I was up and about at 6 am and I had another bright sunny day ahead of me. The sky was clear blue, but the temperature was a bit nippy as I could see my breath as I pedaled away from Cannakkale.
Life in 3000 BC
 Trojan Horse
After a little lunch at a nearby outdoor cafe, I rode back up the hill to the main road and continued my journey along the coast. It was warming up by this time, about 60 degrees, as I cycled along the rolling hills. The hills continued all afternoon. There seems to be very little level terrain in Turkey. along the way I saw a number of horse drawn carts and wagons and I felt as if I were traveling along in centuries past. The horse carts are equipped with a piece of canvass that is located under the tail end of the horse. This is to catch the droppings and help keep the roads clean. I was glad to see this as I didn't have to dodge any paddies deposited on the pavement. There doesn't seem to be any pick-up trucks around here. At least I have not seen any. Instead they use tractors with trailers to haul whatever is purchased in town and taken back to the house. The farmers just put their wife and kids in the back of the wagon and off they go to do their grocery shopping. I calculate gas to be about $3.75 per gallon and that is why there are so few cars on the road. People generally travel by bus.
At 50 miles I turned off the main road and cycled toward the sea. I had read in my travel guide that the ancient town of Assos is a jewel not yet discovered by most tourists, so I went to take a look. Well, I took one look at the rough track and terrain and decided that anyone would be out of their mind to attempt to ride on this road. So of couse, that is exactly what I did. Talk about a work-out! It took me just over 2 hours to navigate the potholed, winding, up and down road to Assos. There were so many potholes that I ended up with 3 flats from pinched tubes. The road ended on the cliffs, 800 feet above the sea and the location of the ancient castle fortress of Assos. Almost everything is build of rough stone and outside the castle ruins are a number of small pensions (inns), a few little restaurants, and a couple of mini-markets. I spent the remainder of the day climbing around the castle grounds and then checked into one of the small stone walled pensions where my room had stone walls, but was nicely furnished and had a good bathroom and shower. I switched on the small heater and it became very comfortable.
It's another crisp, clear sunny day. And, it's my 60th birthday today. Happy birthday to me! Wow, those 60 years have passed quickly. I was up and moving about at an early hour, trying to find something to eat. While I was walking along up a steep road, a 'dolmus' came along that had a rack on it's top, so I motioned him to stop so I could speak with him. A dolmus is a 12 passenger mini-van that is used much as a taxi, hauling people and their baggage from place to place. They have specific routes and destinations and are everywhere in this country. This was a stroke of luck for me. This driver said he would be heading back to the highway junction shortly and would be able to transport me and my bike. That is as good a birthday present as I could want at this place and at this time. I was dreading the rough 12 mile ride back to the main road and this would surely alieviate that pain and suffering, not to mention the possibility of more flat tires. I rushed back to my room and got my bike and bags and loaded them on the van, then it was off to pick up more passengers. We cruised up and down a few mountain roads and picked up locals and children who were going off to school in the larger town up on the main highway. By the time we left Assos we had 19 bodies crammed into the 12 seats. The cost of the trip, $1.50. Such a deal!
I was dropped off at the highway junction and then made a right turn and followed the road up and down. So far, there has not been much flat road, I'm either climbing or descending all the time. The road texture is also rough and that slows my pace. The best road surface is out where the traffic has worn down the rough pavement, but with many trucks and buses, I can't spend much time in the traffic lanes and must stay of the road edge. There is little shoulder on these roads, so I try to ride within a foot of the edge and the traffic is only a couple of feet off to my left. After cycling about 4 miles, I came upon a restaurant, and having had nothing to eat for breakfast, stopped and hoped for something good. As has been the case, I was brought a hard boiled egg and a plate of Greek olives. This wasn't what I was hoping for. I was the only person in the place and I attempted to communicate with the waiter and tried to place an order, but to no avail. I finally had to settle for some bread and jam.
I ended up having two flats due to th rough, sharp rock chips embedded in the pavement. At 40 miles, which seemed like about 80 miles, I pulled into the cute beach town of Acay. There was no one on the beach yet as the season is not quite here yet. I found a gelato ice cream cone at a stand, and it was very tasty. I've noticed vendors along many streets in every town, selling a large round, bagel shaped pastry that resembles a pretzel. I bought one, but there wasn't much taste to it, very plain. I didn't want to stop here for the day, and yet it would be quite a long distance to the next town, so I opted to take a bus for 120 miles to Ismir. Ismir is the third largest city in Turkey with a population of 3 million. The bus traveled through a long valley that had ancient olive groves all along the roadway for about 100 miles. This valley was flat and would have been nice to cycle, but alas, I was on a bus. The olive groves grew up the sides of the valley into very steep terrain. It looked like they grew wild, hap-hazardly up on the mountain sides. They didn't seen to be planted in rows. Olives are served at all meal times. I arrived in Ismir at 7:30 pm and by then it was dark. It took me almost two hours to find a hotel after a long bus ride and a 66 mile bike ride. After getting settled I went out to eat some dinner. Eating in a restaurant seems to be mostly a male thing. It is very rare to see a woman sitting in a restaurant. Men sit together at long tables enjoying a meal and conversation. I guess a woman's place is at home around here. My room was an inexpensive $5!
On to Kusadasi
I had a heck of a job navigating my way out of this city of 3 million. Traffic was heavy and stop and go with the congestion lasting for the first 10 miles. Today's ride was much better do to the fact that the road surface was very good. At one time I was ascending a 5 mile climb when along came a Yamaha motorcycle that was going at least 100 mph! I hadn't even hear his approach, so it was quite a shock as he flew by. I think he may of been practicing his racing technique on this mountain road as the grade was moderate and the turns were long sweeping curves. It still was a dangerous thing to do as the road ran along cliffs where the sea was about 1000 feet below. As I crested the climb and started down the other side, he would pass me again and again, about a dozen times, as he went up and down the road. I would stop every so often and take a glimpse of the coastal shoreline that was visible hundreds of feet below. These were great vistas of aqua blue/greed waters and small sandy coves. A little farther along I made another strenous climb and just as I reached the summit I saw another loaded cyclist who had just come up from the other direction. I pulled over to his side of the road and waited for his approach and we conversed for some time. He had been on the bike for 18 months and was now on his way home to Switzerland. He said that he was in the 'home stretch' now and his journey was nearing the end. He had been through the Middle East and also through Africa. He had about 100 pounds of gear on his bike and everything was about worn out. He had camped all the way and cooked his own meals. He looked like he was in need of a bath and some clean clothes as he was pretty grungy. I prefer nice hotels and good restaurants, thank you.
After a ride of 52 miles I entered the city of Kudadasi, the best looking town I've visited so far. This is a very popular tourist area. I found a hotel and a room that overlooked the bay and harbor, $10. This town has many small, narrow pedestrian streets that are lined with shopping stands and small shops. The temperature today reached 70 degrees, the warmest day yet. Believe it or not, there is a Wrangler Jeans factory here! I had a spaghetti dinner that came with French fries!
 The Theater at Ephesus.
Every dwelling has a solar hot water heater on it's roof. Lots of sunshine along the coast so energy can be derived from the sun. On the outskirts of town is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world...Ephesus. I spent an extra day here to enable me to visit this historic site. Turkey has two of the seven wonders and this is the most important one. Ephesus was founded in 1100 BC and at it's peak had a population of 250,000 people. It was one of the largest cities at this time. The virgin Mary moved to Ephesus when she left Jerusalem, as did St. John the Baptist, and they both died here. Cleopatra also made this her home for some time. This city was in existence for almost 2000 years before being destroyed. Now it is one of the best preserved historic sites of the ancient world. From Kusadasi, I took a dolmus for the 13 mile trip to the site that is situated on 2500 acres. While touring the grounds I was able to see and learn some of the techniques used in building these ancient structures. An of course, I took lots of pictures to show my wife at home as she has always wanted to see this place and at some future time I'll bring her to see it.
I had my first experience at a Turkish Bath today and it was part pleasure and part pain. I went to an elaborately designed marble complex of baths. When I entered, the receptionist showed me to a small private changing room where I was instructed to take everything off and wrapped a towel around my waist. I then locked the little room and took the key with me to the sauna area. This room had a number of 8'x 10' slabs of marble block that were heated. I was instructed to lay down on this slab for 15 to 20 minutes with a little tiny towel covering the most private part. Every so often an attendant would appear and pour hot water on me and then using a loofa mit, would scrub me from head to toe. Both men and women use the same room and today there was one gal getting the same treatment on another marble slab. Again and again, my body was scrubbed with this mit and each time more of my skin peeled away, first the front side and then the back. I was beginning to think he wouldn't stop until he reached bone. When this scrubbing was complete, I was doused with buckets of extremely hot water as a rinse. It was hot, hot!! When I survived that process, I was covered with shampoo and lathered up from head to toe with about a foot of foam, and then more rinsing. Finally, I got towelled off and got to put my clothes back on. Quite an experience. I had arrived at the baths with a pretty good tan, but I had come out about 3 shades lighter!
In the evening I ventured out to 'Bar Street', an area of wall to wall drinking establishments. There were about 25 night clubs that line both sides of the street for blocks and blocks. It was just after 10 pm when I was walking along these bars, and I did not see one female anywhere, just men. Women keep a very low profile and I have mainly seen them only in the markets and shopping places. It seems that most men sit around drinking tea and playing backgammon most of the day. Again today, there were many more rug weavers and I visited one shop where a woman was weaving a very complicated design. The beauty of these carpets is growing on me. Smoking is a major habit here as smoke is in the air wherever you go. They don't allow smoking on buses which is good, but as soon as the bus stops and people deboard, the cigarettes come out and a cloud of smoke envelops all.
Red poppies
I had an easy day today, although it would have been a really tough day if I had chose to ride the whole distance. When I inquired about the direction to Bodrum I was shown the road, out in the distance, which climbed up along swithcbacks on the side of a mountain range to the southeast. I loaded my panniers and cycled a few miles in that direction and then saw the road climbing and climbing and after consulting my map, determined that it would be a long way to the summit. I turned around and headed back to Bodrum and looked for the otgar (bus station). The station was just off the highway near the towns entrance, so it was easy for me on this day. This ended up being a wise decision as the roadway was very steep and it would have been a very long and difficult ride. From my vantage point on the bus seat as we lumbered along I could look out over the sheer cliffs as we rounded the tight turns along the way. The route was inland from the coastline, so I rarely got a glimpse of the sea. What I did see all along this route were fields of a bright red poppies. Springtime is bringing out the wildflowers. I deboarded the bus in a little town after we descended from the mountains. By then it was lunch time so I found a little restaurant and ordered a 'doner', which is a plate of thinly sliced meat that has been cooked on a spit, and comes with bread. This has been my lunch choice almost everyday as it is served everywhere and is quite good. Did you know that yoghurt originated in Turkey? They invented it, but it has been hard to find. Maybe they export all they make. I would dearly love to have a breakfast of granola with yoghurt, but no such luck so far.
As I neared the town of Bodrum I started to see direction signs, 'sehir'merkezi', which I've come to realize means 'city center'. So as I pedal into a urban area I always keep a watchful eye open for those signs. I almost always try to find the center as most of the time it offers the best accommodations and has the services that I need. After riding around Bodrum, I thought that it was the nicest place I'd visited in Turkey. It is a resort area for the rich and famous with at least 500 expensive yachts anchored in the harbor. A lot of impressive boats, both rigged sailing yachts, and motor powered crusiers. The town is a maze of narrow pedestrian lanes that are crowded with 100's of shops, restaurants, and hotels. It seems to be a resort favored by the Russian tourists as many stores and restaurants have Russian language signs. I went down to the beach as it was a pretty nice day and people were milling about. As has been the case all along, the beach was gravel and not sandy at all. So far in Turkey, I have not seen a sandy beach anywhere.
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