Aug 1- Things get weirder

Reached Tatvan mid morning. The town is located on the south western shore of beautiful Lake Van. By now the head wind had found us again. No point in getting annoyed because there is nothing you can do. In addition to that the people seemed to get weirder with every kilometer. We stopped by an empty barn just out of town to cook some eggs for lunch. When we were in the middle of cutting vegetables for salad and scrambling the eggs a guy showed up and was curious about what we were up to. Cooking lunch! He then tried to explain to us that we need to put the vegetables in with the eggs to make Menemen. Yes we know this tasty dish but this time we just want salad with eggs. This seemed to confuse him. Then he asked James how many eggs he had in that pan. Eleven. The guy seemed shocked. For Menemen you only use five he exclaimed. Well we are NOT making Menemen and even if that's what we were making it would be a double portion. The guy then just stood there with a bit of a dumbfounded look on his face. When the eggs were done we sat down on our tarp to eat and the guy came came and stood right next to it and to watch us eat while towering over us. We lost all appetite and started to pack up. He was surprised that we only ate a few bites and made a bit of a fuss over the fact that we made so much food and were now going to throw most of it away. No we were just packing it up for future use. He went on about how wasteful we are. We left as quickly as we could and finished our meal down the road.
Not far out of town on the way to Van we came through a small town where a group of little boys saw us and immediately surged with energy. They lined up beside the road waiting for us. Some jumped into the lane and struck a pose as though they wanted to wrestle the bike. Luckily this was a down hill stretch so when I steered directly at them at a fast speed they became a bit uncomfortable and gave us room. O God that was a scary.
Not much farther along several women and their kids were walking along the highway. We got a bad feeling. As soon as the little boys saw us they started screeming "tourist tourist", picked up rocks and started sprinting towards us throwing the rocks at us when they reached us. Meanwhile the women just chuckled into their head scarves and kept walking. Fortunately the rocks were small so there was no damage done but we were speechless. What rudeness! Where in the world did we get ourselves to?!
Midday we stopped in an abandoned building overlooking the lake. Just gorgeous. The water was as blue as could be and the arid hills that the landscape is comprised of here made for a great view. But we felt pretty aweful. We did not want to be in this hostile land. I have never before hated the present as much as I did then (and for the next few days).
There was a construction zone nearby and one of the older workers came over to welcome us, which was very sweet, but once again he was another individual without any sense of personal space. I don't think he could have sat any closer to James without ending up on his lap. He seemed harmless and quite sweet but not overly bright and very dirty. He dug a few bits of paper out of his wallet with some wobbly drawings that made no sense. One was a sort of rectangular geometric pattern which he kept calling "ekmek" (bread) and another drawing was a big circular blob with a small blob inside it. We think he wanted to tell us about the famous island in Van Lake. He then put his wallet on the floor and shuffled away. A few minutes later he returned, showed us the drawings again and after an extended period of admiring the lake view from his spot next to James he eventually made his way back to the construction site. Odd!
There were no more rock throwing incidents that day but the people seemed scared, sceptical, confused and somewhat hostile in the way they stared at us with piercing eyes and did not respond to our waves and smiles. So very odd! This is not the friendly Turkey we knew.

With a bit of mental effort, we were still able to enjoy the beautiful, wild landscape despite the strange vibe. The road snaked along narrow valleys between steep, brown hills. Occasionally a little village, glued to the hillside, would come into view. Then we would pass three veiled women making a vegetable delivery with their donkey while a little further along a man was noislessly mowing a narrow strip of land with his scythe next to the little river where several herds of sheep and goats had arrived for their evening drink. When it was almost dark we found a quiet sleeping spot behind a hay stack. We slept wonderfully well in the cool air which dropped to 5 degrees that night. Dry, hot days and cool nights are common in Turkey's high elevation (1500-200m) interior. The interior's arid climate and cooler temperatures are the reason why we avoided most of Turkey's beautiful humid coasts and stayed inland for the main portion of our trip.

July 31- Angel on wheels

The wind had calmed down a bit towards the morning but by 6 it was already back full force. The only food we had left was bulgur which we had eaten so much of in the last few weeks that despite being hungry the mere thought of it just made us gag. So we skipped breakfast hoping to reach the next town before we ran out of energy. But it was slow going. The hills long and the wind strong. Only half hour into the ride and we started losing hope of reaching Bingöl today. This was not a good situation because even if we ate the bulgur we had we did not have enough food for another day. We had to make it to Bingöl today. Normally riding 50 km is no big deal, even without breakfast, but the wind slowed us down so much that these 50km could take all day if we are lucky.
Then a semi truck passed us but pulled over right infront of us literally cutting us off. Slightly annoyed we rode around him but he just passed us again and immediately pulled over again right infront of us. Curious and slightly alarmed we wondered what was going on. James then rode up to the cab and inquired. It turned out that the young driver had noticed us struggling in the wind and offered us a ride 150km all the way to Mush. I could not believe it. This man must be an angel. What perfect timing!!!!! THANK YOU LORD!!!
Timur helped us load our bags and bikes on the back of the truck on top of the 40 tons of rebar he was transporting from Hatay to Mush. Then we enjoyed every second of the ride in the clean, cozy, carpeted cab. The rugged, thinly populated landscape was beautiful. We noticed an abundance of military police posts along the way and Timur explained that is due to the presence of Kurdish terrorist group PKK in this area. There have been conflicts between the Kurdish people in eastern Turkey and the Turkish government for a while now. I do not understand enough about the conflict to comment on it in more detail. Along the way Timur showed us photos of his family on his phone and fed us jelly beans.
THANK YOU SO MUCH TIMUR FOR THE RIDE!!!!!

When we got off in Mush there was no wind!!! We stopped at the first best grocery store and celebrated the morning with another big tub of yogurt and some granola and fruit. Mmmm so good.
Midday we found another infinished building to hang out in. In the evening we reached Güroymak. Along the way we saved another tortoise from sure death as it was about to wander right onto the road. I must have really scared it when I picked it up because it releaseed a gush of pee. Luckily I held it far enough away from me so I did not get splashed.                   
Güroymak was a bit of a creepy town. I cannot point my finger at why it appeared creepy but we did not feel cpmfortable and many people stared at us as though we had just arrived from a different planet. Eventually we found a gas station where we could put our tent. The owner was really nice. After a while he said we could sleep inside in a spare room. We were very  grateful for that because we still had a bit of a strange feeling about this town. We were about to go to bed when we were called back outside to share a huge watermelon with the owner and a whole bunch of his friends and family. Delicious!

July 30- wind and a bit more wind

After almost 24 hours of good rest, we left the hotel early in the morning with the hope of reaching Bingöl this evening. However, as soon as we had left town our dear head wind was back full force. Despite the good rest at the hotel, our energy levels were still quite low so we did not get very far. 50 km before Bingöl we decided to stop for our midday heat break. We craved to just check into another hotel but the nearest town was several kilometers down another road so we just hoped to find a nicely shaded spot among a cluster of buildings at a junction up ahead. Unlike in western Turkey, the gas stations and rest stops were less frequent here so hopefully there will be one not too far ahead because we were getting really hot and tired. At the bottom of the big hill separating us from Bingöl we found a large unfinished building next to a Petrol Ofisi gas station. The attendant said it is no problem if we want to hang out in the building. Perfect! We selected one of the back rooms with small windows for maximum shade but still some breeze. We were so grateful for this cool and quiet spot situated right where we needed it and we did not have to entertain anybody either. Visually not quite as luxurious as a real hotel but the fact that it was free made up for that. So happy!

Every morning we set out not sure where we will end up that day or whether there will be a suitable spot for us to sit out the heat. We try to plan our route as best as we can but weather, road condition and physical well being (or the lack thereof) often scew our itinerary but we have always been beautifully provided for. It amazes me everytime to see how God looks after us in such creative ways. Often we are in awe of how true the following verses are and are at a loss for words to thank our Great Tour Guide:
(Ps. 121:5-7)
The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.  The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

We invented a delicious lunch dish consisting of a 3 kg tub of plain yogurt, roasted chick peas and coriander seeds. Quite tasty. After a few hours of snoozing on the floor of our "hotel room" three flies had located us and started their usual annoying skin tickling game. I managed to trap two of them in our yogurt tub (in the picture look for two black dots along the edge of tub).

Supposedly the next rest area is 25 km up that big hill towards Bingöl. We set off a few hours before sunset thinking that 2.5 hours of daylight should be enough to get us there. Welcome to wishful thinking.
The sun set when we reached the 15 km mark after an exhausting climb. At this point the friendly honking of almost every car that passed was really getting on our nerves especially because Turkish drivers like to sound their horn right when the car is in line with your ears. Some cars will start honking from a distance and keep honking if you dont lift your hand to wave. We would like to thank the Turkish people for this well meant gesture but after two months in this country it looses its welcoming charm and instead gets REALLY annoying, almost mocking, especially when crawling up a steep hill at the end of an exhausting day's riding with irritating head wind. Honk honk...honkhonkhonk.....HONK (in moments like these it would be so wonderful to transform  into the Hulk.....Aaaaah so angry!).

As it started getting dark we were nowhere near a good camping spot. The hilly pasture land was rock strewn, probably ridden with ticks as we had been warned earlier, the few small trees offered no shelter and the wind just seemed to get more forceful and agressive with every minute. Besides, a somewhat ominous tension hung in the air which we could not make sense of but it was frightening. We really did not want to ride back down the hill to our noon hour "hotel" and riding in the dark on this narrow, windy highway would be suicidal so we had no choice but to look for a place for the tent. The road we were on was in the process of having two additional lanes added to it so at one point the two new lanes briefly split off the existing road to evade a large rock mass. We noticed a large machine parked on that new stretch of road fairly hidden from traffic by the rock mass so we somewhat reluctantly decided to camp next to that machine. We were still completely exposed to view on three sides and the bulldozer provided minimal protection against the wind but at least we were out of sight from the road. We did not set up the tent until it was almost dark to reduce any unwanted attention from nosy characters who may be roaming these rural hills. We did not exactly feel threatened but that knot on the stomach would not go away and kept us a bit on edge. After reading Psalm 91 we felt much calmer and knew that the Lord would watch over us that night.

(Ps. 91: 2-7)
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

As we lay in the tent, loose metal parts on the beat up bulldozer were rattling in the wind, strong gusts blew dust through the tent mesh onto our pillows but other than that the night was uneventful.

July 28- 29 Slowly slowly

Felt a bit better that morning so when we reached Elazig we treated ourselves to a small chocolate bar, a lemon for vitamins and a few pieces of baklava. The ride from Elazig was beautiful with the view of the big dammed lake surrounded by high, barren hills.
A little while later James suddenly felt sick again so we pulled over into the shade of an under-construction greenhouse complex. Not long after, some of the workers noticed us and came to say hi. They invited us to come sit inside what will become the administration building and served us tea and cold cola. We were invited to share their meals several times but out of fear of upsetting our stomachs again we just ate white bread for the rest of the day. We ended up hanging out with Hasan for most if the day. He spoke good English, is relatively well travelled and just so happens to be a European Kickboxing Champion. Search "Hasan Acinik" on YouTube to view some of his videos. Hasan said we are welcome to sleep on site tonight. Great. We still felt quite weak so we gladly accepted his offer.

Next morning we felt so weak. Aside from the small breakfast treats we had the day before we only had a handful of worthless white bread. We were so disgusted by the thought of more bread at this point and craved real food regardless whether our stomachs would accept or reject a different food. We made it as far a Kovancilar with many little breaks along the way. By this point a strong head wind had picked up again and the road leading out of town just lead up an uninviting barren hill which we really did not feel like climbing right now. So we finally gave in and concluded that it would be wise to invest in a hotel room for the first time. A fruit vendor who spoke good German directed us to a cheap hotel where we got a nice room for about €15. It was only 11 in the morning so we could look forward to almost a whole day of rest on a comfy bed, no wind, no hot sun and nobody asking us the same questions we have been asked hundreds of times by now. Normally we really enjoy the sociable and hospitable nature of Turkish people but today we just wanted to ignore the whole world. We made a quick trip to the store and bought a selection of "real" food, had a feast back at the room and then napped and snacked on and off for the rest of the day. Later in the afternoon I craved melon so I paid a quick visit to the closest store selling melons. When I got on the street it was bustling as usual. Lots of people sitting around drinking tea, shopping for the best fruit or simply hanging out. What struck me though was that they were all men. I had not really registered how conservative this town was when we first arrived but in hindsight I only recalled seeing a few properly veiled women running some errands. I was grateful for having followed James' advice to wear my longsleeve shirt, long pants of course and a head cover for this quick errand. This was my first shopping trip where I felt like a rare, exotic animal because despite my modest dress I stuck out like a sore thumb. Awkward, a bit scary but sort of comedic? Yup, all of the above!!

July 27- Good Bye Nemrut

Still felt sick when we woke up and with not having eaten much for the last two days our energy was so low that a trip up Mount Nemrut was out of the question. When we arrived where the Nemrut road branches off the highway we sadly looked at the beautiful switch backs in the distance but had to accept the fact that we probably would not even make it up to the first turn. Even just riding up the gentle incline on the new highway felt like a major work out. So annoying. It would have been so cool to go up there. But, cycling over two passes with a striking digestive system is like trying to drive a car with no fuel. In other words, not very effective at covering distance, especially the vertical kind.
So we just pootled along towards Elazig. Slowly slowly, but every mile covered is better than sitting still. Past Kale the road started up the hill that we knew would be awaiting us along this route. The road was brand new with a wide shoulder and gentle grade so the ascent was much easier than expected. Yavash yavash, Slowly slowly, was the moto for this day.
Eventhough we still regularly passed through little villages, the area kept becoming less and less inhabited compared to western Turkey. This is a beautiful thing but it also made it harder to find a well shaded, comfortable spot to spent the hot hours of the day. This worried me a bit because I was starting to get tired so I specifically prayed for a lunch spot that was well shaded for the hottest four hours of the day, has a source of cool water and is exposed to the refreshing breeze. A bit later we stopped at a little mosque by the road. It had some inviting benches beside the minaret. As we sat there against the north facing wall of the mosque watching its shadow crawl over the pavement, we realized that the mosque was constructed perfectly east-west. This meant our bench would be shaded until mid to late afternoon! There was also a nice breeze where we sat and like all mosques do, this one also had several water taps on the other side. Thank you Lord for this great place! Perfect timing because I was beat. I lied down on my tarp and fell asleep in no time on the cool concrete floor.
At one point the surprisingly young Immam (muslim pastor) came to make the call for prayer from the little cubicle at the bottom of the minaret we sat next to. James and I agreed that his voice and singing style was definitely one of the best we had heard so far. In Turkey, mosques are not allowed to just play a recorded call to prayer like they do in some countries so James and I had some fun commenting on and comparing the many different Immams we heard along the way. In fact, when we stayed in Avanos, we concluded that there must be about two or three Immams on a rotating schedule at the mosque across the square. One was quite good but another  one was either in training or simply did not have the right voice for the job.

Three very nice older guys had been awaiting prayer time by the mosque. After prayer, I heard the friendly Immam call James over to show him something. It turned out that he offered us a cool, carpeted side room with a nice couch for me to sleep on because I was still sleeping on the floor outside. So nice! I ended up sleeping there for about two hours.
A bit later the three older guys returned (funny trio, probably childhood friends). One of them, Ahmet, said we could sleep in the events room down stairs that night. Well that would be just perfect!! Despite the long nap, I had no desire to ride any further that day. After we had got set up down there, Ahmet returned and invited us to come to his house for tea. Sure, it may even please our upset stomachs.
His house was up a bumpy gravel driveway, in the middle of a beautifully wild and lush orchard of apricot, pear, mulberry and apple trees. The house was old but inviting and clearly set up for outdoor living during the summer months. His wife not only prepared tea but a whole Turkish breakfast-like platter. Since it was Ramadan nobody joined in the eating. It was delicious but because of our grumpy stomachs we could only nibble. Luckily we were able to explain why we were being such picky guests. Ahmet then returned us to the mosque in the side car of his motorbike. So fun!!! He was such a kind man. He even brought us more bread that evening when he came for the evening prayer because he had understood that our stomachs wont really accept anything else right now.

THANK YOU AHMET AND FAMILY FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE KINDNESS. IT WAS SO NICE TO MEET YOU.

July 25-26 Malatya...maladie at ya!

Our intention was to find a safe place in Malatia to stash some of our gear so we would not have to haul it over two mountains on the way to Mount Nemrut. The attraction on top of Mount Nemrut is a collection of huge stone heads of statues representing various gods. Google it because the pictures are really cool.

We ended up finding a hotel that offered to store our extra luggage for three days but as we were unpacking our bags we started feeling unwell and eventually decided to attempt the climb up Nemrut the following day, hoping we would feel better. We camped on the Malatya University grounds that night.

Next morning we both felt unwell and after a trip to the washroom it was clear that our digestive system was quite upset. No Mount Nemrut today :-(
The university security guards were very kind to us and allowed us to remain onsite until the evening and rest. They invited us to sit inside their airconditioned office and even prepared a nice breakfast for us and offered us lots of Pepsi to help with the upset stomach.

THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU!

In the evening we rolled down the road to the next gas station where we set up camp for the night. Hopefully we can head up Nemrut tomorrow!

July 23- Diamonds in the rough

It was cloudy when we woke up so we treated ourselves to an extra half hour of snoozing. Gorgeous ride up to Ziaret Pass (1900m). The landscape reminded me of pictures of Mongolia or the Scottish highlands.

Note for other travelers: Since there are no services along this road between Pinarbashi and Gürün (except for that well by a town whose name started with an "O") I should mention that there is a road maintenance service station that is open year round. It was at 216km from Avanos and I would guess around 30-40km before Gürün. Lots of camping space and the guy let us use the washrooms.

Great descent to Gürün through more barren hills. Beautiful new road! Had lunch in a park in Gürün. It is a decent size town wedged into this narrow valley.

10km out of town the road towards Derende got quite bad. Relatively new chip surface. Grrrr. There was another big hill to climb whose top we reached just at sunset. There was a concrete block fabrication site on the summit and since it was starting to get dark we decided to ask there if we could pitch our tent. The guys were super nice and insisted we sleep in one of the unoccupied rooms in one of the bunk houses. Elbakan, the onsite chef, then took it upon himself to look after any needs we may have. He was truly one of those typical easy going, round bellied chefs who takes on the roll of an Italian grandma when it comes to feeding anyone who displays the slightest signs of hunger. We were invited to join the workers for their delicious evening meal: chick pea stew, yogurt with shredded cucumber and spices, bulgur, more thick plain yogurt, local fruit, fried potato with roasted peppers in olive oil and home made bread, pita style. Sooo good!

July 24- Apricot Paradise

Before leaving the concrete factory, Elbakan prepared us another lavish breakfast feast.

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS!

July 22- More generosity

Left the gas station right at sunrise. Head wind picked up soon but at the same time some clouds moved in. So nice!
Shortly before Pinarbashi,  we rode past three guys standing next to the road. One unexpectedly greeted us in unmistakable American English. Yusuf had spent some time in the USA and was interested in meeting other travelers. He was so nice. Asked if we needed anything.
In Pinarbashi we stopped for a short snack break. Then a car pulls up. It's Yusuf. He comes over, gives us a note with his contact info. He said to contact him incase we ever need some help. Then he handed us a very nicely wrapped box with a selection of Turkish baklava. Wow!!!
THANK YOU YUSUF FOR THIS EXCEPTIONAL KINDNESS. IT MADE THE HEAD WIND SEEM SO MUCH WEAKER AFTERWARDS.

After Pinarbashi, the landscape consisted of rolling hills and grain fields and a few small, barren mountains. The appoximately 80km to Gürün seemed to be mostly uninhabited except for two or three little villages. Very beautiful. At one point, a van pulled over, a very enthusiastic guy hopped out, chatted a bit and then gave us a big round loaf of bread and apricots. Yummy. A bit further on we stopped by a little building next to the highway. Needed a break from the head wind. Grrr. At least there was a well next to the building so we could top up our dwindling water supply. A bit later, a vehicle stopped by the well. After filling his water bottle, the young driver came over to us and brought us a roll of cookies. So nice! People just could not stop giving us things today! This really makes up for all the head wind.

THANK YOU

July 21- Back on the road...east bound

After our restful stay in Avanos it felt good to be back on the road. Just past Kayseri we found a nice little park with lots shade to have out lunch break. The caretaker of the onsite events hall, Mehmet, came over, welcomed us warmly and offered us coffee. Then he called a family member to bring us some sandwiches and after this unexpected treat he brought two carpets to make us two little beds in the shade so we could have a nap. So kind! Before we left he had his sister bring a pot of spaghetti and a bowl of salad for us. Wow so nice if him!

ÇOK TESEKKÜR EDERIZ MEHMET!

In the evening we found a large gas station where several combine harvesters were parked for the night. Perfect camping spot!

Avanos- Cappadocia

Finally I get around to posting a big THANK YOU to our hosts Alkim and Caner in Avanos. In fact, when we first arrived at their place they were away on a bike trip in Bulgaria. Heather and Mike (the Australian cyclists) had waited there for us in Avanos to hand over the key to us. Then we had this nice apartment all to ourselves for a whole week! The bikes were safely snoozing on the balcony and when we wanted to go for a walk we just had to lock the door behind us without any further worries. It was such a luxury having a place where we were in nobody's way, where we could come and go as we pleased, and sleep in the same bed every night! So nice. And the responsibility of keeping Caner's plants watered was more a pleasure than a chore.

THANKS SO MUCH YOU TWO FOR ASKING US TO HOUSE SIT YOUR PLACE. IT WAS A REAL HOLIDAY FOR US!

Alkim and Caner returned a bit earlier than expected so we got to spend two days with them. They are so cool. Caner is training to become a chef so he treated us to some delicious home made meals. James and I had made them a "welcome home" cheese cake with chocolate bikes on top. It turned out real nice! Mmm yummy.

It just so happened that Clive, who we first met in Macedonia, also just arrived in Cappadocia so he came over for a visit. It was a great evening.

The large booze collection is what Caner and Alkim brought back from Bulgaria where alcohol is a fraction of the price in Turkey. Quite the in-house bar!