Category — Turkey

today’s distance: 0km
total distance: 5005km
riding time: 0h

I slept. Slept like a stone. My body needs rest. Even when I didn’t sleep, I felt tired and it is as if waves of tiredness are washing over me. I am thinking now that I am hesitant to take breaks for that reason. When I do - mostly on the second day of a break - I get extremely tired. On the other hand I should be taking more breaks. I know that - rationally. But biking is just a lot of fun and most of the time I have this urge to keep moving.

The rim is on its way now and will hopefully arrive early next week. In the meantime, Haluk showed me the Ataturk Memorial. Funny places, these memorials.

Tombs … most of them have tombs of course. This one happens to be empty. The real one is below the main hall somewhere, but the reverence will always be a public one in this hall. I somehow can’t do much with such national symbols and find them in some sense comical. I don’t want to arouse any misgivings, but a lot of times wonder whether and why we seem to need such places as an expression of some kind of national identification. Call me post-national or whatever, but it just doesn’t do a whole lot for me. This sentiment has only become stronger the more I travel in places with strong national feelings engrained in people. Add to this that the title of the whole project - Cycling Without Borders - is an expression of a deeply-held personal belief and you get the gist of what I am saying.

Alright, enough pondering for the day … here I am in front of the tomb of Ataturk.

The rest of the day was quiet. We got back to the apartment and I got a better look at my wheel, making sure that the brakes were in good shape still getting to work on phone calls to the University of Miami administration to get the ball rolling on my US visa that I will have to obtain in the process of this trip. I hope to be able to do this without having to fly back to Germany for some reason. Keep your fingers crossed.

today’s distance: 9km
total distance: 5005km
riding time: less than 1h

Murat and I had breakfast and this time we parted ways personally instead of over notes. I rolled slowly to the bus station amidst the construction sites dotting Kayseri. When I pulled up at the bus station (a sleek new building with security all over the place), the security guard inside the front entrance wasn’t too happy about me placing the bike near the entrance instead of the bike racks 100m away. I wasn’t going to do that in order to buy a simple ticket. He was standing inside the glass front trying to impress me with wide-open eyes and by pointing to his badge (a company logo) and then to the bike rack. I motioned to leave it here and locked it. He came out: “Problem!” I told him I will buy a ticket. “OK.” That was it. Bought a ticket, boarded the bus and five hours, a lot of climbs and a break later I arrived in Ankara. As I get off, Haluk comes out of the terminal and greets me with a cheery hello. We make our way to his similarly cheery yellow car, somehow manage to get everything inside and head to their apartment in the center of the city. I will be able to stay here until the replacement arrives, thanks a million for this!!!

Believe it or not - no picture today. Zero. Nada. Keines. I had expected to mull things over in my head a lot more, but I have pretty much accepted the situation (was there anything else I could do?) and figure that the rest is welcome and probably necessary.

today’s distance: 110km
total distance: 4996km
riding time: 6-7h

Another bad night - the yummy food from the night before took its toll. It was too oily, which I didn’t realize when I ate it - and probably too spicy. So much for that. This didn’t bode well for the day and I couldn’t eat much for breakfast. I had also missed out on bidding farewell to Murat because I slept through my alarm after having been up for part of the night and he didn’t want to wake me up. I slowly moved about the apartment and eventually closed the door behind me and set out. What a crummy feeling in my stomach … just like a few days ago on the way to Goreme. Not quite as bad though, but still not a good way to start the day. I decided to give it a go on bananas, water and Coke … and so it went. After negotiating traffic on the other end of Kayseri, I got to work on an uphill which kept me busy for the next hour or so. My hunch is that it was about 12-14km long with undulating terrain afterwards. Mostly uphill. It was also not very inspiring landscape as the day was dull. So was my mood.

This may be a good opportunity to explain something. I have received a few comments about what my thoughts are during days like this. It’s a bit odd at times. There are so many things that influence mood, thoughts and behavior. Take a day like today … the weather was alrightish (it didn’t rain and the wind came mostly from behind so that was good), but not great. I didn’t feel very well at all. Strangely, it just leads to me being more and more stoic … you do what the road throws at you and take it as a given. That’s the upside. The downside of course is that you don’t really experience what is going on around you as fully as you would otherwise. It also helps to keep in mind that for all the great moments I have talked about so far, there have been times when things didn’t go all that great. Rob over at www.14degrees.org has just posted something about this:

“Be especially aware that for every exciting, inspirational photo of someone screaming downhill, beaming with joy and pride, there is another photo that was never taken because the traveler was so incredibly depressed and tired that they could not even bring themselves to think about opening their camera case.”

Rob makes a good point and my thoughts were similar today. Through this blog you get a certain view and I try to be as open and honest as I can be, but it certainly is biased and depending on the mood I am in, I am leaving things out or putting a certain perspective on it. The last few days were days where I didn’t feel like whipping out the camera at times. A few weeks ago I might have. But oftentimes, there are stories that I probably don’t tell, feel that they are insignificant or push them to the back of my mind. Today was a day where I just went about doing what I felt I should do. One pedalstroke after another … moving slowly up the hill, taking a break and just clocking miles. Having biked for a number of years may help a good deal to get your mind off of things and just be there in the moment. Had I felt better, the day may have been totally different.

I was getting close to a town where I was going to stop and do some purchases when I realized that something was wrong on my rear. I figured I would have to adjust the brake and so I did. Things seemed OK so I moved on. The road was bumpy, so I didn’t feel the little clonks for a couple of minutes. Then they were there again. I looked again, couldn’t see anything. I took the packs of to get a good look at the rear wheel. Then I saw it …

(if you have trouble seeing the problem, click the picture and enlarge the photo)

Argggghhhhh … the rear rim was broken. Strangely enough, my feelings were either muted or I simply accepted the situation as was. Nothing to be done about it. I didn’t scream or yell out. I simply put the packs on the bike again after opening up the brake. I rolled down the hill and up the next, wondering what to do. A minute after I was back on the bike, I took out my phone and called Speedzone to tell them about it and asked whether they could put a new wheel together for me. Easiest thing I could do and I knew things would be done right instead of running around Ankara and Istanbul trying to find something that I have a hunch might not be there. Dirk was on and said they would build it the next day. Thank you so very much … they are busy these days for sure and with Dirk’s shoulder being injured I do not take this for granted. What happened you may ask? I cannot tell you. No impact, the tire is good. Too much weight? Not really, I am not loaded up very heavily. Faulty material is all I can think of right now.

I couldn’t go on much longer I knew. The town in sight about 3km ahead, I went there. Internet cafe, bus station, etc. I arrived, made a call to Murat, asking whether I could come back to Kayseri that night and he immediately said to hop on the next (and as it turned out: the last) bus to Kayseri. The day may have been shot, but you can always take a picture of a bunch of kids swarming around your bike.

So, on the bus I was to Kayseri. And the landscape looked completely different. What had been dull and gray all of a sudden was lush and green. The sun had come out and was now beaming at a low angle. The clouds around Mount Erciyes had disappeared and the whole area was now gleaming in a golden glow.

I arrive in Kayseri and pedal back to Murat’s place … wait for him there and get a taste of Turkish hospitality. I was calm about the fact that I was stranded now. But I also just wanted to be left alone. All neighbors seemed to be converging on me though as I was sitting waiting for Murat who came about half an hour later. I had hedged a plan on the way back: things being delivered much more quickly in Ankara, I would go there if Gokce’s parents would be willing to have me around. They were … just said to hop on the bus and they would pick me up. So, that’s what I will do tomorrow. Get up early, hop on a bus and then head to Ankara to wait things out. In this sense it is also good that I didn’t continue on last night. Thanks to Murate for putting me up for another night and for organizing things at such short notice.

Thanks also to Haluk und Guler for letting me spend more time with them in Ankara. The forced break might have its good sides too. As Patrick has pointed out, Hesse happened upon an indigenous tribe and found that they stop at times so that they mind can catch up with their bodies. Given the mileage as of late, this might not be a bad idea.

And finally, I should go back to Altinekin and talk to the police guy there: “You are going to Ankara!” I am indeed.

today’s distance: 85km
total distance: 4886km
riding time: 3-4h

I set out thinking that the distance from Goreme  to Kayseri would be 90km so as to make it a full day of cycling. It wasn’t. Once I got to Avanos 10km down the road I saw a sign indicating that it would only be 60km. So much for that. The ride was uneventful. That’s what happens when you’re on big roads that are like an autobahn and there really aren’t any other options. A few climbs here and there, nothing major and a mountain ahead that was completely shrouded in the clouds. Mount Erciyes looked interesting and it was standing out.

Kayseri is a big city. The Lonely Planet said something about 600,000 people, the sign at the entrance said 800,000 and from the looks of it there were now a good deal more people. Turns out there are now more than 1 million.  I entered the city much earlier than I had anticipated and much earlier than I had told Murat, my couchsurfing host for the night, that I would arrive in Kayseri.

So I went past the meeting point - the new bus terminal - and looked for a few things in the center of the city. Everyone keeps telling me that Kayseri is the last outpost in Turkey … the backwater begins. Not my words, but from what I gather if you need to buy something  this is the place. I did need a charger for my DSLR so as to bring you more pictures (thank you for all the positive comments, greatly appreciated) of what is going on around me.

Store #1: I ask whether the storeowner speaks English. He doesn’t, but answers in French. Alright, so here we go. I ask for a charger. He shows me - quite proudly - his Nikon charger. I ask whether he has a Canon charger. He doesn’t. Too bad. On to the next question - are there any other stores in town that might have one? No. No other photo stores in town at all … Slightly surprised look on my face. He confirms. Have to go to Istanbul. Eh … no!

I leave and look around. Just on the other side, hidden behind a bus stop is another store.

Store #2: One of the owners speaks English and is very forthcoming. He has a battery that fits my camera, but no charger. He may be able to get a hold of a replacement, but not until tomorrow (which would be fine) and not an original one. I would rather have an original so I ask for other places and he freely points me to other places around the Hilton hotel.

Store #3 (one of a plethora of stores in the same street): We have a Nikon charger, but no Canon. Points across the street, they will have one for sure.

Store #4:  Yok!!! (meaning no in Turkish) Turns around and leaves me standing. Yikes!!!

Store #5: Yok!

Store #6: Yok!

… (you get the picture, slight variation on the theme)

Store # I forget the count and don’t feel like asking as they sell everything from cameras to CD players: lady speaks English, I ask pretty unexpecting for a Canon charger. She goes back to a pile of things (can’t make out what they all are), pulls out something in a plastic wrapping. It’s the right size and color - and it is an original Canon charger!!! I can not believe it. This is awesome. It makes my day. I can take more pictures and don’t have to wait around here for something to arrive from Ankara or Istanbul. I would have hugged the lady if I wasn’t where I was (I kept getting strange looks here in Kayseri about my bike shorts, much more so than in most other places so far).

That taken care of, I meet Murat at the bus station (about 8km of backtracking) at 2pm. I had thought about moving on given the time situation, but figured that I could use a not-too-strenuous day. Murat was great … he careened around the corner, we got my bags into his car and I follow him into this new high-rise development that I had seen from the road. A software-engineer in a production company he also calls up a friend to see whether they do aluminum welding (for my pedal) and finds out where to go the next day. Good stuff.

We end up driving to meet friends of his for the night. Yummy food and interesting conversations with two Turkish guys living in the Netherlands (and speaking excellent German) followed. On the way, we see the girl driving the car (she had looked into the camera the split-second before) - a not uncommon sight here.

today’s distance: 0km
total distance: 4801km
riding time: 0h

Today, I did go hiking in some of the valleys and it was truly outstanding. Not many people in the valleys, the scenery breathtaking and the views amazing.

I met a Russian who was bright red from the sun and running out of water. I could help him with the latter, but not with the former of course. I also joined up with a British couple for some time and we had a great time exchanging travel stories.

I hung low for the rest of the day, finally giving my body the rest it deserved. The light rain helped to make that an easy decision. In my search for food, I met Jeannie & Wei Ting from Indonesia and Singapore who were on the same quest. We joined forces and finally put our teeth into something … say filling.