Turkey 🇹🇷 (Days 41-47)

Sunday/Monday (4/24 – 4/25). Antalya. We decided to spend a few days in Antalya. Given it’s size and status as major tourist center, we thought we’d be able to take care of some chores. I was hoping to send away some items deemed unnecessary. However, the DHL quote of 120 euros for a small package meant a hard pass! Next chore – cleaning and adjusting our bikes. Done! We struck out on replacing some broken bits of camping gear. Patricia and Chris arrived on Saturday, so we were able to spend time with them searching out good eats, and enjoying some adult beverages. It is always a treat being stationary for a few days.

Tuesday (4/26). The carefully crafted, finely honed plan was to cycle through Antalya and down the coast some 50-60 miles. Since we would be saying farewell to the sea, bonus points if we could find a place to camp on the beach. Right! The cycling part went mostly to plan. However, by afternoon we entered a region of ultra posh hotels. We cycled by, filled with self-righteous scorn at such decadence. As a joke we pulled up to the opulent entry of one such and Sharon inquired about a room. Unbelievably, this “all inclusive, all meals, all alcohol, three pools, waterslide resort” cost … wait for it…$70 per night. Scorn, derision, and the moral high ground are all rapidly jettisoned!! Sign us up! “Another mojito? Please and thank you!” We spent the next 24 hours being pampered, filling our faces, basking in the lap of luxury. It was disgusting. It was marvelous.

Wednesday (4/27). The accommodating staff allowed us to hang around the grounds after our noon checkout. Thus we enjoyed more food, more mojitos, beer and wine all while lounging by the pool(s). Finally by 3pm! we had worn out our welcome. Very reluctantly (Sharon! Patricia!) we continued our journey. Our very nice campsite seemed a bit…common… after our brush with the 1% lifestyle.

Thursday (4/28). Several days exploring Antalya. Flat cycling along the coast. Living an episode of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!”. We knew it couldn’t continue. It didn’t!  Today was hot, sweaty climbing – as only Turkey can offer –  all day long!  “That’s all I got to say about that!”

Friday (4/29). Again, this is why we don’t plan. End of day yesterday I thought I pinched a stone and sent it into a guardrail. It was, in fact, a spoke breaking on my rear wheel. A fact that became obvious first thing this morning. That’s annoying, but no big deal since I had spare spokes from the bike shop where I’d replaced my rear wheel. Oh, except he gave me the wrong spokes. Ok, that is a problem.. Then I noticed my chain acting up. Turns out the spoke broke with such force, it also broke my chain, and chipped my disk brake. All of that meant instead of a few days of riding, we flagged down a bus. Forty dollars lighter and several hours later, we were deposited in Konya near a bike shop. As expected, no spokes available in the Konya shops. Plus the Eid al-Fitr holiday means all shops will be closed until Thursday. We opted for a monkey wrench fix and irrational optimism that the wheel will endure. So with the bike as fixed as it was going to be, we retreated to our hotel with plans to errand and explore  tomorrow.

Saturday (4/30). Side note: It is always important to remember that when we travel to a ‘foreign’ country – we are the foreigners. Nowhere has that felt more obvious than in Konya. We had wanted to get away from the touristy  coastal areas. Konya definitely met that requirement. It is a bustling, dense, massive city. City streets were clogged with cars, public transport, scooters, people. A moving sea of humanity filled sidewalks and market areas. These were locals just getting on with their lives, not gawking tourists. It was a bit overwhelming at first, then exhilarating. That’s why we travel!

The day started early with a timid knock at the door. We had been told “no problem!” Our bikes would be safe locked behind the hotel. It might have been “no problem!” but we wanted to make sure. Before bed we brought them to our room. This morning, the very kind man from the hotel saw that our bikes were not behind the hotel where they had been last evening. He came to our room at 6am, a bit frantic assuming our bikes had been stolen. We felt terrible and apologized for worrying him so.

We spent the rest of the day running errands and just wandering the city, trying to absorb it all. Patricia and Chris made an epic ride and arrived mid-afternoon. That was cause enough for celebratory Efes (beer) and dinner.

Tomorrow we say farewell to Konya and (temporarily) the kids. If the weather stays fair and the dodgy bike repairs hold, we should arrive in Cappadocia in three -ish days. But then, anything can happen, right?  So until next week – STC!