The view I am waking up to, once more, pays for everything. My sore bum, my endless struggles the day before and the very short night I have behind me.
The lake turns red and blue, glowing in the light before sunrise.
We cycle along the last bit of this huge lake, that we completely underestimated in it’s size and length. Crossing a few more herds of sheep and cows.
Back on the main road on our way to todays “breakfast-village”.
As we arrive we can not find any bakery, but instead there is a market unfolding along the streets.
We park the bikes and I walk through the stalls, wondering what breakfast should consist of today.
First stop is in the entrance of a house, behind a corner a few women are sitting on the ground, making fresh “Gözleme”. One is rolling the dough. The next one fills it with either potatoes or cheese, meanwhile the last one cooks them on the fire.
What are they talking about? It is a pleasure to watch them in their repetitive movements, they flow, naturally, it looks beautiful, while the smell makes it impossible for me to forget, that I am very hungry.
As I continue to buy some fruits, a man on a stall asks me about the travels I am on, where form where to? When I want to pay for my few nectarines and peaches, he nodes hands over a fifthy lyra note and tells me the fruits are on him. Surprised, I thank him, as he walks away, wishing me a good continuation.
On the next stall I try to buy some apples, but when the guy sees my little bag with only four apples in it. He looks at me strangely, asking if that’s all I want, laughs and tells me to take the apples and go, without paying for them. I have to laugh too. Was I ever welcomed like that, by complete strangers?
I end the tour with some tomatoes, which I finally get to pay for, partially. Because she still fills up the bag some more after I already gave her what she had asked for.
Breakfast tastes delicious, that day. “Gözleme” tomatoes, fruits and coffee.
Then I change my breaks, from worst to bad, because I don’t have any new set of spare break pads. Luckily I kept the old ones, because I notice the current ones are completely used and we are still at 2000m altitude, that we will decent all the way to sea-level in the next two days.
More endless cycling through surreal mountain landscapes follows until we find ourselves on an endless straight line through a valley. On both sides, the peaks reach high up and we know that sooner or later we will have to cross one of them.
As cycling is turning into an endless repetition, meditative and physical, one meter after the other, strawberries disturb our flow.
On the side of the road are lots of little huts, mostly women are selling huge amounts of strawberries.
We stop and eat. She gives us a whole bucket, probably one kilo. Turkish don’t seem to have any understanding for people buying only one hand full of fruits. Luckily, because these are the best strawberries I have ever eaten.
In October!!!
More cycling, followed by a break, scenic views with unmissable traces of humans.
To round up this day full of fruits, I enjoy the one ever returning snack; Banana and peanut butter.
Before setting off to cross one last mountain in the dawn of the day.
Where we will put up the tent, we don’t know yet. All we know is, it has to be behind that mountain.
Thank you all for passing by, have a lovely day!
All photos and words are, as usual, my own.
[//]:# (!pinmapple 37.39473 lat 31.50462 long Crossing the taurus mountains in Turkey (part 4) d3scr)