Day 85 (Turkey): outside of Demirli - Diyarbakir (you are very lucky)

today’s distance: 48km
total distance: 5603km
riding time: 2-3h

Waking up to a wind that makes you feel like your tent is about to blow away isn’t a good feeling. It was fine though, or so I thought until I stepped out of the tent a while later. This was lucky part #1. I turned around to pack a bag when the whole tent was lifted off the ground and luckily came right at me so I could just sort of wrap my arms around it and catch it. The pegs had completely come lose because of the extremely dry ground. After packing up I headed out towards Diyarbakir fighting the wind that was still coming from the side and strangely always would for the next 2 hours despite some changes in direction.

I stopped at a gas station about 15km outside of Diyarbakir to eat a bite and moved on into the new part of Diyarbakir only to find that I had been stupid. I had left my jacket in that gas station. This was bad news … my wallet was in it, i.e. credit card, bank card, ID and my money. This was stupidity galore on my part. What to do? I would need to leave my bike somewhere and get a cab driver to drive out there - pronto. This was easier said than done. After looking around for a bit I was approached by a young guy, asking what was wrong and we quickly resolved the situation. I left the bike in his father’s store, he would translate to a cab driver what the deal was and I would be on my way. Given the wind I wasn’t going to ride out - it would have taken too long I felt. The cab driver was obviously concerned that he would not get paid - we sort of resorted to insha’Allah. When we pulled up at the gas station, the warden came out and handed me the wallet and the jacket. Lucky #2 of the day. I was relieved. Furkan said: “You are very lucky!” I was indeed, and this on top of being able to even do this tour and with the perspective of a great job awaiting me. Heading back into the city, Furkan and I hung out for a bit, talking about this and that. Inevitably here, discussions turn to politics - more about that at some other point.

After a while of talking and eating I headed into the old part of town to look for a place to stay … I will be taking a day off here. Had a wander around town for a while, the city is surrounded by a large wall within which you can get lost in a maze of streets.

Eventually I came upon a little dance party … (things were getting quite intense)

There are a great deal more pictures on the flickr site.

When I left one of the men walked with me towards one of the gates and only later did I really understand why he did that. I talked to someone in a restaurant who warned me about this part of town. “The only thing that I will say to you is to be careful over there.”