Tuesday, June 30, 2009. Day 12

Stats

Trip Total: 805.4

Day Total: 81.65

I woke up early but got up late, at around 9:00. Had breakfast and got info on how to get to the post office. I never told you but yesterday I made the decision to throw stuff overboard. I was carrying too much with me. All this time I've been thinking of biking John who only carries his toothbrush and his underware in his biking wanderings. Naturally I couldn't thin it down to that level but I ended up mailing to Greece 4 kilos (9 pounds) of stuff. People at the post office were really nice and in all probability they had never shipped anything to Greece before.

I returned to the hotel packed up and left. On the way out of Muğla I took a picture of the market place 'cause it looked nice.

After a couple of miles on the highway I heard a police sirene and somebody shouting from a loudspeaker. I assumed that after shedding 9 pounds of cargo, my bike became so light that I unwittingly broke the speed limit. I pulled over and the cops that had stopped behind me kept shouting from the speakers. It turned out they were addressing some workers on the side of the highway. Relieved I pedaled on.

My intent was to reach Ortaca where I could buy spare tubes. On the way I ran across one of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen. You will decide for yourselves. (DOUBLECLICK ON A PICTURE AND IT BECOMES SCREEN SIZE.) At the bottom of the inlet,as you see it in the pictures, there is a town called Gökova, a very Slavic name, if you ask me.

I biked on and 20 kms before my destination I took a rest at a gas station near a town called Köycegiz. There was a bunch of young employees attending the gas station. One of them, Ramazan, invited me over and offered me cold soda and then as we all sat and chatted, he brought ove several rounds of tea. The discussion was conducted in Greek and Turkish. Despite the apparent incompatibility we did get through to each other. I got a lot of info, enriched my Turkish vocabulary and they got a lot of info about Greece, salaries cost of living etc.

After the pleasant interruption I biked on and reached Ortaca an hour and a half later. Before looking for a hotel I looked for a bike store. They did not have the size of the inner tube I needed and after offering me lemonade, they said that I can only find what I need in Fetiye (60 kms,) which is on my way. I went to other bike stores and got the same answer. Finally looked for and found a hotel in the middle of town, settled in, and then went out for a walk. The town is a perfectly pleasant provincial town with wide streets (typical in Turkey,) airy, and with nice people. Other than that nothing really important.

See you tomorrow

Monday, June 29, 2009 - Day 11

Stats

Trip total: 723.7 kms

Day total: 29.71 kms

Avg speed: 14.4 kms/hour

Time riding: 2:03 hours

I got up early got ready, went downstairs to load the bike, and then pushed it for 2 miles to the town center. There I started asking "byciclet tsi," which I think it means "where is a bike store." The town is small and it was easy finding one (maybe the only one there is.) I have noticed that bike stores no matter in which country or town they are always busy. Using my superb body language while pointing at the derailleur, it was not difficult to explain to the the bike mechanic that I had a problem and to my relief, using his body language, he made me understand that he could fix it. He changed the derailleur. While doing that, he went through the routine motions and ordered tea. There was a bunch of kids there and all tried to talk to me. Well, you can understand how far this went, but the kids did not quit trying. The kids were really friendly and to make sure I understood it they kept offering me candies. The technician installed the new derailleur successfully. I paid him and also left a generous tip. I was so happy that the tip he got was almost as high as the price he had charged. Then I bought a round of teas for the crowd that had gathered. In the meantime there was another four people flocked into the store. I thanked them and rode on to find a place to buy food for the way. I also bought a big bag of candies and rode back to the store. The owner thought that something was wrong w/ the bike but I calmed him down by showing him the candies, which I gave to the kids.

At 11:00 I was riding out of town. I had decided to make it a short day and ride only to Mugla. It was indeed a short ride and I did not mind the wind or the continuous uphill. The morale turns out to be a very important factor in life. In a couple of hours I was in Mugla.

Below is Spithas at the city entrance

I entered the town and felt that I was riding the crest of the wave. And then it happened again. I hit a ditch in the road, heard a gunshot, and indeed it was my front wheel that was flat. Needles to say that I did not have time to disengage my SPDs and fell flat on my face. I got up started pushing the bike and asking where I could find a bike store. People kept pointing in different directions and finally a very polite man after giving me a complicated explanation in Turkish, realizing that it wouldn't work walked me to a bike store five blocks away. The inner tube was not fixable. The store did not have inner tubes the size of my bike and in addition the mechanic told me that I could not find any in Mugla. I produced two of the spare inner tubes that I had had fixed a few days ago. Soon as they were on the wheel and inflated, both gave and none of them could be fixed. I had to resort to the only unscathed spare tube I had. This means that till I get to the next big town, I will not have a spare. May God be on my side.

It was easy to find a descent hotel in the center of town. I showered, got ready, and went walking around town. It was time to withdraw money. I went to an ATM of Vakif bank but my card did not work. I asked for the guard's help, which he willingly offered, but whether we tried it in English or Turkish, the machine wouldn't cooperate. I was afraid that something is wrong with my card. That would be a real problem. The guard took the card went inside the bank, talked to a person there, came out, and told me something in Turkish which made me think that this card does not work w/ VAkif ATMs. I went to another bank and voila it worked. It flashed the cash. I went on walking around town. Below is a photo of the town center. There is nothing special about this town. It is an airy small provincial town with nice people and that's about it.

See you tomorrow

Sunday, June 28, 2009 - Day 10

Before I starting with today, I must pause and recount something that happened yesterday after I bid you goodnight. Soon as I left the internet cafe I went to the nearby market place, where I entered the first store I saw and bought a spoon (despite the peculiarities of traveling one must maintain a minimum of civilized manners.) I paid and went on. About 40 mins later as I was walking to the hotel I passed by that same store. A guy stopped me and started talking to me in Turkish. I couldn't understand what he said and he looked as if he wanted to sell me something. He turned around and in an authoritative way nodded to follow him and led me to somebody else whom I recognized as the cashier that I had paid for the spoon. This latter guy produced a five Turkish Lira banknote and gave it to me explaining that I had dropped it during the transaction. They asked me where I come from, I told them, I thanked them and walked away.

People appear to be honest and trusting. This has created a sense of security in me which can turn out to be a trap. I have lowered my defenses. I have ended up doing things that I shouldn't do. For instance, I leave the bike unlocked to enter a store, etc. People are indeed very honest BUT to be sure among them there must be some that are outside the norm and to them I'll be a God sent gift, the stupid tourist!!!!

Stats
Trip total: 694 kms
Day total: 57.42 kms
Avg speed: 18.00 kms/hour

Got up early and left at 9:00. I was prepared to do about 120 kms to Mugla, the next big town. I stayed on highway (karayolu) 550. The road pavement was good, there was little traffic, no wind, and I was riding fast. I was a king. It seemed that I would have no problems meeting the goal. I was even making calculations on how farther than Mugla I could ride. Once more I was making plans without the host's approval. At 57.42 kms on the odometer and at around 13:10 as I was riding one of the endless uphills I heard a cracking noise and saw the chain on the ground. I started cursing (as nobody can understand me I do that very loud) thinking that the chain had broken. Even though I had elementary tools to fix a broken chain, I had never done it before, and I was not in the mood either. Unfortunately, the problem was worse. It was the derailleur that was broken or so it appeared to me. I stopped the bike, unloaded it from the panniers, and laid it on the ground. Then, I took a couple of minutes to collect my thoughts. There was only one conclusion to reach. I was litterally in the middle of nowhere, and I could not walk or bike anywhere. I had to find a ride for me and Spithas till the next town. I started waving to passing drivers to stop. Soon I realized that as I was at the top of the hill right after it turned downhill, people could not see me from a distance. This explains why drivers were waving back to me, as if they were returning a greeting. I moved the bike and the stuff at the top of the hill and put the bike in a position to look damaged, and continued waving. First a motorcyclist stopped, and even though we could hardly communicate, the rider, a young hell's angels type of guy, appeared really eager to help. Unfortunately, we both realized that there was nothing he could do, so he wished me luck and drove on. Another fifteen minutes later a big van stopped, and this time the two guys could really help. We loaded the bike and the stuff in the back of the truck and they gave me a ride till Yatagan(scimitar) the next town. We went around looking for a bike store but were told that they are all closed on Sundays. A bunch of cab drivers eager to help told me that I could either take the bus to Mugla and have it fixed there or stay for the night and have it fixed it tomorrow. I weighed my options and decided to stay. The closest hotel was 2 miles away. I had to walked there while I was simultaneously pushing the bike.

A the the hotel, Gulseven petrol otel, I rented a room and stayed there for the entire day and night reflecting and watching TV. My Turkish has really improved thanks to all the Turkish soap operas that I've watched. A couple more incidents like this and I will be fluent. The only dark cloud in the horizon was my fear that the problem could not be fixed and that spelled the end of this trip.

See you tomorrow

Saturday 27 June, 2009. Day 9

I had breakfast, packed my stuff, left it at the hotel and then biked to Ephesus (3.5 kms.) The diversion was well worth it, as you will realize by looking at some of the photos.

The guards were very accommodating. As soon as I asked if I can park the bike they took me by the hand and showed me a safe spot where I could leave it.

Soon I realized that there are two ways to enter the site. And that explained why I was constantly going against the flow. Busloads of tourists were unloaded at the other entrance. So, I was walking against the grain.

Be that as it may, The first thing you see from the entrance that I entered, is the great theater. see it in the photo below:


and a view from inside the theater

A little walk further will give you a view of the agora

and from the theater you can also have "prime time view" of the port avenue, which used to lead to the port, which was half a mile from the theater. Today, due to the silt deposits, the water is 8 kms away. They say that Marc Anthony and Cleopatra walked down that avenue in their honey moon trip.
The next place I walked to was the library. Very impressive, I must say.
I believe that we can learn a lot from the ancients. What was really educational and our culture can benefit from is the following: right across from the library there was a brothel (see it below) that communicated with the library via a tunnel. People in those days knew that the needs of the spirit and those of the flesh are equally important and should be catered sımultaneously. This explains why that culture reached the heights that it did. Obviously, this is something that has been long forgotten by our culture.
Next I walked up the sacred way



going by the temples of Hadrian and of Trajan. Went through the Gate of Hercules
which finally lead to the odeum

After all that tour, I walked back to the bike and back to the hotel. Got ready and hit the road by 13:00. The destination was Aydin, which was 50 km away. The ride was smooth and uneventful, with only one incident. As I was riding on 550, which is not a main highway but rather a sort of rural road, two cars had stopped at the side of the road. Their passengers had gotten off the cars and were eating water melon. I asked them whether I was headed in the right direction. They answered and then "forced" me to share water melon with them. After eating the water melon and thanking them I biked on. I stopped at the next gas station to fill up w/ water. The attendant took me at the back of the building and showed me where I could fill up with cold water. People have been really nice so far (except that bus driver.)

Finally, I made it to Aydin
I easily found a hotel near the center, which was something of a dump, but the price, which I did not bargain down, was a mere 15 TL.

After washing up, I walked around town. It is beautiful but not impressive. It has wide avenues and parks but nothing special.

Here is photo near the center


See you tomorrow.

Friday, June 26, 2009. Day 8

Stats

Trip total: 576.9

Day total: 82.57

Avg Speed: 20.2

I got up and went for breakfast. In an attempt to control myself, in view of the biking ahead I ate half the quantity from yesterday. Still plentiful. I started biking at 10:30 and it took a while, more than 12 kms, to exit Smyrna. The highway was good and no wind!!! I could really speed up.

As I was exiting town I ran across mount Roshmore see for yourselves

The rest of the riding was uneventful.

What was interesting was that I changed my mind regarding today's destination. I was about 45 kms from Aydin, my original destination, when I saw signs for Selcuk and Ephesos. I called the war council and the decision reached was to divert and spent one day visiting Ephesus. That shortened today's ride, so I decided to rest and take a nap next to the high way. When I got up and followed the road for Selcuk the wind was blowing in my face, as usual, but I did not mind it at all. The important thing was that today remaining distance was only 15 kms.

I arrived at Secuk at 17:00.As I was entering I had a magnificent view of the castle. Well, see for yourselves.

Soon as I was At Selcuk a hotel hawk came up to me and I ended up at his pansiyon. I took the first price he quoted, even though I knew that I could bargain him down. I was too tired to do that. To top it off, he asked me not to discuss price w/ the other guests because my price was so much better than theirs that it would irritate them.

After I settled down I went out for a walk. Storks have invaded this town and are all over the place. They will not even respect ancient aqueducts. See below

I walked to St. John's church, that is, the ruins, where St. John the Evangelist is believed to have been burried. Below is the entrance to the ruins.

Fairly close to Saint John is one of the oldest mosques of Asia Minor. The Isa Bey mosqueThe only thing missing an ancient Greek temple. That would have made the scene complete. And by Zeus, what we had was the largest temple ever of Artemis.

Do not be deceived. After the Christian and Muslim pillaging, topped off by an earthquake, this pillar is the only thing leftstanding.

Next, I headed for the town center. Once more, this is a really pretty, neat, and orderly town. It was a pleasure being here. People are nice, w/ the exception, of course, of the rug sellers, who can be pretty annoying. Below is a photo of the town center.

June 25, 2009. Day 7

And God rested on the 7th day of creation. Here is the dilema. Should I observe religion or just scrap it altogether and keep on riding? I realized that deep down we are all religious beings and as such, I can not escape my destiny. So rest I did. But lets be clear, rest means abstain from biking and not from any other activity.

The day started with a buffet breakfast at the hotel. Usually, in lieu of breakfast I'll have a litter of milk which is not heavy on the stomach and also very nutritious. This helps start a vigorous biking day. This time, contrary to observed custom I stuffed myself. Little did I know that the miles that I wouldn't bike today I would have to walk.

The first stop was at the Roman Agora, the only ancient ruin the town has to show. Interesting enough to walk around it but not enter it. I've already been in hundreds like this. A picture will help you understand (photo 1)

After that I decided to go to Kadif Kale. Kale means castle, Kadif I have no idea. I figured it would save time if I took a bus. One of the same. No matter how hard I tried it was impossible to get the bus info from the locals. Once more, I ended up walking all the way to the top of the hill. The view, however, made good for any "suffering" I had to go through. It was breathtaking. You could see one of the best natural harbors that there are, in all its splendor. Only comparable to that of Marseilles.

Kadifcale

Smyrna port

I asked one of the locals to take a picture of me, which he did, and then he insisted that he take another one w/ the huge flag (bayrak) that features there on the background. As I understand the Turks have a particular reverence for their flag. For instance, to show their appreciation, they will give someone a flag.

I started descending the hill and as I walked I noticed that the street signs were marked with numbers rather than names. Actually, they indeed use number for street names. The difference w/ NYC is that these numbers can be something like 2357.

I walked back to the hotel, got refreshed and then decided to boost Spitha's morale by giving him a treat. I took him to a bike store and had its chain and its front wheel axis lubricated. Due to lack of the appropriate wrenches, the back wheel was not lubricated as thoroughly. Photo 4

Once Spithas was all set to go, I decided to take him w/ me for the rest of the city tour. So I randomly biked around for a while and then headed for the Konac, which is the town's center (merkezi.) Really beatiful place on a beautiful shiny day. On the way I took a picture of a kid that was minding the store.

The pictures below are from Konac, which is, I believe, what the Greeks used to call "to quai" using the French word for pier.

My next move was to bike back to the hotel where the consierge infromed me that in order to take the bus to Tsesme, I would have to walk back to Konac to take the bus to the bus terminal and from there another bus to Tsesme which is approximately 80 kms away. I submitted to my fate and walked back to Conak and took the bus. People were really nice helping me find the right bus. This time it was an army officer that walked me to the bus and make sure that I had all the right info. The bus driver though turned out to be a jerk. The first real jerk I've met so far. Even though I could only have broken communication w/ him it was clear he was a jerk. A you know, I never ever make mistakes. So I was right about him too, as it turned out. At the next stop a young man entered the bus and the driver started a heated verbal fight w/ him. The boy wouldn't give up to the extend that the jerk stopped the bus got up and started really screaming. Unlike Greece where in a similar incident the crowd backed the driver not caring who is right and who is wrong but just wanting to reach their destination, here the people sided w/ the boy. The driver screamed really loudly seemed as if he would punch the boy and then sat back and went on driving cursing all the time, as far as I could tell. The jerk never told me where to get off and had I not been alert enough, I would have skipped my stop.

The Tsesme bus seemed to have been waiting for me. It took off soon as I entered. I was a one hour drive. The usual rituals took place. The conductor after collecting the fare went around w/ a bottle of cologne sprinkling people's hands and then went on to hand out water bottles.

Tsesme is very beautiful. This time I was not impressed by the natural beauty, which is not that evident but by the construction and development which is really outstanding. It has a small port and a Venitian castle.
Tsesme
Tsesme

I walked around for a couple of hours and then went to the bus station to take the bus back to Smyrna. Upon my arrival at the depot, I asked a local where the bus stop to Konac was and after failing to make me understand, he walked three blocks with me so that he could show it to me.

After I arrived at Konac I walked into an internet cafe where I composed all these words of wisdom that you read.

See you tomorrow

June 24, 2009. Day 6

Stats:
Trip total: 494.4
Day total: 59
Avg speed: 16.4
Tm riding: 3 hours 32 mins

Got up around 9:00 victualized and walked around town. Aliaga is an OK town of 55,000 but nothing is special about it. As one driver was beeping his horn, I did realize one thing though. I was alerted to the fact that Turkish drivers will rarely use their horn. That's a sign of consideration.

I hit the road at 11:30 and as the hotel was near the highway I was on my way to Smyrna (Ismir) in no time. I had planned to cover the 60 kms to Smyrna in a few hours and walk around town the entire day. I was very arrogant, I admit. In general, if one ignores the house's host, he will have to pay a penalty. The penalty was heavy. The wind would not stop and, as usual, it was a head wind. It made everything difficult and frustrating. I was moving very slowly and made many stops. At the first real stop, at a gaz station, I parked my boat and sat against the wall and produced some food. The attendants looked at me in a friendly way and waved to me that a chair was availiable, which I declined. An old lady in traditional clothes and a head scarf passed by me into the gaz station's store several times carrying some type of food. The last time she waved to me and as I approached her she produced a plate of food for me. I had no words to say, figuratively as well as litterally. I uttered the only relevant thing that I knew and that she would understand "te secur ederim," she nodded and left. After I ate the food and when I was ready to go I looked for her gave her back the plate told her the same phrase, she nodded again, and I biked away.

I wished the wind were as considerate as that lady. To make you understand what it means to make an enemy of the wind I'll quote an incident from yesterday. As I was going downhill, I stopped pedaling and left the bike roll freely. The odometer showed 19. Suddenly there was a gust of wind (not that strong,) and the speed of the bike went down to 10, in seconds!!!!!

A few miles further down I was so frustrated that I decided to stop again. I stopped at a bus stop that offered adequate shade. I ate a little more, inbibed some liquids and then went behind the bus stop stand lied on the ground and napped for about an hour and a half. Naturally, I had very vivid dreams of calm weather. Unfortunately, when I woke up and had to face reality, that was very different. Good thing though was that I had miscalculated my distance form Smyrna which turned out to be much closer than I had originally thought.

Pretty soon I crossed the city limits but had to bike another 17 kms to get to Basmane train station in Chankaya where the hotels are. I found lodge at Laleli hotel at a reasonable price, couple of dollars more expensive than yesterday, but there is no comparison between the rooms, the comfort, and the people. After resting for a while, went out and walked around. I ran into a local market place. I have noticed that the stores are open at all times. You can find a barber at 23:00, for instance, if you want to.

No pictures today. The scenery was not pretty enough to induce me to take the camera out and two pictures of Smyrna that I took are at the panoramic mode which for some reason will not load.

See you tomorrow w/ pictures and more incidents.

June 23, 2009. Day 5

Stats

Trip total: 436 kms

Day total: 72 kms

Got up late and went to the farmer's market that was right outside the pansiyon. Did the necessary victualizing and then strolled into Dekelia. It is a nice little town. Nothing special about it. It has a nice small port, lots of sunshine and nice people.

After the little walk, I went back to the pansiyon, packed up and took my stuff down to the bike. As I was about to leave I stroke a conversation w/ the Gunes (Sun) family. They offered me tea and we chatted for more than an hour. It is a very nice family I must say. They have a very smart son and a cute little daughter that was trying to learn Greek. She actually showed me an entire page w/ filled up with Greek vocabulary. The husband's grandmother was Greek and this is why he knows a few Greek words himself and seems to be interested in Greek things. Nice as it was, this chat delayed me and did not hit the road till 12:00 noon.

I forgot to mention that yesterday I fell flat on my face form the bike, fortunately at zero speed, because I did not disengage the SPDs fast enough. I did hurt both my knees. Today I could feel the pain when I touched them but, thank God, not when I was biking.

As I was biking, I made up my mind to I decided to diverge and visit the city of Pergamus (Bergama.) I also noticed that the highway signs will typically have the name of a town in Turkish and then the Greek name. For example for Oren they also had Adramytteion.

Pergamus is a nice town, built at a very beautiful location as you will see. The town itself is nice but nothing special to write home about. I biked to the Asklipion but not to the Akropolis which would have meant another 10 kms of mountain climbing. Did take lots of pictures of it though

View of Akropolis from the town square:

Close up phot of the Akropolis:

Myself at the Roman theater of The Asclipion:

Roman theater and ruins of a temple

Stoa at Asklipion:

The location of the Asklipion is is exquisite. Going there is enough to cure you. The riddle, however, is what does a library (most famous in the ancient world after Alexandria's) and a theater do there. I'm sure that the epitomy of an anti-intellectual president (Obama) that keeps talking about health care reform would have absolutely no clue. I'm sure that he thinks that the ancient Greeks spoke Japanese. Unlike the president the Greeks were very intellectually inclined and in their mind healing and non-utilitarian knowledge worked and in hand.

Left Pergamus at 15:15 and resumed my battle w/ the wind. For the uninitiated the wind is the only thing that has the potential to demoralize a fighter biker. It did not demoralize me, however, but when a few miles down the road I saw an abandoned gaz station, I decided to have lunch and then take a nap.

When I woke up it was around 18:00 and hit the road again. I biked 40 kms non stop and made it to Aliaga, a city of 50,000. I took the photo below as I was entering the town.

The town is not that beautiful. I lodged at hotel yildiz, which was a dump, as the other hotels were really luxury and expensive. I do not mind it though, it is a lot preferable to sleeping on the road.

See yo/u tomorrow

Vassily

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