Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Day four - Erdek to Biga

Curtis posted;
With the name Biga (pronounced Be-ga) you expect there to be cheese, but unfortunately it wasn't the case.

Cara posted;
We got up to the alarm Curtis set for 6am, so naturally I was very unhappy and managed to coax him back to sleep - YES!  We ended up leaving Erdek after scoffing honey on bread around 8am, setting off into who knows what .... and soon we learnt it was to be all about hills.  We climbed, and stopped, and climbed and stopped and repeated this behaviour until I was looking at the cliff edge and contemplating throwing myself off it.  We were however passing farmers as they tended to their olive groves perched on the mountain side, accompanied by their massive farm wolves.  These dogs didn't seem too interested in us - thankgoodness! 

We reached the one street town of Ednicik planning on getting some water and breakfast when a man starting yelling across the street in Turkish and pointing to a couple of seats.  We sat down with him for a cup of Cay (pronounced the same as chai tea)  and tried to talk with over the top gestures and repeating words slowly.  He then insisted we come wiht him across the road and eat soup and bread which he would pay for (the climbing was worth it)!  There were two types of soup to choose from, beef or potato, so we got one of each, the tolken bucket of bread, fresh lemon, drizzle of olive oil and we tucked in.  My soup was wicked, but unfortunatley for Curtis he did find an artery in his and we were a little concerned about the way the soup was cooked from the sight of the kitchen and cutlery.  ANOTHER cup of cay later we were off to the happy shouting from the men in the cay shop.  Before we left we tried again to pay but the man raised his fist and shook it refusing. 

We knew that 80km on day four was a push for us but after the soup our spirits were high so we pumped the legs and pushed on for a good four hour slog of riding.  We stopped along the way as we met our first fellow tour cyclist.  He is riding in support of the Anti-Nuclear movement in Turkey, and was aiming to do 150km a day! So of course we waved him off, and set back into our steady pace.  The scenery was encredible with rolling hills, farmers motoring on tractors, poppies littering the side of the road and the sound of happy horn blowing from Turkish drivers who waved with encouragement constantly.  With 14km to go we were done for but pushed on to reach Biga, where I fell over trying to get off my bike in front of the resturant we were about to devour alot of food at.  It was pretty funny, we were all over the place trying to put the bikes aside and order lunch.  Discovering there is no camping and considering the state we were in, we booked into a cheap motel and here we are as I type. 

Tomorrow we will ride 53km to the town of Etili where we think there is not alot to do or see, but maybe a cheap place to pitch the tent.       

Riding up our first hard hill, i thought it would never end!

our complimentary breakfast soup

next to the cay shop was the butchers, the cats here are very clever

our friendly Turkish man

this is the size of the dogs, more like wolves

re-applying the sunscreen, poor curtis! 

poppies and wild flowers cover any patch of spare land that isn't used for farming

Ok someone forgot to tell me we were putting hands behind our backs...

Another hill in the distance... WE CAN DO IT!!!!


curtis is in the far distance here... it was such a beautiful day

2 comments:

  1. Love love love love!!
    xx Alana

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  2. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! s xx

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