Day 51
Sleeping location: Hilton, (This is) Isparta, Turkey
Distance (km today/total): 110 / 5050
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1200 / 42900
Amount of the day which was beautiful: 100%
Day in three words: Lakes and mountains
After some quick pastries and coffees in a bakery we set off back along the valley of fruit. The day was cloudless and everything was very pretty, although it was a cold start to the day. Along this road we passed a huge temporary camp, probably at least 1000 people living in tents made of metal frames and blue tarp material. These are probably for refugees and/or migrant workers who come here in summer to pick the fruit - dad said that one of the grape pickers yesterday said he was from Afghanistan. I hope they find somewhere else for winter because it will be bloody cold in a tent up here at 900m.
At the end of the valley road we reached Lake Egirdir and turned right to follow the road along its shore. The water was lit bright blue and green by the sun and there were mountains in every direction, it was absolutely beautiful. The road wiggled up and down but it was a good surface, and pretty fun to ride as you could keep your speed for the ups. We stopped late morning for a grape break (there are still LOADS left) and I had a swim in the lake, which was surprisingly cold and quite bracing. I didn’t stay in for long. After 40km of this loveliness we reached Egirdir town, which was surprisingly big and touristy, although it was the off season so it was quiet, and most of the tourists were Turkish. The town sits in a dramatic position under a huge mountain and extends out along a long strip of land into the lake, so there is a view of blue water and grey stone in most directions. It was a very alluring place.
After lunch we met someone who had indeed been allured by Egirdir’s charms. Winston is from Birmingham but now runs a bike shop in his native St Kitts in the Caribbean. He is a keen cyclist and many years ago was on a tour of Turkey; when they went through Egirdir he fell in love with the place and now owns a house here, which he lives in for around 4 months of the year. He was out for a Sunday spin on his road bike and we all clocked each other a mile off, so he stopped and we had a little chat. He was a really friendly guy and we got some good advice about the route we wanted to take over the top, which was worrying dad as he wasn’t sure if the surface would be suitable for his soft soft tyres. Winston assured us that it was ok, and well worth it. He cycled with us up out of town for a couple of km and then we said our goodbyes and carried on up.
The route over the top was indeed worth it. The scenery was wild and rugged and beautiful and very quiet. It must be quite severe up here in the winter as we went up over 1300m, and the only inhabitants were goats and a few camps that looked very temporary. The way down was steep and quite technical, probably a bit too steep to be really fun but it got the heart racing. After that it was a short run in to our hotel, which is on the outskirts of Isparta but apparently we aren’t missing much anyway - lonely planet describes it as “an unassuming transport hub”.
A big numerical milestone today as I passed 5000km. This is probably the biggest milestone since 1000km, all the way back in Germany. I don’t know exactly how long it will be to Cape Town, but this probably represents between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total distance. This is slightly odd as a lot of my progress so far has been east rather than south, ie THE WRONG WAY, and I’m not even in Africa yet.
Distance (km today/total): 110 / 5050
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1200 / 42900
Amount of the day which was beautiful: 100%
Day in three words: Lakes and mountains
After some quick pastries and coffees in a bakery we set off back along the valley of fruit. The day was cloudless and everything was very pretty, although it was a cold start to the day. Along this road we passed a huge temporary camp, probably at least 1000 people living in tents made of metal frames and blue tarp material. These are probably for refugees and/or migrant workers who come here in summer to pick the fruit - dad said that one of the grape pickers yesterday said he was from Afghanistan. I hope they find somewhere else for winter because it will be bloody cold in a tent up here at 900m.
At the end of the valley road we reached Lake Egirdir and turned right to follow the road along its shore. The water was lit bright blue and green by the sun and there were mountains in every direction, it was absolutely beautiful. The road wiggled up and down but it was a good surface, and pretty fun to ride as you could keep your speed for the ups. We stopped late morning for a grape break (there are still LOADS left) and I had a swim in the lake, which was surprisingly cold and quite bracing. I didn’t stay in for long. After 40km of this loveliness we reached Egirdir town, which was surprisingly big and touristy, although it was the off season so it was quiet, and most of the tourists were Turkish. The town sits in a dramatic position under a huge mountain and extends out along a long strip of land into the lake, so there is a view of blue water and grey stone in most directions. It was a very alluring place.
After lunch we met someone who had indeed been allured by Egirdir’s charms. Winston is from Birmingham but now runs a bike shop in his native St Kitts in the Caribbean. He is a keen cyclist and many years ago was on a tour of Turkey; when they went through Egirdir he fell in love with the place and now owns a house here, which he lives in for around 4 months of the year. He was out for a Sunday spin on his road bike and we all clocked each other a mile off, so he stopped and we had a little chat. He was a really friendly guy and we got some good advice about the route we wanted to take over the top, which was worrying dad as he wasn’t sure if the surface would be suitable for his soft soft tyres. Winston assured us that it was ok, and well worth it. He cycled with us up out of town for a couple of km and then we said our goodbyes and carried on up.
The route over the top was indeed worth it. The scenery was wild and rugged and beautiful and very quiet. It must be quite severe up here in the winter as we went up over 1300m, and the only inhabitants were goats and a few camps that looked very temporary. The way down was steep and quite technical, probably a bit too steep to be really fun but it got the heart racing. After that it was a short run in to our hotel, which is on the outskirts of Isparta but apparently we aren’t missing much anyway - lonely planet describes it as “an unassuming transport hub”.
A big numerical milestone today as I passed 5000km. This is probably the biggest milestone since 1000km, all the way back in Germany. I don’t know exactly how long it will be to Cape Town, but this probably represents between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total distance. This is slightly odd as a lot of my progress so far has been east rather than south, ie THE WRONG WAY, and I’m not even in Africa yet.
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