Wednesday, July 8, 2009. Day 20

Stats

Trip Total: 1507.10

Day Total: 83.56

Avg speed: 16.3

Tm: 5:07

I had a late start. After having breakfast entered the internet and then after chatting with Aydin, I hit the road at 12:15.

Here is a picture of the Aydincik beach

I was looking to approximately 90 kms, which made me feel comfortable.

There was quite a climb in the start and then D400 kept altenating from asphalt to bad quality dirt road. Spithas made alright. The scenery had the usual beaty. Below you see a vacation town that lies on the side of D400.

a beautiful beach

For some reason I did not feel up to task. Probably because a late start plays bad tricks on one's morale and also last night's cigarettes and whiskey might have had a hand in it. At some point I was absolutely exhausted. Even though I never pay attention to the heat, this time it made its presence felt. It must have been 45 C (my guess.) The scenery had the usual beauty but this time it was escaping me. As usually I was biking in a forest of pine trees. When I could not go any further, I parked the bike on the side of the road, lied down, and took a nap for about an hour.

When I woke up I was really sluggish and it felt like I would never make it. However, as you know, never say never. Instead say "soldier bike on !!!" Which I did.

Again the scenery was remarkable.

I stopped a couple of times to buy boiled corn and bananas from peddlars on the side of D400. The news I got from them was encouraging There was only one 3km long steep uphill and the rest was flat. And I was not that far from Silfike. Only 30 kms.

One of the people I talked to was a driver that had stopped to by corn. He was a tourist like myself. He was from Irak. In the short conversation we had he said that there is progress in Irak but it is very slow. It will take a long time. He also said that despite the terrorism it is a lot better now than under Saddam. He added "freedom has no price," and thanked the Americans.

Finally, I arrived at my destination at a reasonable time

and easily found a reasonable hotel, hotel Arisan. The receptionist was polite and there was another man that could speak English. After I showered I went out to find something to eat and then walked back to the hotel. In front of the hotel was this man and couple of his friends having tea. They cordially invited me to join. Jener had lived in Australia and had returned to Turkey 15 years ago. He used to be a soccer player but an injury had stopped his career short and this is the reason he had returned home.

We stayed till late chatting and I learned a lot from him. He is a kind and polite man. When I told him that I find the Turks very friendly, nice, and honest he agreed but then told me "not all fingers are of equal lenght, be careful."