Day 41: A Nice Hotel; From Pamukkale to
Dinar in Turkey
June 10, 2012; Distance
covered today: 123 Km; Total: 3018 Km
The
sleep last night was problem free. I woke up at 5 and was ready to leave the
campground at 6:15. The morning ride toward Denisly was refreshing. I soon was
on the main road toward Dinar. I stopped at a bakery and had some bread and
cheese with eyran. I then kept riding and riding. I was kind of sleepy too.
At
noon, I stopped at a café and had a quick sandwich. As I was waiting for my
sandwich, I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. I dosed off a couple of
times. Then after eating my sandwich, I started riding again in the unbearable
heat. After twenty minutes or so, I parked my bike by a tree and “watchfully”
slept for an hour. Of course, I woke up a couple of times. Then at 3:30, I
started riding again until I got to Dinar where I found a cheap hotel for 25 L
(about 15 Euros). When the owner/staff
showed me the rooms, I saw people walking in the hallways in sleepers,
there was a kid and two young daughters at the reception, and there was a
teenage boy at the computer. The hotel, Dinar Hotel, was rather like a Azad
University Dormitory than a hotel. There was a better room on the second floor
for 30 L, but I went for the cheaper one. I knew the experience would be interesting.
As
soon as I put my panniers in my room, the staff came for me and asked if I had
eaten. I said, “no, but I am going to take a shower first”. He asked me to
follow him immediately to have dinner. I was very very hungry so I followed him
into the terrace on the fourth floor where I saw about ten men sitting round a
table and having dinner: some pasta, and eggplant stew. Mmm. I had already
asked if breakfast had been included in the price. The answer was negative. So…
I was wondering what it was about. I thought I had to pay for the dinner, which
was absolutely fine by me since I love eggplant. The people having round the
dinner table were very funny and were cracking jokes all the time. They asked
me the usual questions and I gathered
that they were all a road- construction crew who resided in that hotel,
breakfast and dinner included.
I
enjoyed the dinner and the crew’s company. Later on, I invited one of them, who
knew English a little bit, for tea in a tea house whose owner had shouted at me
to go for tea later when I was riding to find a hotel. We went there and had a
couple of cups of tea. The owner was very funny and friendly. He asked me to go
there in the morning for breakfast and tea, and I agreed.
I
am now in the hotel and absolutely tired.
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