The chilly fairy wand of frost has recently bought us both delights and foetal positions, all will be explained, in equal measure. By far the most wonderful bonus was having the thermometer low enough to carry butter in our paniers.  Now this may not sound like much of a winner but until you’ve seen an Irish man with a slab of Kerrygold, it’s hard to imagine what true love looks like. There was the moon landing, the mini skirt and then we could carry butter whilst cycling through the mountains, Hallelujah!!

The beauty of Egirdir lasted a little longer than expected post Brians birthday as on our way out of town a (tiny) part fell off the gear system of my bike.  In true fashion it was the only spare we weren’t carrying and as it’s a touring specific bit of kit we had to wait for a part from Istanbul.  Public holidays meant it was a 6 day turnaround so we got to know Egirdir and it’s inhabitants fairly well.  I had a minor chest infection/man-flu which we were going to ignore so this set back was probably a good thing in the end.  The budget got a bashing, our waist lines got a bulging and we were champing at the bit by the time it came to head off.

Egirdir from the surrounding mountains

A Russian stand-off, mountain goat style

A suitable baptism of fire greeted us in the Taurus mountains giving us plenty of leg work to shave down our burgeoning midriffs.  We got our first snow covered caps reaching passes of 6000ft though our last of the day was a little dramatic.  It was a tough 50 mile stint and as we were summiting we entered a cloud of dense icy mist.  Both our knees had started to ache and my lungs were not up to their usual measure so we stopped and layered up our togs for the decent.  On the way down my vision started to black out, I lost the feeling in my toes and my hands started pumping like it was 1999!  Catching up with Brian we stopped, I hopped off the bike and assumed the foetal position in the gravel on the side of the road, not exactly sure why but by this time I was in a lot of pain and it just felt right!  As my eyes cosily shut Brians voice shouted me back to reality, there was a bit of hugging, maybe a slight tear (Brians of course, for my suffering), and we slowly took in the remainder of the descent.  Typically on nearing the town where we’d planned to stay, the freezing rain decided to join in the fun – lovely.  We got ourselves into a çay shop for a couple of sugary cups of the good stuff/thaw before heading to the local pensione for a warm nights kip.  The pensione, which was the size of Buckingham palace, obviously had no rooms for the night so we were back on the bikes, in the dark, for another 5km to the next town.  After getting a bit soft with a week off in Egirdir, this day really had put the game back on.

Our first snowy peaks

On a trip like this it’s amazing how quickly things can change.  Each day we take the minutes, the road and all she has to give as they come.  We’ve still got some learning to do and need to be prepared for every eventuality but we guess that’s true of whatever you do and wherever you go in life.  These dramas are certainly part of what make it the adventure we’ve both dreamed of and give us some goose pimply stories to think back on, though rest assured they were the first and last tears from yours truly 😉

The following morning, fresh from a Taurus mountain pounding, we decided to change our route to the coast in making it a little shorter.  The temp the previous night bottomed out at -2 Celsius and simply put, we hadn’t bargained on things getting so low.  The new route would give us 3 more days on the bikes instead of 10. We took in another of central Turkeys gorgeous lakes, Beysehir, cementing this region as one of the most beautiful places we’ve seen to date.  Any signs of tourism continued to be bleak and we’d undoubtedly recommend anyone visiting the country in the future to take the time to discover these sapphire mountain gems.

Layering up for a chilly descent

It wouldn’t be quite right if we were still in Turkey and not writing about being looked after by the locals.  This time it came in the shape of a cheeky little chappie called Ali-taş! Coming off the mountains at the end of our second day, we cycled into a town to pick up some eggs for brekkie and ask the locals for a spot of grass to camp. And out steps Ali. With neither of us speaking each others language we waved our hands and waggled our tongues for a bit but really couldn’t work out what was going on.  Eventually we took to the road from what seemed to be a fruitless ask’y camp.  However, no sooner had we left town than we were greeted again my Ali, but this time on his bright red moped, beckoning us to follow.  He took us down a few tracks and led us to his fruit pickers hut in the middle of the fields outside town.  It was a cosy nights accomodation and we were woken by Ali and his friend Ahmed the following morning.  They proceeded to watch us pack all our belongings before taking us to their house for a scrumptious Turkish breakfast with the whole family. As always, it re-enforces our belief that most of the people in this world are truly good. Big up Ali-taş!

Ali-taş and his fruit pickers hut

As anyone will know who’s done a days exercise, when you’re burning cals and it comes to noshing time,  you just can’t get it in you fast enough.  Someone once told a friend of mine on a date that they ate like a homeless person and when I saw Brian and I going at the breakfast that morning it certainly looked like we wouldn’t seem out of place in a squat.  Note to self, we must work on our table manners, spending too much time eating off a camping stove in isolation develops bad habits!

Breakfast and me bringing homeless chique

Up with the birds the following day we had another 6000ft ascent.  The weather was still looking like you’d just poked it in the eye, angry, and the temperature was holding firm at an even 0.  Post purchasing a pair of skiing gloves to keep our paws warm we took to the hills.  Unfortunately I had a slightly less dramatic turn, rescued myself with some dried figs and BUTTER and we decided to stop early for the night at a petrol station nestled in an amphitheatre of gloomy peaks.  The staff let us use their shower, heating and çay for the night and we bedded down with the dulcet tones of Attenborough and Planet Earth on our tablet.  The clouds had wrapped us in a slightly warmer blanket as we nodded off however we were doing a double in the foetal position as the night cleared and things got chillier. The morning saw us cracking the flaps back to the tent through a crispy layer of ice!

Peking crispy tent

It was one last push uphill before we started our 60 mile road to the coast.  What goes up must come down!  As we toasted the final pass with coffee and chocolate and let our wheels befriend gravity for the farewell to the Taurus mountains it was a delight to feel the warmth grow on our faces as we slowly bumped back down to earth!

Approaching our last high pass of the Taurus mountains

As seems to be the pattern, from the isolation of the mountains to the high rises and motorways of the developed coast is was with a bit of a bump indeed we rode into our campsite for the night.  Dinner was served with a side order of food poisoning, still trying to work out who the culprit was, and Brian was on the porcelain throne, kindle in hand, for the night.  Again as per the pattern, I laughed whilst I scoffed breakfast and we boarded the 6 hour coach that would take us to our destination down the coast, Tusucu. By the following morning I was no longer laughing, or indeed retaining much fluid.  Between us both we had just enough energy to book our ferry ticket to Cyprus and boarded the beast for a 7 hour night crossing.  We call her a beast as it was a night crossing with no cabins, bathrooms that hadn’t seen a clean since Maggie Thatcher was in power and fellow customers who looked the most suspect we’ve seen for some time!

A packed harbour at Tusucu

So that’s where we’re typing to you now.  Still getting to grips with the change from the last month on the Turkish mainland.  So far Cyprus has given us expats galore, Heinz baked beans and some stunning coast roads.  Who knows what’s around the corner, well apart from a hunk of Welsh goodness in the form of Brians chum Benji who’s coming to join us, it’s delicious to be warm again and we’ll be sure to fill you in as the adventure continues.

The coastal road east in Cyprus

Sending you sunshine as always.

Tommy and Brian
xxx