28. Gronen to Aycik

What a day!

A BIG day…and only Martin’s second!

But it was a really special ride! After our first “proper” Turkish breakfast!

…through countryside which I would never have picked as belonging to Turkey!!

…as we climbed into the hills…and and onto a green – so green! – plateau..it could have been England!!

Until one reached the villages! 

We stopped here for coffee…well actually, no coffee…just Cay (tea) as we joined the locals for their (seemingly continuous) smoko!!

So welcoming….and no…we could not pay for our teas…! As if they had never seen foreign cyclists before…and were so happy that we had chosen their place to stop at!  (….and mind you, the overall ascent for the day would preclude all but the most freaky-fit cyclists…or e-bikers!). We met three Ahmeds!! (We only met three people!)

40kms on…a section which included hundreds of strawberry farms! (..another surprise!)..

….and we stopped for a long lunch…and a re-charge! Another classic tea house…3 lira for tea (…sort of 9 teas to the uk pound!)….and that is all they sold…all day!!

So we found a takeaway and brought it back to the tea shop!

Great wee place…

Then another big 500+m climb……

…to this little almost Alpine oasis…

…followed by a plunge down to the coast! (Back on the Aegean).

Hurtled past 2,000 kms on the way down!

It has been a glorious day of riding…until the last 5kms when we hit the big road again! But it was not long before we pulled in to Akcay…only to find….FULL hotels!! Such a surprise really…but our fourth attempt got us a room…..in a really nice place as it turned out! 

A busy wee place…full of Turks on a weekend away…..from who knows where! Very lively! 

And a memorable Durum…or two…for tea!!

But it had been another late arrival…so we were both glad to get to bed!

Alas…the view from my bedroom window! And…true to form..4.30am…we were both awoken to a blast from the loudspeaker…calling us to prayer! 

A bit early really!!

1 Comment

  1. Anna

    HOW delightful!!! Those strawberries!!

    And I do believe that a 4.30am call to prayer beats a 4.30am toddler coughing in your face (a la my morning wake up).

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