From Barcelona to Tehran: Day 48

Day 48: Finding a Mate to Ride with; From Kapadokya to somewhere close to Kardesler in Turkey

June 17, 2012; Distance covered today: 100 Km; Total: 3675 Km

I woke up at 5 again. I think I cannot sleep in even if I want to. For a couple of minutes I was thinking  whether I had to hit the road or rest one more day. Finally, I decided to leave. I packed everything and checked the bicycle. I realized that I needed to tune up the breaks. It took me a good hour.

It was very exciting to be on the road again. After two hours, I saw a farmer’s family baking bread on the side of their farm. I stopped to watch when a middle- aged man, the father of the family, invited me to sit with them. So I went there and thank god I know a little Turkish. I listened to their personal life stories and told them mine. I saw how they made bread, and had some fresh bread with some kind of food which was made of egg plant. 

The Farmer's Family baking Bread

As I was talking to the farmer, I saw a cyclist passing by to the same direction as mine. I shouted, “wait, wait”. He did. He was an Italian heading to Iran to take a ferry to the Emirates and then go to India and Nepal. He didn’t have a clear idea about the dangerous areas in Turkey and he was going right into them where it is said there are terrorists. When I told him, he decided to change his route to Iran which was my route as well. So, we started to  bike together today. 

Fusto, my New Friend

For the past couple of days the wind had been from east to west, opposite my direction. Today was not an exception. It was very difficult to cycle, so much so that it got pointless to continue biking. We were doing 5 Km/h so we stopped at 5 pm at a gas station, and asked if we could pitch up our tent behind the station by a wheat field. The guy was very friendly and agreed. 

We filled up our bottles and took a shower there. The gas station attendant’s son was a little mentally challenged. He was with us, asking questions and watching us setting up our camp. He was very helpful too. He poured water on us when taking a shower.

Taking a Shower

Looks Like Damavand in Iran