Then we hopped on the main highway westbound towards Turgutlu in order to cover good distance. The closer we got to the coast the hotter and more humid it got. Very unpleasant. I had a big fruit craving and I prayed that we could get some fruit today. Close to lunch time we pulled over at a Shell gas station which had some trees around it and thus could be a nice spot to sit out the midday heat. As soon as we stopped we were served several rounds of tea by the kind gas station attendant. They were a fun bunch to hang out with. Without us asking, one of the guys suggested we camp behind the station tonight. We had hoped to ride a bit further that day but why not. See how we feel in the evening. We shared some of our sunflower seeds and roasted chickpeas with them. One guy then took a behind the station and showed their orchard. He told us to just help yourself to all the fruit we could find. That's a prayer answered. I was so happy. THANK YOU!!! Cherries and apricots galore!
The afternoon got very hot which was very hard on us but especially on James. We kept wetting ourselves with cool water but James was still taken slightly ill by the heat. We felt bad for suddenly being so anti social, sitting away from the others in a shady spot but trying to lead a Turkish conversation while suffering from overheating is not really possible. We were afraid the guys might be offended but they turned out to be very understanding. One of them brought us more fruit and tea as well as a pretzel and a truck driver who had seen us on his way to the shower brought us a bottle of cool lemonade. Unfortunately it was the very sugary kind so we didn't end up drinking most of it but it's the gesture that counts. Some say that Turkish people are very fake and many only do kind things because their religion tells them to. This statement may apply to many Turks but I believe we have also met alot who truly have a genuinely kind heart.
THANKS MUAMMER AND EVERYBODY ELSE FOR YOUR HELP. WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU GUYS.
The night turned out to be a bit rough because the dog that was chained up 30 m away from our tent decided to bark almost non stop once it cooled down enough for it to wake up from its heat induced stupor. It is a strange behaviour we have observed in other dogs that spend their entire lives chained up somewhere with no real sense of purpose other than constantly scratching their dusty, flea infested fur. They are mostly quiet during the day but as soon as it gets dark they howl and whine. It sounds so sad, bored and hopeless. And nobody seems to notice.
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