Distance: 113km
Elevation: 1.133m
Çukuryurt: https://maps.app.goo.gl/KrU1rueQmdkrcTua9?g_st=ic
I started the day with a delicious breakfast at the Caravanserai. It is one of those places where you cannot help but look around slowly. The large courtyard has seen centuries of travelers passing through, coming from far away. I could feel that.
Afterwards I stopped at a pharmacy to pick up a new cream for my „saddle area“. All is well there. Just ran out of Bepanthen. Then I hit the road.
Cycling felt so much better than the day before. That stay at the Caravanserai hat really done miracles.
At the first gas station, I ran into John again. That is not his real name. He prefers not to appear on social media. We had met a couple of days before. He is fifteen years younger than me, twenty kilos lighter, and rides an e-bike. Still, we cover roughly the same distance each day. We agreed to meet for lunch at a lake further ahead.
The cycling today was spectacular. Highways with little traffic, wide shoulders, and open landscapes all around. In the distance, I could see snow-covered mountains. They were directly on my route. I would have to cross them the next day.
We met for lunch at a lake that also had a small restaurant. There was a little jetty with a wooden house built out over the water on legs. We sat there for a while. I noticed that I had already picked up enough Turkish words to have a small conversation with the owner. It felt like progress.
We parted ways knowing we were both heading more or less toward the same village. John would stay in a hotel. I would look for a place to camp.
Later, during a rest stop at a gas station before the final push, a car driver came over and tried to talk to me. We could not really communicate. When he heard the word „alman“ (German) he offered me a beer. I instinctively said „no“. That was against my own rule of saying „yes“ to everything offered on this kind of trip. I felt still on duty and it would be unnecessary weight for the climb. He simply shrugged and drank it himself before driving off.
The big climb came towards the end of the day. It involved a lot of pushing Rosinante which but it was totally worth it. The views were truly amazing. And the downhill on the other side was spectacular and joyful.
I arrived at İmranlı, stocked up on supplies, and cycled on. A thunderstorm was building with lightning visible to my right. After ten more kilometers, I passed a small roadside restaurant. I asked the owners if I could pitch my tent in the valley behind their property.
It was an uncle and his nephew. They talked it over. Then the uncle said: there are bears in that valley, so they would not recommend the tent. But I was welcome to sleep in their mosque. I had always wanted to stay in a mosque.
The mosque is actually a small shed directly by the roadside. It is there so that travelers can stop for prayer times. Sleeping in it felt like a real honor. I doublechecked: „I am not a moslem. Are you sure you are ok with me sleeping in your mosque?“. Their reply was „Brother, every man is welcome in the house of god!“. I accepted immediately. The fact that the thunderstorm was getting closer also helped with the decision.
I washed up in the nearby toilet. The uncle and nephew insisted on preparing a ten-liter bucket of warm water so that I could wash properly and not get cold. It was so sweet.
I had bought a beer in the village earlier. I asked when I ordered food whether I could drink it. They said no. Not here, please. Not inside the mosque either. This is a place of worship. Of course I respected that.
The relationship with alcohol in Turkey is a complex one. It is legal to produce and legal to sell. I see beer cans along the road regularly. Some people actually drink while driving. But according to Kur’an alcohol is „haram“ (forbidden).
In fact, Turkish law prohibits the sale of alcohol within 100 meters of schools and mosques. The law was passed in 2013 and was championed by Prime Minister Erdogan’s party, the AKP. So the restaurant owners were not just being personally cautious. There was also a legal reason behind it.
By eight o’clock it started getting dark. Since I was the only guest, I went to bed early and slept surprisingly well, given how close I was to the road. I felt well protected from bears and thunderstorms It got quite cold during the night though.
Around four in the morning, there was a lot of noise. The uncle and nephew were moving their beehives to another location with a truck. They had several helpers with them. He had warned me this would happen, so I was not alarmed. They also sold their own honey in the restaurant.
Learnings of the day:
A short day combined with good night of sleep can work miracles
And be careful what you wish for. You might actually get it. With all the consequences.