Near Talas

I had to leave Göreme sometime. The glorious days of an almost cloudless & warm sun, t-shirt & shorts weather, came to an end.

Göreme

I liked Göreme so much that I stayed an extra day. It was nice to just relax after the active rest day on Wednesday.

Göreme

Eclipse day! In the morning we moved from a fairly run of the mill & slightly expensive pension outside the centre of Göreme to a really cool one which had cheap dormitory beds in a cave!

Göreme

It was the coldest night of the trip so far. Fortunately my sleeping bag & liners were up to the task. In the morning the inside of my tent was covered with condensation, which froze while I cooked breakfast.

Belisirma

The night bus dropped me off in the 'otogar' (bus station) in Aksaray at 6:30am. I had surprised myself by sleeping a little on the bus, quite something given the jarring roads.

Night Bus to Aksaray

During the early hours of the morning I'd been disturbed by a sound like a snort coming from outside the tent. Imagining a rabid wild dog or even a wolf - I was on the edge of a national park - I froze & kept completely quiet in my sleeping bag. No more sounds were heard & I quickly went back to sleep. When I got up I saw the hoof prints of a deer just beside the tent.

Near Çukur

I realised how much I was in the mountains the following morning when I went over a pass & had a clear view down to a valley below.

Between MuÄŸla & Kale

Today the mountains began. It took some getting used to & a lot of food. I could hardly eat enough, though on reflection it was more likely that I failed to eat at the right time & was just unable to catch up.

Near Milas

I had wind in my face the entire day! It started during the night & was so bad that I almost ran out of matches trying to light my stove to cook breakfast.

Lake Bafa

After a late start (it's so easy to get comfortable at a real home) & a tour around the area where Ann & Graham live I set off in the direction of Lake Bafa.

Didim

Today was the first official day of Spring. It was a corker. At midday it was over 20 degrees C! I rolled up my trousers & did without socks, of course there was no need for a jacket. For the first time on the trip there was a very real risk of sunburn.

Selçuk

The sun poked its head through abit in the morning & came out in great style in the afternoon making the Roman ruins at Ephesus a lot of fun.

Izmir

After a nice morning been shown around Foça I set off in the direction of Selçuk. I figured that I'd only get to around Izmir. I didn't figure on how much of a pain it would be to get around Izmir.

Foça

This morning was one to test my resolve. When I looked out of my warm room it was overcast. After the shower the first drops of rain were falling. The rain got worse through breakfast. As I wheeled the loaded bike out I saw that the tire was completely flat, then I remembered that checking the innertube was one of the tasks I set myself for the day off the bike.

Bergama

I liked the pension so much that I decided to make Bergama my rest day. As the day progressed I felt this was a good move.

Bergama

If there was a theme to today it was 'eating'. The first course was porridge cooked with milk, honey & raisins, which I made with the help of my little camping stove.

Near Edremit

The morning opened in pleasant silence, other than the sounds of birds singing & cows making their sound.

Near Berhamkale

The day dawned miserably, at least weather-wise. The forecast had been for a significant drop in temperature with rain & that's exactly what I got.

Echeabat

It was a bit of a late start. Gelibolu harbour was worth wandering around and I figured after such a long day on Sunday that I deserved a slower start.

Gelibolu

A much better day in all respects. The wind hardly bothered me and was with me for quite some of the day. Like the day before it was quite warm, around 15 degrees in the middle of the day.

Bandirma

In the morning I set off from the guard post of the Gendarmerie at 8am. It was heavy going, when it wasn't very hilly there was strong head wind.

Mudanya

The Sun came out! It was still cold and quite windy but most importantly it's sunny. At midday it was around 10 degrees Centigrade. This morning I packed everything up and cycled down to the Yenikapi ferry terminal.

Istanbul

A couple of weeks of rushing; with panic and euphoria altenating. As the day that I had set as that for departure getting closer and closer the time spent feeling in panic increased. Friederike has been wonderful. Somehow her worries about finishing her thesis and mine about the preparations for the trip cancelled each other out.