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02. – 16.07.2012 Istanbul - Tuz Gölü 581 km
Olli:
We finally spent another week in Istanbul waiting for our bikes. But we haven't been lazy all the time. In the meantime we met with Claudia, another German couchsurfer, to drink Çay (tea) and we planned and worked out our further route .
When we finally got back our bikes, we were overjoyed. Being without them for about 2 weeks was pretty tough and we missed them a lot. Gursel, the boss of Yesil Bisiklet, had however, only changed my bearings in the fork and not the creaking bottom bracket... Arrrrrr!! He assured me, that he had checked everything and could not find anything. We'll see if that was a good decision. At least, I got new pedals, a new and stronger rear rim and we both got new saddles ;)
Our last day in Istanbul we spent with Aleks. He showed us a bit of the Asian side, we went to a Kuaför (hairdresser) together and we ate ice cream made of goat's milk (I've never eaten such awesome ice cream before), Baklava and Cig Kofte. In the evening, the big surprise: We were allowed to sleep on Aleks' sailboat. A completely new experience for both of us.
The next morning Aleks brought us to the ferry, which should take us across the Sea of Marmara to Yalova. Only then we realized quite how much we had taken him to our hearts and leaving was very hard for us. If someone were to ask me today about my most positive impression of Istanbul, my answer would be: Aleks.
Sonja:
The next few days back on our bikes were not quite so easy. After almost three weeks of resting, our muscles felt like jelly. The first days were hot, but only slightly hilly, so we could acclimate slowly. A very exhausting week lay ahead of us with several nasty passes over 1000 meters with up to 45°C in the sun, which we mastered on a very lonely and quiet road through a lot of small villages. Despite the heat and constantly cycling uphill, we could gain a lot of positive impressions of Anatolia. The view down from the mountains to the magnificent scenery makes you forget the hardships and the refreshing water from the mountain fountains is absolutely delicious.
The villagers were often quite surprised about our unusual means of transportion and we were eyed like aliens, but people were always very friendly and hospitable. They were always very happy about us waving and greeting them with Merhaba (Hello), and countless times they invited us off the street to Çay (tea), breakfast or lunch. They also gave us plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, cherries (Olli had to climb on a truck to pick them), plums, apricots, peppers, peaches... everything is ripe for plucking right now and absolutely delicious fresh from the tree or field. After a while, however, I really couldn't see plums any more.
Of course, as good as no one speaks English or German here, but with our basic vocabulary of Turkish we could at least answer the 5 mandatory standard questions quite well: Where are you from? Where are you going? Do you like Turkey? Are you married? Do you have children? Usually, you are offered tea and cigarettes then and sometimes you are also asked about religion and profession. If then an Anatolian goat or cowherd asks you about Facebook or Twitter in the middle of nowhere, that takes the cake. In the countryside, it was often the case that the men only shook hands with Olli and only spoke to him at first. But since my Turkish is better, I always immediately jumped in too and no later than when I recited our mileage in Turkish, the men were always quite impressed. Moreover, it is not a lack of respect for me as a woman that they don't talk to me directly, but the exact opposite. Speaking directly to me would be like flirting with me in the presence of my husband. Strange manners ;)
A particularly funny experience we have had with the local polis (police). During a break in front of the police station, they invited us to tea and they also served us cheese, olives and cucumbers we could eat with our bread. We had a nice conversation and finally we were even allowed to shoot photos together and could sit in their police car, before departing. The police, to serve and protect ;)
Less nice was the fact that there is one chicken farm next to the other along the remote mountain roads. Of course, the chicken shit is used as manure throughout the whole area, which leads to a wonderful smell everywhere, that you have in your nose all day.
The first few days, everything was wonderfully green, people harvested everywhere, as mentioned, and there were plenty of trees providing shade during breaks. But this stopped abruptly, when we went downhill after the last pass. Suddenly, we found ourselves in an unreal, desert-like landscape: red rocks all around us, everything completely dry, no trees, only wheat fields and the fountains and people became less and less. Despite the breathtaking scenery, it sometimes quite wears you out, when you cycle all alone in the middle of hot and shadeless nowhere and do not know, when you reach the next fountain. We always had enough to drink, but that's kind of depressing, anyway.
After an exhausting week, we were quite thrilled to meet our next couchsurfing host in Polatlı, outside of Ankara, where we were allowed to rest for 2 days. Finally, a real shower again, a toilet, even if only a hole in the ground, a real bed, a washing machine and a proper kitchen with a refrigerator. On such a tour you really learn to appreciate and enjoy the small things, you take for granted at home. Our visit was almost like Christmas: We were warmly welcomed into the family and Hatice, the mom of our host Ramazan, spoiled us with various incredibly delicious Turkish vegetarian specialties, although the Turkish cuisine is normally very heavy on meat. In return, we cooked Kaiserschmarrn (pancakes) with applesauce. Our evenings we spent in a typical Turkish tea garden.
For our first night back in the wild, we chose a nice place right next to a fountain. In the field next to us 4 young cowherds were taking care of their cows. This time, we turned the tables and cooked tea for them instead of being invited. The youngest one of them finally asked permission to test my bike, which was obviously great fun for him. He did not want to get off again. In return, we were allowed to ride on his donkey and the 4 gave us a whole bunch of fresh Nohut (chickpeas). When a vegetable truck stopped right next to the well, to refill their water supply, I told Olli, just for fun, to ask them for a few tomatoes. We promptly got a bag full of tomatoes for only 1 lira (about 40 cents, we had previously found the coin on the street, so this was practically for free).
The next morning we were awakened at 5:30 a.m. by a dog that confusedly barked at our tent. After a few minutes, however, he went away, since he was obviously bored by our motionless tent. On this day, unfortunately, the times of idyllic country roads were over. We changed to a busy two-lane road, on which we made good progress on the hard shoulder and entered Kapadokya, accompanied by welcoming honking and waving of the Turkish car and truck drivers. As a reward, we arrived in the evening at the impressive, huge Tuz Gölü (salt lake), which looks like made of ice and that in 40°C of heat, but more of that in the next report. With Kapadokya a new and exciting part of our trip now lies ahead of us, which we are looking forward to.
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