Pedaling from the Black Forest to the Yellow Sea

daily distance: 108km
total distance: 6028km
riding time: 6-7h

After the midnight talk was done I could sleep finally and did so until about 6am. Packed up, had some breakfast and set out.

The wind was still there - sometimes pushing me, but most of the time coming from the front. Seems to be the prevailing story of the day. The lake on my right, I moved on to Erçiş where I wanted to take care of some logistics and experienced my second blackout in a few days as I was organizing the next visa issues online. The power just went out. There’ll be another day to take care of that. Once out of Erçiş the wind was more serious. It was interesting. It came out of completely different directions. There was no predicting what would happen when you crested another set of little hills. It was mostly in your face of course.

I was pretty tired by the time I got to the turnoff towards Dogubayazit and thought about just throwing myself down someplace and stay there for the night. The wind was coming right at me with a force that seemed impossible to bike into. I stopped at a gas station. Became bored. I looked up at the sky and saw clouds moving to the North, while the flag only 25m away clearly went the other way. Moved on and lo and behold was able to round a corner where the wind abated a bit. I kept moving for another 30km ultimately - making a stop in Muradiye. On the way further up the valley I only thought about covering distance and gaining altitude. Every one of those I wouldn’t have to cover tomorrow when I am heading towards the pass. This tractor was a major help along the way. Quite tired, it provided some good draft up the hill and motivated me to go faster than I could have done without.

This is now serious Turkey hinterland. The Iranian border is only a few km to the East and the villages are getting poorer and poorer. I camped outside of Gümüştepe after asking a farmer whether it was OK to do so. A quick tour around town showed a rather sad state of the housing and general living conditions.

One general observation since I got a number of questions about this. Yes, whenever I mention that I am from Germany the question invariably turns to the football match between Turkey and German this Wednesday. The rare times I watch TV (or have the chance), news are full with reports about the event. People keep asking me what I think the result will be - I raise my eyes and just say insha’Allah after a bit of back and forth.

daily distance: 84km
total distance: 5920km
riding time: 4-5h

I wasn’t sure what made me sleep so badly last night. I kept waking up and figured it was some kind of rodent that kept me awake not far from where I was lying. In the morning I saw the real answer …

The turtle was snuggled up between the bike and the tent and I suspect that it moved around a bit during the night and woke me up as my head was right next to it.

After a short breakfast I set out and completed my next rescue mission (I must say that I am a bit surprised by the number of turtles that I am seeing here at 1700m):

I had decided to take it easy after two hard days of biking and so I bumbled along the lake at a very leisurely pace and took my time.

In Ahlat I went to a huge cemetery, which was quite impressive (though it did lack any of the ravens sitting on the gravestones as my guidebook had indicated - it was still impressive).

Over lunch in Ahlat the weather changed dramatically. There were dark clouds all over, the wind had picked up immensely and was coming in from the side. I decided to put off my departure a bit and though not great, it got better after a while. Sometimes pushing, most of the time a force coming in from my left hand side the wind was playing its game. As over the last couple of days, I saw a lot of buses from Iran - a number of bus stops specifically catering to them (signs are a giveaway, not that I understand any of the writing).

Towards the end of the day the wind was with me until I hit a little hill and from there on it was fully in my face. There was no chance to pitch a tent in that kind of wind I thought and there were no trees or bushes to hide behind. The area was amazing, but camping was out of the question. I stopped at a gas station hoping for the wind to lessen. No chance. The owner offered his place which I gladly accepted. I ended up in the guestroom - only to be woken up during the night by him and two other people talking loudly and drinking tea. Not sure what the deal was - they eventually moved after seeing me bleary-eyed and not too happy. I was grateful, but if you offer this, then give me a chance to rest. Talking loudly at 2 am (whispering wasn’t an option) wasn’t my idea of having fun. Still, the day was great and I am enjoying the views.

daily distance: 118km
total distance: 5836km
riding time: 8-9h

A battle of a day … got up a bit later than yesterday and set out to reach Tatvan or Bitlis, depending on how I would feel. I wanted to get away from the heat of the plains I was on and to Lake Van where things were supposed to be a bit cooler. The first few km were devastating. Very steep uphill sections and a very strong headwind made for some tough going. I would not really gain any altitude until the turnoff to Tatvan though as all the uphills were followed by downhills. Not much in making for a good start.

Then the climb began in more serious terms. The road follows a river valley and continues to wind up for the next 50 or so km. Mostly uphill, some drops bringing you back down to the river level. I was sweating a lot, trying hard to keep hydrated. The total fluid intake for the day was more than 8 liters, including juices and Coke. The valley currently sees a lot of construction, the road is getting two more lanes, which made for some slow progress at times. Halfway up – during one of many stops – I was approached by a kid. I didn’t have the calm to be stared at for 5 or 10 or 15 minutes and tried to tell him that I wanted to be alone. This is rarely, if ever, successful. People will just walk for 5 meters and then stop and stare again. So, after trying to shoo him away, he trodded off only to come back later and show me a handwritten note: “I’m police” and asking for money. Understand that this kid was 14 years old at the most – I couldn’t help but laugh at the moment. It does show something that is prevalent here in this area though. Kids are asking a lot more for money than in any other place that I have been to and the area generally seems to be much poorer than previous ones.

When I finally reached Bitlis, I was ready to quit for the day. But then I looked at the map and convinced myself that the lake would be much better than what was around me.

So, after rescuing this little creature from the oncoming trucks (it was hissing pretty badly when I picked it up), I got to the top where a very strong tailwind made the last 10km to Tatvan a no-brainer. I was happy because after a few long days of constant ups and downs there was a flat stretch with a tailwind, making progress simply a joy. I was cruising along at 30km/h when all of a sudden the lakeview opened up in front of me. It came out of nowhere. I was just concentrating on the few meters in front of me, looked up and saw it. Magnificent.

I hadn’t made up my mind whether to take the southern route around the lake or the northern one. The decision was rather simple. I watched the flow of traffic for a bit. The northern side it would be - much less traffic from the looks of it. I was hoping to be able to pitch close to the lake, but the military had taken the beachfront property for the next 7km or so. I finally found an area only to be told that it wouldn’t be possible to pitch my tent there. After 5 minutes of discussions (things are rarely what they seem to be at first, which can be frustrating as everything is made much more complicated than necessary it seems), I was graciously given permission (I don’t think they really had any say about this) and found a good lakeside spot. By chance I happened upon 2 teachers, a lawyer and a religious scholar whom I shared dinner with before they set out to get back to Erzurum. The lake is quiet and peaceful as I am typing this, the stars clear and the moon still beyond the horizon. Great end to a long day.

daily distance: 135km
total distance: 5738km
riding time: 8h

I got up early to beat the heat, or at least gave it a shot. I was on the bike before 7am and it seems that I had failed miserably. It was already brutally warm when I crossed the Tigris valley to make my way to the other side.

It was supposed to be flat … Well, it turned out that the whole day was more like 1823m in altitude. It was massive. I got my first 80km in before 1am and took a long break in an internet cafe in Silvan. Until then, it was nothing but a constant up and down affair …

Once out of there I just enjoyed the ride in the no longer sweltering afternoon sun (well, it was still over 30C in the shade). But the area was simply beautiful and despite not really wanting to be out for that long, I eventually arrived in Kozluk. People ask me why I am riding later than 6pm – my answer is that for me those hours are some of the best of the day. The colors are vibrant, temperatures are much better and traffic is not as heavy most of the time.

Kozluk is a strange place and the first where I felt unwelcome. That goes for the part of town which lies at the highway. Given the distance and that it was close to nightfall, I opted for a hotel or would have to find a place pronto. Some people said no, there was no hotel. Others said there was. Turns out it was a teacher’s hotel again and it involved a 200m climb to the higher part of Kozluk - which greeted me much more warmly than the lower one. I was accompanied by a guy on a motorcycle who led the way in the now dark town, set things up in the teacher’s hotel (sort of at least) and showed me the essentials - a little supermarket, a restaurant and an internet cafe as I needed to coordinate things for the visa application that’s ahead.

The teacher’s hotel also had a TV which broadcast the Turkey - Croatia match. I was dead tired after the long day, but I was going to sleep in the TV room, so I watched the match with three teachers, whose emotional rollercoaster was massive. After the nail biter that was the penalty shootout I was curious to see whether there would be a lot of cars on the street. Not so many, maybe 3 or 4 made the rounds honking. This confirmed what people had said over dinner to me - that most were actually rooting for Croatia to win.

It was a late start and a slow day. Just as it should be on a day off. I was briefly toying with the idea of taking a bus to Sanliurfa, but then decided against it - sleeping in and just having a day off seemed like a good idea.

So I wandered around town only to find out that I must have left my USB stick in an internet cafe the night before. It does seem that the heat is turning my brain to mush. Forgot my wallet in a gas station toilet and then my USB stick in an internet cafe. I did recover it at the end of the day though - again being very lucky.

Here are a few observations about this area. Whomever I talked to so far - they all were adamant that this is not really Turkey, but all referred to this area as Kurdistan. The fact that the Turkish team made the quarter finals of the Euro 2008 is not really anything people get excited about as they really don’t seem to feel any allegiance to Turkey. People I meet are all enthralled with Abdullah Öcalan (former head of the PKK - depending on your point of view a terrorist organization or an organization fighting for the freedom of the Kurdish people; I am careful in my choice of words here as I have no intention to take sides) for one thing and appalled by the fact that he is in held in prison in and by Turkey (this goes to show that many people look at this as a foreign entity almost). One quick example: “How do you like Turkey?” The obvious answer - so as not to offend anyone - is that it is a good place and that I was treated very kindly. Which is true. This is met by: “No, Turkey is no good. You are in Kurdistan and it is very nice.” You eventually get used to these kinds of things.

There is a slight change of plan for the trip - I will not be heading to Georgia and Azerbaijan after all. The infection that I was suffering from in February and March and the delay I had in getting the spare parts to Ankara makes it necessary to take the short cut to Iran, meaning that I will be heading over the border from Turkey into Iran.