February 11th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,Turkey
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 64.37km
Average speed / 平均速度: 10.6km/h
Time on bike / 走行時間: 6h 00m
Total distance to date / 今日までの積算距離: 3487.7km (plus 4200km)
Ascent / 上り: +1220m
Descent / 下り: -1195m
Last night at the internet cafe I found some detailed maps of the area between Agva and Istanbul, so I had all the inside info on small roads.
My route today took me through the tourist town of Sile. Much bigger and certainly cleaner than Agva, Sile appeared to have many visitors from Istanbul.
I sat on the marina and ate my bread and jam for lunch while other visitors enjoyed their grossly inflated priced lunches at the nearby cafes.
Past Sile, I contined along the small back roads, and came across a television drama being filmed. The director (Ercan Yildiz) was a very welcoming chap, insisting that I have a few cups of tea while I watched the action. The drama is called Kalpgozu, and it appears on Channel 7 in Turkey on Sunday evenings at 7:30pm.
I met one of the main actors, Halil Can, who apparenty had a New Zealand girlfriend at one stage.
Afterwards, I rolled into a beautiful cove on the coast, home to many beautiful holiday homes, and a very welcoming big dog. This dog, as massive as he was, took a liking to a walnut on the beach, and would bring it to me to throw ito the water.
I ended the day at Sahilkoy Village, pitching the tent near the beach under the porch of a closed seaside cafe.
People give me a hard time about my affection for dogs, but you have to admit, the world would be a lonelier place without them. The dog here looks a bit like my friend Scherzo. She lives on the street opposite our office and we have become very good friends.
Pity you weren't offered a part in the drama. At this stage of the journey you could have been a good terrorist maybe a beggar or just a random recumbent cyclist encountered along the way who can't speak Turkish! I'm sure that would have added interest to the drama.
Rob, Nigel wants to know, do the dogs in Turkey bark in Turkish? Yeh, I know, he's an absolute nutter! Also, have you discovered real Turkish Delight over there?
