After spending a full week being stationary in Istanbul, I was ridiculously excited to get moving again. However, no matter how much I wanted to hit the road, I did so with a lot more hesitance than usual. Just a couple of days earlier, a fellow long distance cyclist had been hit and a killed by a car, just days of riding from Istanbul.
I have no words to describe how tragic and absolutely horrible this is, and having the news fresh in my mind as I was pedaling my way out of Istanbul made things even more nerve-wracking than they would have been anyways.
Thankfully my host Ali gave me some pretty aweome directions which let me go a couple of hours by the seaside before I actually needed to get into traffic at all.
But once I did, I was again reminded of how fast things can go so terrible wrong. On my way out of town I passed not just one, but two scenes of accidents. One which I came to way too early to even want to consider taking out the camera.
Definitely a day of reminders…
Luckily, I made it out of Istanbul without any close calls, and I was so so happy to finally be able to relax and actually enjoy the road. The day couldn’t have ended any better as I hit another jackpot when looking for a place to sleep.
When darkness started to close in I pulled up to this random restaurant by the side of the road. Kind of empty, but it just seemed to have a good energy to it. And it did! Before I had even really gotten to asking if they knew where I could pitch my tent, Hamit the owner had gotten me a seat, pulled out the grill and declared me as his new Swedish little sister. A sister that was in need of food!
Hamit and his cousins also working in the restaurant
After a huge Turkish dinner Hamit’s 16-year-old daughter came to pick me up, and we went to hang out in their home as Hamit finished off work. This was just a few days after Sweden had won the Eurovision Song Contest so I couldn’t have had better timing in order to be cool in front of her and her friends. Having the same nationality as that gorgeous Swedish singer was more than enough for them – and I was instantly part of the gang.
Måns played on repeat through the whole night
This was one of the funniest nights in a long time, as these guys made me feel sooooo… old! Haha. I usually consider myself being young. But just the thought of the unabashed selfies taken during this night makes me blush, and I was totally the granny in the group.
After a good nights sleep, a big breakfast, an even bigger lunch and a bunch of cays, I was ready to hit the road again.
I was now aiming for the Black Sea coast. Probably the most popular destination for long distance cyclists touring in Turkey. Usually the place is described as ‘hard work – but worth it’, and I definitely wouldn’t want to leave without seeing it for myself.
By now Turkey had already started to get really hot. So I was happy to get a day of rain and ‘cold’ weather as I was making my way to the sea.
Cycling in rain doesn’t bother me. But setting up camp kind of does. Luckily though – I didn’t have to worry about this. Because now I had family in Turkey, and Hamit just wouldn’t accept that his little sister would sleep outside. In rain?! No way.
‘Sister! Is raining! Tonight, you sleep, hotel. OK? Sister. OK?!’
If he had not given me way to much already, Hamit set me up with a hotel room for the night. I mean. What? Turkish hospitality – sure – but things are getting kind of crazy.
After showering like a mad person, and having the comfiest nights sleep in ages, I got in the saddle and rode the last kilometers to the coast. Super excited to see if it would live up to the hype or not.
As I’m writing this I’ve already gotten off it – so I kind of know it did. But I’ll tell you more about that next time.
Until then,
Fredrika