Only 79kms today…..wrong by 10% once again!
Not the nicest riding today really. A fast road for the first 23kms after which we had no choice but to join ‘the big coast road’.
But the Turkish drivers are – generally! (There are always exceptions!) – really courteous and patients, giving plenty of space as they pass. The ‘exceptions’ seem to be the same the world over: vans (of the Ford transit variety), dirt/stone-carrying trucks (who really do not want to slow down for it takes them forever to get up to speed again!)…and BMW drivers!! Not sure what it is about beamers, but they do attract sone of the most selfish drivers on the planet!
We met this guy en route…indeed the first cyclist since we met our Nottingham couple (who were carrying their kitchen sink on their fold-up city bikes!!): an Iranian environmental/climate activist, who is cycling around Turkey and Cyprus to spread his message.
Lovely guy! But given the proximity of Iran to Turkey – and his message – I had to chuckle that he had flown to Istanbul to start his odyssey!
Nice coffee stop in Aliaga…and a pleasant meander along the seafront for plenty of kms.
But then…..in our attempt to minimise time on the ‘big coast road’…we ended up following Mr Google into a horrific industrial area…..choc-a-bloc with trucks…and indeed far far worse than the road we were trying to avoid.
Smoke billowing everywhere…. trucks churning up unsealed roads….then kms of waste heaps….it was altogether very unpleasant!!
….and then bizarrely the road carried on and transformed itself into a rural idyll….winding through olive groves! All very strange!!
And so we carried on to Foca…arriving in good time at around 1.30pm. But…whilst the weather is not cold…it is not warm either…and the rain started as we approached Foca. Foc!!
Fantastic little AirBnB though…about 50m from the sea!…so hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow!!
Nice welcome….
So…a bit of shopping….blog catch up…and then a SWIM! Yes…I know…it WAS still raining…but hey…this is supposed to be a summer holiday!! And we are bloody well going to enjoy it! And it was FOCA cold…! Last time I swam in Turkey the sea was over 30 degrees! So 17 degree was a bit of a shock!!
But…to be fair…this place looks just lovely! With all the crappy developments elsewhere, I was beginning to worry that we might never again find that gorgeous wee coastal place in Turkey! But this certainly looks like it! So photos etc to follow tomorrow….a welcome rest day.
The road with all those trucks looks HORRENDOUS. Thank goodness the day finished on a better note!!