his friends climbing. I havn't climbed for about four or five years so I was interested to see how I went. I top roped a couple of climbs. My arms are very weak but I enjoyed myself. Hassan and his friends are very relaxed and seem to stick to the easier routes which suited me fine. 

One of Hassan's friends invited me out to dinner with her friends for a 'girls night'. We enjoyed delicious Turkish mezze with a little too much Raki (kind of like ouzo - liquorice flavour). The restaurant was full of locals and had live traditional Turkish music. People were dancing inbetween the tables. 

Later on we met up with a few other friends in Caleçi and went bar hopping until 3 am. Definatley not what I am used to! 

Before I knew it Sunday afternoon had rolled around. Hassan and his friends went rockclimbing and were kind enough to drag me along. After another top rope I managed to lead a (very easy) climb which was more enjoyable than I expected. 

I had intentions of leaving Antalya on Monday but with such a busy weekend I really needed a rest. A planned rock climbing trip on Tuesday didn't eventuate and all of a sudden it was wednesday. 

Neil, a cyclist I met in Tajikistan and toured with in Iran sent me an email letting me know he was arriving on Thursdsay. All of a sudden I have been in Antalya for a week! 

Whilst hanging around Hassan's house during the week I did manage to drink beer on the beach, cook dinner, enjoy lazy breakfasts and visit the local museum. The Antalya museum is full of a huge number of marble statues that were found locally.

Once Neil arrived we hatched a plan to leave Antalya on Friday and make our way down the coast at a relaxed pace. He only has a couple of weeks before he has to get to Istanbul to see his wife so we figure we will see how far he gets and then he can bus the rest of the way. 

27/11 Serik - Antalya: rode 51km, ODO 4978km

Antalya cycling total: rode 27km, ODO 5004km

 

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

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