- ODO 3551km
- Location Küloü
- Weather 25-37
Overnight I was a mess. I went to the toilet 3/4 times in the night and had no consistent sleep. From 9pm to 7am I lay on a thorn deflated air mattress listening to my intestines churn. By the morning I couldn’t even think of riding far. I pushed and ground the bike up the last 50m I’d climb into the nearest village but as I rolled through it became apparent there were no shops. I spotted a water tap. Stopped and began to drink. The women of the town were out in gardens or balconies and, as has been true anytime I’ve stopped in Turkey they were highly interested in what I was going. I used my new words for water and bread and some basic mime to communicate I needed a rest and some food. Each person I met had been to Germany at some point in their life. A detail I want to explore. The woman who lived outside the water fountain brought coffee, bread and a fresh tomato with salt. I ate slowly as I still had no appetite despite my weakness. Then I slept in her garden on a rug. Laying on the rug I had a transcendent moment of really feeling alive. Perhaps it was exhaustion or the joy of salt coursing through my veins.
I couldn’t rest long though because the news of a tourist in town spread and everyone who could speak German or not came to see what was going on. So to get some proper rest I waved “Tesekkur” to the woman and husband and headed off a few kilometres to sleep under a tree for 4/5 hours. All through the hottest part of the day.
By the afternoon I needed to take some action. I decided to head on in hopes of finding food for dinner and a cold drink and maybe even a hotel. Asking people along the road I found both within a normal days ride but in my current condition I couldn’t make more than 40km in one day. I struggled on. Pushing and churning in my lowest year. 5/6/7km per hour up steep gravel tracks. Then, as the sun began to set in the valley, and the uphill crawls became sweeping tarmac downhills a supermarket came into sight right on the main road. I rolled right in and picked up some Ayran – a yoghurt drink and Fanta as well as food for dinner. It came about just at the point I needed it.
This evening I finally fell human again. I’m still not back to normal but my body is absorbing food properly for the first time. Tomorrow I’ll aim for the hotel 30km away to wash properly and recover before re-planing the rest of the route.
