CyclingDutchGirl

If there is one good country to be stuck with no cash, have an accident or get sick it’ll be Turkey.

After 10 days in Göreme I got slightly annoyed with the bank cause my card still hadn’t arrived. And it was already the 19th, I called them in May!
Everyone was great though, especially the guys from the Silk road restaurant who let me sleep and eat there and took me to a wedding. I worked for them a little and also for cafe Savak where they had a proper coffee machine ahhhhh…. so good! And I helped out the boys at the Flinstones cafebar in exchange for a pint or two. So everything worked out rather well. But after 10 days I decided to leave anyway, card or no card ’cause I started running out of time. It was already not possible to reach Iran on my bike anymore so I got a lift with one of these little tour busses to mount Nemrut.
Kylie send me some cash through western union (thanks Kylie!) and off we went.
About an hour into the trip the driver gets a phone call… the postoffice. My card FINALLY had arrived! So he turned around the whole bus to collect it.
I was only gonna get the transport but on the way we visited a caravansaray, the best ice cream in the world (or so they think but I know better) and in the morning they even took me up Nemrut, where there is a whole lot of big heads laying about, to see the sunrise. Freezing!! Who’s idea was it anyway to go and see the sunrise on the longest day of the year… But yes, it was pretty. And it meant I could start cycling early that day. I guess I hadn’t had enough sleep cause coming down the mountain, for the first time ever, I came off my bike. Not my fault, the road turned from asphalt to gravel without warning me…. I looked around hoping no one had seen me. But two young girls came running down the mountain giggling. Ah well.

I stayed in Diabakir, between the Eufrat and the Tigris, for two nights. It was very very hot! About 45degrees. I stayed with Nace, who I’d met on a ferry crossing earlier on. And his girlfriend Anika from Germany. They met when they both studied in Czech. One day Anika was walking the dog when a car pulled up. ‘how much?’ the man asked. ‘O no’ Anika replied, ‘this is my dog. He’s not for sale…’ Only after she realised he wasnt asking for the dog…

untill now I’ve always refused when people offer me a ride, But because of time starting to run out I decided not to refuse anymore (if it didn’t seem to dodgy, like the truck driver that stopped and first thing he says is ‘kiss, kiss?’
One morning a family on the side of the road called me over for breakfast and they offered me a lift. So according to my new rule I didn’t refuse. Bad Idea. Because my bike got tied to the roof and with about 100km/h she went flying… I just heard this big crash and thought my trip was finished. not a nice feeling.
But miraculously, after some welding and hammering bits and pieces in place at a bike shop in Tatvan she seems to have survived! Although I havent cycled too much since that either… I guess the good thing about that is I’ve probably avoided a few of them evil dogs and bandits I’ve heard other cyclist talking about…

In Tatvan I discovered there’s a 2nd mount Nemrut, this one is a volcano with 5 crater lakes inside. I went to check it out and found myself playing tavla and having a BBQ next to a hot lake with four elderly Kurdish men. A beautiful spot to camp just a bit windy!

A few days ago I cycled along lake Van enjoying the scenery when all of the sudden I felt really ill. I sat down on the side of the road contemplating what to do when a man came up asking for cigarettes.. and then for money… Phuh! I’m a dying young woman! what ever happened to chivalry! Hmph.
Not much later I catched a ride to the next town and crashed at the first place I came across which happened to be an internet cafe.
I could hardly move and had a bit of a fever, but after about 5 hours on the couch there I thought it be a good idea to find a hotel. The boy at the internet cafe told me it wouldn’t be a problem to stay there all night, he would stay with me. He seemed very friendly… a little too friendly.

So I ended up in a hotel which was fairly expensive to my standard but nice since I had my own toilet, where I spend most the night. I did sleep a little too, but only a little since people kept knocking on my door between 10 and 1 o’clock. And I didn’t think they wanted to check if I’m ok…
So the next day, still feeling severely dodgy, I got out of there. Took a dolmus to Doubayazit where I’ve been staying for a few days in the shadow of mount Ararat. For the first time today I could fart without wetting my pants so I must be getting better.

Here I’ve met a couple of other cyclists, one of them told me he’d been up the mountain with a guide. I met his guide too, Burhan. He has taken me too his family home where his grandma, mum and sisters have been taking care of me. They insisted a freezing cold shower is the best medicine… I didn’t agree but I couldn’t get out of it. And I am actually feeling a little better.

Burhan is getting a tour group from Iran tomorrow to climb the mountain. He told me if I feel alright I can tag along… Normally you need all sorts of permits, it cost between 200 and 500 Euro to get up there! So I hope I’ll be feeling ok tomorrow. Seems like a good farewell to such a nice country where I’ve been invited to peoples houses more than anywhere ever before and had more çay then you can imagine…
I’ll climb to it’s highest point of 5165meter!

The next day I cycle I will be in Iran! Whoohooo!!! A whole new adventure….

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So I ended up leaving Istanbul a little later than planned, but this had two valid reasons;
1. I accidently magnetised (or de-magnetised) my bankcard.
2. I met two guys who had roughly the same idea as me (to head east)

So we left the city together and apart from a slightly dodgy stomach it felt great to be on the bike again. We headed up along the black sea-coast where we camped on beaches and in the forest. Its real nice being with a few and having a fire every night in which we roasted potatoes and bananas with chocolate.

Every day again I’m amazed by the genuine friendliness of the turkish people. The three of us arrived at a petrol station and the 10-year old ‘boss man’ gave us çay, cold drinks, ice cream, wipes, cookies, air freshener (..?) and a rose… well, the last one was just for me I carried it around on my bike till it was dead.

The only minor downside of cycling together was that the boys had a much faster pace, so they had to wait around for me many times and even though they didn’t mind it wasnt nice cycling. So after we spent our last night together in the small village of Tascilar, where we were invited by just about the whole population and Kurt and Scott stayed with a mad old lady who splashed them with perfume (fair enough,they hadn’t showered since Istanbul) And I got showed around by Nurgul who let me stay in her house and gave me hot milk with sugar straight out of their cow (the milk…not the sugar), we split up. They went on to Ankara and I drove with a big loop around it and had a brilliant time!

Its crazy the things I get offered on the road! Not just çay, but ayran (turkish yoghurt-drink with water and salt), coffee and lots and lots of food. And not just ones, but four, five sometimes six times a day. One day I cycled into a village and at the first house I was stopped to have çay and some cake. The elderly couple gave me necklaces, a ring and perfume they got when they were in Mecca…

Another time I cycled past two cowboys who called me over for çay. Wondering where they would get it from I stopped and within 10 minutes they’d build a fire and the kettle was boiling, they even had three proper little çay-glasses. So we sat together under the olive tree while a storm passed and enjoyed the çay and gözleme (big pancake).They even let me ride the donkey

There has been a lot of rain lately which I didn’t expect, I’ve seen towns flooded and traffic signs blown over. It’s actually great cycling, not so hot and not too cold either. The sky is beautiful with the lightning and dark thunderclouds you can see coming for miles and miles. It’s just trying to avoid them that proves tricky. Ones I tried to make it to a shelter when the sky broke and I was soaking within seconds. About 6 trucks offered me a ride in one hour but I was actually having a great time, singing my lungs out with the storm wind in the back.
When I did make it to a shelter it happened to be a hotel, and the people felt a bit sorry for me (no need to) but let me stay, and eat there for free! It was called hotel Cappadocia, and I was warned by a nice man who used to live in Holland not to let anybody into my room and to keep the door locked. Halfway through the night two men climbed through my window… I didn’t think of locking that one since I was on the 2nd floor! They were lucky cause I nearly peppersprayed them but it turned out they were in the room next to mine and locked themselves out.. just counted the windows wrong.

I’m now in Göreme and the day I arrived in town I saw Kurt and Scott standing on the road, they’ve just arrived a couple of hours before me so we put our tents on top of a hostel next to the swimming pool where we can watch all the hot air balloons coming over in the mornings.
And for the 3rd time this trip I have to wait around for some mail to arrive. This time it’s a new bankcard, without it I can’t continue. But to wait around in this surreal and wonderful land of the fairy chimneys isn’t a problem at all.

And it’s been real good since Kurt (which means large turkish dog in turkish ) is a bike mechanic and he’s been making us all wiser. I now know what derailers, hubs, cassettes, cranks, chainrings, bottom brackets and spindles are… things I don’t even know the names of in dutch. We had a crash course in bike maintenance in the park, it’s great to get to know my bike and learn to take proper care of her.
Tonight we’re camping out again. Gonna find ourselves a nice cave to sleep and watch the sun rise. There is four of us now, Koko has cycled here all the way from Japan http://whereiskokoro.blog34.fc2.com/
Kurt http://myspace.com/ search for dirt.kurt, and Scott. http://worldbiker.blogspot.com
check em out.

We all be going our own way again soon but for now it’s good fun spending some time together.

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Thats what I’ve been telling people for about a week now. And I’m still here. Istanbul, I love it! What an amazing city. I didn’t look forward cycling in a city of 16million people but I had a great time coming in. I guess I learned some useful cycling skills trying to avoid the traffic back in Italy…
And I have to say the turkish drivers seem to be more considerate for a bike on the road. Except the dolmus-drivers… they’re just mad.
When I asked directions to a policemen he invited me to have a tea and I left with his nr just incase I would run into trouble wich of course hasn’t happened. yet.

I normally don’t like cities and avoid them as much as possible. I came here to get my Iranian visa and didn’t know how long I would have to wait around for it. But I arrived on friday, received the authorisation code on sunday, left my passport at the embassy on monday and went to collect it on Tuesday. But I was told they didn’t have my passport and did I just leave it without getting a receipt or something… Trying to scare me, but it didn’t work. his smirk gave him away. So in a great mood I walked back to the hostel and had a coffee at Starbucks on the way… my first time ever, and it was great! After lots of instant and turkish coffee, which is ok but nothing compared to a beautiful proper cappuccino.. yum

Of course I’ve been around to see the sights, and following my uncles good advise I took a ferry across to a little island where I tried out my new snorkeling gear, been thinking of buying that cycling along the Greek coast and finally I did. So I hope to find some nice spots along the black sea coast in the next couple of weeks.

I’ve met some great people staying here at Mavis guesthouse where I’ve been sleeping on the roof with a view of the Aya Sofia. Its gorgeous! lit up at night with birds circling above it. And beat all the boys that work here and the owner at tavla (backgammon) Few nights ago I met a dragoman-tour group. they were about to set off on an overland trip to Kathmandu. We went to a restaurant and smoked a water-pipe… which isn’t my thing I have to say… but I guess the pic says it all….

And now I’m really leaving tomorrow… really really.
……………….
or maybe wednesday.

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I found the road after Edessa in the direction of Thessalonike a bit long straight and boring. The only good thing is all the petrol stations…. there seem to be more petrol stations than cars and every one of them got two bored men sitting outside who call you over when you cycle passed. When you do they offer you coffee, water, ice cream or a ride on the back of a motorbike. That last one I friendly refused since I don’t like the style of driving 300 km/h with no helmet… They’re all real lovely but I still don’t like the road.
So I got off at Pela, which happens to be the birthplace of Alexander the Great. It’s also the birthplace of Litsa, who friendly let me stay in her house and told me a bit about Greek/Macedonian history and I had a HOT shower! the first one in 5 days… 2 countries ago. And I had to try the homemade wine and homemade honey

Everywhere I go people first ask if I’m alone. 2nd question is; “aren’t you afraid?” Afraid of what?
I don’t like dogs running after me or snakes on the road… I even did 58.1km/h with dogs after me… ok, it was downhill, but still! But “no” they say, “for people”… Why should I be afraid of people? No, I’m not. Funny thing though that Greece is the first country where people keep telling me; “Here it’s safe… Albania, Turkey that’s dangerous… but here it’s safe..” It’s also the first country where I’ve been followed by dogs twice and harressed by men 3 times, but not to worry they,re all slightly pathetic and not half as strong as me (the man)… But here it’s safe…

It’s still a nice country the flat bits are a bit dull, but good for my knees who are getting tired of climbing and look forward to a rest in Istanbul. One day I’ve found a campsite so put up my tent, got offered some food by the neighbours, and wondered into the small fishing village of Porto Lagos…. Porto Lagos? …. PORTO LAGOS!!!! I all off the sudden realised I’ve been here before! I already thought it seemed familiar. I spent a week in this village on my 2002 hitchhiking trip to Istanbul (from Athens, not from Holland…. that would be crazy)

I just found out a few days ago that big sis and husband are expecting a baby!! How exciting is that! Great news, now I’ll get to be the crazy aunt that travels the world and brings presents from far away places Whoohoo!!

On the campsite in Alexandropoulis a fairly negative German warned me for the dangers of this world. There’s bombs in Turkey, war in Iran and people are getting murdered in Australia! … thanks.

Now. I arrived in Turkey! Last time I was here I was young and stupid. Now its 5 years later.

I’ve heard many stories about Turkish hospitality, but the first day I got here I was flabbergasted!
Just across the border I was welcomed by a group of traditional dancers. Ok, they might have not been especially for me, but still…
Then when I stopped at a petrol station to refill my water bottle I was invited to have a tea or çay. 2 çay, a bottle of fresh water, an ice cream and a meal of salad, rice and soup later I was ready to continue my journey.
In the evening I stopped in the village of Inecik to find a place to sleep. No one spoke english or german but all you need is signs: “where sleep” easy. So I was taken to the village hall where a mattress on the floor would be my bed for the night. But a bit later the young boy who showed me around town came back to tell me I was going somewhere else. He took me to a house up the hill. And there I was welcomed by the mayor and his wife and I stayed with them, cause a girl alone shouldnt sleep by herself in the village hall…

Not far before Istanbul I stopped at a petrol station to find water, an english man started talking to me. He was Jim the truck driver who takes pharmaceuticals to Turkey. We had a çay and he invited me to stay in the truck since he had to spent the night there and I was looking for a place to sleep. It’s brilliant, you’ve got the wee bunk behind the seats and a dvd-player! so I watched a movie. AND, I got a lesson how to drive a truck!

Today I will arrive in Istanbul which is perfect timing since tomorrow is some kind of national holiday. Something to do with Ataturk. I’m not sure what exactly but I’ll find out and will let you know…

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