Distance: 43 km
Time elapsed: 3 hrs 37 min
Average speed: 11.2 km/ hr
Max speed: 44.4 km/ hr
Temp: 39 C
Biking gloves: $6
Chinese military hat: $1.25
Front pannier compartment of medical supplies, pills, vitamins, hand sanitizer, mints, floss, chapstick : $20
Tube patch check: 5 TYL (-$3)
Being rescued from the side of a hot, dusty road in midday heat with no water, and spending the afternoon hanging out with Turkish family and eating a delicious homecooked meal: priceless
Morning sunrise over the water...
Morning on the coast (Chris has bright eyes)
We were super early risers this morning, getting packed up and out by about 7. There was no road out of the bay so we had to walk along a dirt farming path toward the opposite resorts, then began the winding coastal road. Beautiful views passing in and out of deserted coves, though a bit tough with the hills. By 9:30 Chris started having tire issues again. We took it off and found a tiny shard of glass, then patched it up. About 10 minutes later another leak. 2 hours later we were still parked on the side of the road trying to get the patches to work, learning unfortunately that our spare tubes bought in Tirana don't fit his wheel (valve too wide).
Chris' new tan line. I'm trying to convince him to bike in a speedo.
Out of water and exhausted from the sun, we caught a lift in the back of a truck with a family from Izmir, heading to their summer home.
Thank you for sharing your pick up truck!
Together we went to the next town and they invited us for tea, where we spent a few hours learning some Turkish words and exchanging family/ life info. By that, I mean hometowns, family size, school, jobs, etc. They seemed less concerned wıth our exact family members and what we studied at university than Albanians typically are, but at least for conversation they asked a few details about our jobs and lives, etc.
Eventually we all gathered on the balcony, overlooking a mandarin grove and a few other summer apartments, to eat a late lunch. The only English speaker in their family is the youngest daughter, Gulce, who busily translated for everyone. She and her sister prepared a casserole of eggplant, onion, chicken, potatoes, and plenty of spices, alongside a trayful of etsiz cig kofte, a spicy vegetarian bulgar ball.
Gulce and her sis cooking up a (Turkish) storm
After 'linner' Chris and I began cycling again, hoping to make it as far as the beach at Pamacuk. The road was really rough so we could't keep up our speed, and the sun set before long. We did pass through an adorable beach town with very elegant, yet modest homes built in little neighborhoods. Almost all of them sported a red Turkish flag (many with Atatukr's face in front) and promptly at 7 pm everyone set up dinner on their front porches and ate family style.
From the park, you can see the flags
The last big town we passed through was Ozdere, a well lit, popular place where we rested and Chris ate a scoop of dondurma (ice cream). From there we couldn't get very far so we pulled into the first cove possible, which turned out to be a relaxed camp ground full of permanent tents. We parked ours near the water, in between two empty homes and called it a night.
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