Sofia Istanbul Bike Connect

Cycling through Bulgaria and Turkey between 15th of June and 1st of July, 2006... Kerékpárral Bulgárián és Törökországon át Június második felében... През България и Турция с колело...Bu yüzden 2006 Haziran aylarında, Sofia-Sinop bir bisiklet turu planladık

Monday, August 14, 2006

Bicycle trip part 2 (new)

Tbilisi - Sinop

Here I shall recount my second trip of this summer, which took me from Tbilisi, the capitol of Georgia, and landed me in Sinop, on the Turkish Black Sea coast, 1200 km to the west.

This time, I was not alone. Daria from Moscow joined me. She is a Russian doctor, avid cyclist and Greenpeace volunteer.

It would take 4 days to cross Georgia. Highlights from the trip:

§ Sleeping in a 3000 year old stone village in the side of a mountain.
§ Travelling on a plain, with very high frontal winds, which seriously impeded our speed. (rather a lowlight)
§ Staying with a Georgian family in a village in the mountains, after being rained on and tired out by the winds
§ Cycling on the worst road that I have ever encountered, between Ozurgeti and Kobuleti. There were more holes than there was road, and there was no end in sight. Everyone we asked told us a different story about how far still to Kobuleti. Then the people stopped. Then the roads divided. Evening was coming. Then... we saw the sea.
§ from Kobuleti to Batumi another 20 km, then 10 more to our accommodation "El Guca" who sang us his favorite Robbie Williams songs. He didn’t seem to want to stop, either. Checking Daria's speedometer, that day we cycled 170 kilometers.

Back into Turkey.

First stop in Findikli, to alleviate the hunger and at the same time consume a Sütlaç from paradise (a milk rice pudding sprinkled with nuts)

The meetings in the municipalities could start again, I had my books (Turkish version) and I took them straight to the big men in Rize, Trabzon, Görele, Giresun, Ordu, Fatsa, Ünye and Sinop.

On the Black Sea coast highway it could happen that people stopped for all sorts of random reasons: Once somebody jumped out of his car, asked us where were are going, and then proceeded to show us on his map which routes he recommended and which ones we should avoid. Then somebody else stopped to give us T-shirts that bore the logo of a local bakery. Why not.

Once again, the people are of the kindest sort. The only problem is that the best way for a driver to express that ("hello") is to beep his/her horn. After the 97th hello from a passing driver, I was wondering if I should make a sign that read "If you love me, don't beep, PLEASE!" (sevliyorsun? LÜTFEN klakson çalmamak!)

It was also very hard to spend money. After any meal, just when you reach for your wallet, you find out that it has already been paid, and your dinner companion elicits a smile and asks if you have heard of the famous Turkish hospitality. This was also the case when getting a bike repaired in a bikeshop. After more than half an hour of work, the shop owner flatly refused money and said, look we're friends, okay?!

Meeting the mayors and vice mayors was also fun. It was interesting to peep into that world. My assumption was that the mayor acts like a king, and the servants in the house have to walk out backwards, etc, etc. But on the contrary, it was quite informal, with about 3 telephones ringing simultaneously, all sorts of people sticking their head in the door or coming for a signature. In the meantime I am trying to breach the subject of traffic calming, but there is always another interruption. The previous month in Bulgaria, I had felt quite proud of myself for making a presentation in Bulgarian, due to lack of translator. I believe that in Ünye I was even more proud of myself, when faced with the same situation, I somehow managed to pull off a (very basic) presentation in the local lingo - or maybe was he just nodding politely, thinking about his sütlaç for supper…?

Turkish towns

Although the trend is to build 5,6,7 story large and uniform houses, this is often offset by the practice of decorating houses with unique designs. Sometimes a simple floral motif and sometimes a quite elaborate design covering the whole facade. What I liked best though about the towns are the central squares or central street where there is always a place to sit down and have a rest, and where there is otherwise so much bustle and life. Street life is a lot fuller and more vibrant that what I am used to. Since buildings are close and squares are usually smallish, this lends a quite cozy feeling; the feeling of nearness or protection. It is also my theory that there is no town or village in all of Turkey where you can be further than 10 meters from a fresh cup of Turkish tea. You only have to ask someone the time of day, and they already offer you a cup of tea. I drank a lot of tea.

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