July 5- (continued) ...and more fruit

On the other side of the pass we stopped at a gas station in Aksehir. The attendants' favorite drink was Coke so they freely shared a big bottle with us. We try to avoid overly sugary drinks but when offered like that we make an exception. Then they took us behind the gas station to show us the big orchard. We got to munch on apricots, nectarines, black mulberries and yellow cherries to our hearts content. Then the owner gave us a bag and said we should go and pick some fruit to take with us. Then they cut up a watermelon for everybody to snack on.
THANKS GUYS FOR THIS MOST REFRESHING AND NOURISHING BREAK.

Then we rode for another few hours and near sunset stopped at another Remoil gas station to make a quick bulgur-vegetable salad. This gas station was run by two very nice Kurdish guys, Salih and Umran. They made tea for us and when they saw we were making dinner brought us some yogurt and a bowl of olives to go with it.

THANK YOU SALIH AND UMRAN FOR YOUR KINDNESS. IT WAS SO NICE TO MEET YOU!

Our aim was to get as close to Konya as possible to minimize the length of tomorrow's ride. When it was almost dark we stopped at a large gas station near Ilgin to ask if we could put our tent anywhere. First we were served more tea (the 6th round today). As we sat there chatting with the guys and eating our leftover bulgur, Ali offered us some lentil soup. So yummy. We were getting really full at this point but Ibrahim who lives in the house next door said he was about to go home for dinner and asked if we wanted so turkey pilav. We politely declined but he must have misunderstood because a few minutes later someone placed a big platter of bulgur pilav infront of us with a quarter of a turkey on top. Ali explained that the turkey is from the farm out back. It was delicious but we soon had to stop as our bellies were about to burst. Ali said we should pack up the leftovers for tomorrow. Mmmm yummy!
When we inquired about a sleeping spot they offered us the little onsite mosque (many turkish gas stations have a small ajoining mosque). We prefered sleeping outdoors so we were shown to the patio roof of the bathroom building. Perfect. Wow what a day!

THANK YOU ALI, IBRAHIM AND STAFF FOR YOUR EXCEPTIONAL TRAVELERS HOSPITALITY!

I sometimes feel so indepted to all these generous people we have met. GOD PLEASE BLESS AND PROSPER EACH ONE OF THEM IN EVERY WAY FOR THEIR SELFLESSNESS AND GENEROSITY!