On the 13th we took the ferry to Yalova. Shortly before disembarking, the lady whose car was parked next to our bikes started chatting with us. She spoke very good English. Then she leaned out the window, handed us two chocolate bars and a bag of chips. Such a kind gesture. But she had more in store. She asked if we were going through Bursa. Yes, we should be there tomorrow night. She then told us that she is part owner of a hotel there and we could come stay for a night, for free, if that fit in our schedule. Well, we could not say no to this great offer. In fact, the hotel she had mentioned is the newly opened Hampton by Hilton. She called the hotel right away to reserve us a room. Wow! See you tomorrow! And off she drove.
Since the ferry was an hour late, we arrived when it was almost dark so we had a bit of a hard time finding a place to pitch the tent. After a guy telling us to camp in an open, unfinished house, followed by a car wash attendant ensuring us that we can sleep in the "unused" taxi hut across the street (taxi showed up just as we set up), we ran into the two cops again whom we had asked for directions earlier. They were most kind and gave us an escort to a guarded park where we could finally set up and sleep.
A thunder storm went on all night and we could not leave until mid day because of the pouring rain.
Next day we rode to Gemlik, probably the olive capital of Turkey because the highway leading into town was lined with olive and olive oil stores and processing plants. There was also a distinct olive smell in the air for a few kilometers and what I at first thought to be forested hills turned out to be huge olive plantations. Beautiful!
We stopped at one of the shops, tasted their selection of olives and eventually bought a 1 kg tub for the equivalent of about $2. We had a snack of them right outside the shop. Mmm so good. When the lady from the tasting room saw us eating, she came out and gave us half a loaf of bread. Very kind.
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