Cycling in Turkey has been the best bike traveling experience. The combination of nature, the generousity of the people and the weather made me fall in love.

A random day went like this, or could have gone like this:

21:00 – a noice around the tent. A car stops and a person comes out. Normally that’s scary. ‘Do you need water, do you have enough food?’ – Thank you, I’m fine. ‘Here, I bought you a watermelon.’

06:00 – bike day starts. Cars from behind honk.

08:00 – first break, I look at my phone to see where I should go next. Old guys from a café starts shouting ‘come here, sit down’. The first tea of the day.

11:00 – A hard climb is killing my legs. A guy on a rock is looking at me. ‘Are you hungry?’ – Kinda… ‘Alright, come up here!’ In the shadow of a huge truck I get a pre-lunch with construction workers.

12:30 – A car passes me and starts driving my speed, the window goes down and a hand with a water bottle comes out ‘it’s 40 degrees, you should drink cold water, take it!’

15:00 – Bad weather arrives. I shelter under a roof in a village. Out of the blue a guy appears from a house with a tray full of bread, fruits and cheese.

18:00 – I find a nice camp spot. There’s one other car with four people and I ask them if this place is safe. ‘Sit down, do you want tea?’ A full meal is being prepared and stuffed I roll into my tent. 

Sometimes I really had to avoid villages or people, because their attention also can be tiring. Always telling my story by Google Translate, always answer to all the questions, taking photos with them…a silent spot in a field was sometimes heaven.