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!!
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