Monday 22 June 2009 - Day 4

Stats

Total mıleage: 359.5

Day Total: 95.73

Avg Speed: 16.6

Tıme riding: 5 hours 44 mins

After a sound sleep I got up at around 10:00. Took care of the usual stuff and headed for a bike store. What I did last night was to inflate the two inner tubes that I had patchced myself and to let them inflated overnight. In the morning none of them was inflated anymore, which meant that my patches were no good. Professional help was necessary. Hussein fıxed them for me, reinstalled the rear view mirror and greased the front axis that was making a strange a noise. All the while ordeng tsai (tea) for both of us. Tsay is the most popular drink around here, always served in a small curvy glass with no handle. I paid the owner, gave a generous tip to Hussein, biked around town, and went vıctualizing. This town, Edremit, is just a provincial town withnothing special in it, but still got impressed. It is clean well arranged and human. Its people, like everybody else, so far, are very nice.

I left at around 11:30. My intention was not to take E87 this time but a shorter and smaller road I saw on the map, which, I figured, would save about 7 kms. It turned out to be impossible to communicate wıth the locals and to control my frustration I decided to take the longer route. Incidentally, every person I asked for directions ended up asking me where I came from and when I told them Yunan they all put a smile on their face and said very good.

The ride was bad. The road was under construction and speeding trucks were passing a few inches from me. In the parts that were not under constuction the gravel was not pressed enough, thing that made the ride difficult. To top it off I had to deal with a head wind which whenever I changed direction it also changed ıts direction to become head wind again. It was definitely a conspiracy between the authorities and the elements to slow me down. Not to mention the free masons, the illuminati, the buildeburgers, and the aliens. Still these forces did not managed to break my spirit.

The scenery was not as beautiful as yesterday. Sometimes it was even ugly. The only beautiful scene I saw I quote it in the photo below.

I will also show you one of the many uphills I had to ascend. It was at least 12% but with the head wind and the gravel it felt like 35%. I think I am a hero. I deserve at least the iron cross.

When I stopped at a gaz station to refill my water bottles, to my surprise the man spoke broken English and so did his 14 year old son. His son asked me where I came from and when I told him he asked me which soccer team I supported. I lied and told him Panathinaikos. The moment he heard that he started reciting the names of all the Panathinaikos players. Naturally, even though as he recited I nodded my head, I could not recognize a single name. Himself, he supported Galata Serai.

Finally I made it to Ayvalit (quince) The old Greek name was Kudwvies whıch also means quince. Surprısingly, I did not see not even a single any quince.

Ich habe mein herz in Ayvalit verloren. It is an understatement. The town is absolutely gorgeous. Spending a of vacation week with my books and computer there, still would not have been enough. Actually, I would not mind living there. A couple of pictures are in order here. Fırst the Mehmet island which reminded me the Ortygia island in Syracuse.


Next, Ayvalit as seen from Mehmet island.

And finally Ayvalit from town exit.

I could have stayed a lot longer but had to go before it got late. I rode to Dikili (Dekeleia) where I rented a room at a pansiyon named Gunes (sun.)

See you tomorrow

Vassily