LEAVING EUROPE PART 1
After nearly nine months working and cycling through Europe, we finally crossed the border from Greece into Turkey.
Like two giddy kids we cycled slowly, taking in our last minutes in Europe before entering the much anticipated Turkey. Weather-wise we didn’t get the greatest of welcomes and our short cycle to Kesan, was dominated by large trucks whizzing by us on the motorway (only road in), ice blocks for feet and rain the whole way!
Usually at this point, if we’re honest, we would be moaning about the wind, rain and cold but we were so excited and ecstatic to be there that it didn’t dampen our ‘new country’ day one bit (country number eight!).
We arrived early in Kesan which was located on top of an unexpected hill, and which provided a vision of what was to come in Turkey. We soaked up the incredible new atmosphere. The town was buzzing, the people were super friendly, kebabs and street food at every corner, a call to prayer in the background – we instinctively knew we were going to love Turkey and could already feel we had entered the middle east, leaving Europe behind.
Covid Chaos
On Thursday 29th April, Turkey introduced new restrictions halting all travel which meant buses ect. had to stop operating during this time. We were in Istanbul and had spent several days exploring the magnificent city and were ready to leave. We didn’t want to cycle out of the city at a time when everyone was trying to leave, but we needed to get a bus outside of it before their services stopped. We cycled 10km through social chaos to the main bus station, Colm, nearly getting knocked down twice. It was absolutely crazy and we advise, if at all possible, avoid cycling in the city. With a population of almost 20 million and growing its not a good idea.
As mentioned, we just needed to get outside Istanbul to being cycling again but, as we soon found out, everyone else wanted to leave before the lockdown began. We went to a few different offices to try our luck, but all services had either ceased or were already full. On our last attempt we came across a guy who spoke English and was still operating. He had a sign outside his shop with all the places they travelled and we stood there and started pointing to towns we had never heard of, asking if they were available, but each time he would look and then say “full”. He had a chat with a colleague and we were then told the only bus available was Antalya, without even thinking or discussing we looked at each other, then back to him and said we’ll take it. We went inside to finalise the booking and found out the journey would take 12hrs. We just booked a bus to the very south with no routes or ideas of what direction we would go when we got there!
We booked a room on the bus journey in Antalya and discussed our various options as to what to do. We wanted to head east, going through Konya and Cappadocia, but with research we knew borders to the east were closed with no opening dates in sight and we didn’t want to visit Cappadocia without the balloons in operation. Decision made, we were heading west towards Izmir.
Back on the Bikes
The buzz was high, we had a rough
idea of places we wanted to see once we arrived and planned to stay mainly on the coast as much as possible, with occasional detours through the Turkish countryside. The cycle from Antalya started us off on a decent cycle path, and we took in all the views that Turkey offered, cycling through three tunnels (they like to build), all with no problems, very bike friendly. We passed multiple pebble beaches, even stopping to take in a welcome swim. We got a room in Kemer for €9 including use of their pool – campsites in the area were on average €10.
After Kemer, we had a very hot day of cycling and lots of continuous inclines. We met a couple from the Ukraine, who had been cycling in Turkey for a couple of weeks, and after chatting for a bit we cycled together to Cirali, a really cute little town, very hipster and relaxed. We ate lunch together on the beach before it was time for them to leave to reach their destination. As we loved the town we decided to stay and find a campsite. The following day we visited Olympus’ Ancient Ruins and the beach where loggerhead turtles lay their eggs between May and August.
A Bright Start
The following morning we left early, bright and refreshed. The skies were blue, the sun shining, and the general relaxed atmosphere after calmingcirali was perfect. There were clear roads and epic downhills, what more do you need on a bike ride?
We met alot of backpackers who were doing the Lycian Way and they recommended to stay in a campsite in Karaoz and visit a secret (not so secret) cove called Pirates Cove, and also to do the hike to the lighthouse there which is on the Lycian hike route. We did both, which we enjoyed, the cove more so than the lighthouse.
We left for Demre the following day and we noticed a change in scenery. The cycling became less touristic off the coast, but we met a lovely lady and her two kids on the side of the road baking bread in a fire pit. We stopped to buy some, but she was only making it for her family and insisted we take some free. We accepted the offer of bread put we
insisted on paying. On the rest of the cycle we saw many more ladies working in the shade on the side of the road with fields and fields of what looked like greenhouses with white tops, passing by on both sides of us.
We passed through many narrow roads with cobblelock, some feeling like we were passing through a maze and really running the gauntlet. At this stage there were often dogs barking at each side of us too, and every few minutes one would suddenly jump out barking at our wheels.
Eventually we passed through Finike, a smallish seaside town with a long sandy beach, before arriving in our cool campsite called Andriake in Demre. We had another great stay visiting the beach where we got the chance to the see big sea turtles which were indiginous to the area and had a lovely chance encounter with a local retired fisherman who called himself ‘Fishman’. He built his home on the beach and has been living there for 12 years in his own paradise, fishing the waters and taking leisurely canoe rides whenever the mood takes him. Blissful!
Onto the next challenge
Again we left Demre full of the spirit of life and adventure, not knowing how we will ever leave this country and the people within it. However, not long after leaving the village we were straight into a long continuous climb, firstly on the main road which was smooth, but soon turning off onto a not-sosmooth road for the >60km to Kas!
We will always remember this day as being long and tiresome, but we were later rewarded with stunning views and the best 10km downhill into Kas Town, we could have hoped for. The seaside town was a welcome sight after a strenuous day, biking in high temperatures.
We ate cheap kebabs, explored the ancient amphitheatre and rambled through the old town which was full of colour with stunning views of the harbour. We left Kas on another beautiful sunny morning. For the first 20km we stuck to the stunning smooth coast road with its insanely blue seas – a different shade of blue to any other we have seen. Really beautiful cycling, some of the nicest we had done up to that point.
We came across a lot of parked cars on the road and stopped to see what was going on, that’s when we discovered paradise, Kaputas beach. We immediately locked up the bikes, walked down the steep steps, changed from bike shorts to swim shorts and raced into the ocean, drifting away into paradise and soaking in the moment of blissful peace and happiness.
I’m glad we enjoyed it when we could, as little did we know once we got back on the bikes and cycled the short distance to the town of Kalkan, that we were to have a heart-breaking climb/push ahead of us to get out of there.
Between the severe incline that was incredibly hard to even push a bike up, let alone cycle; an awful road (if you could call it that), the scorching heat and our first real encounter with a scary dog in Turkey, it nearly broke us! But, as almost always from such an effort came the reward of the downhill. We glided down through a lush forested area which lead to one of our favourite places on the trip so far, Patara.
Next month we will take you through the rest of our journey along the Turkish Riviera and other unexpected destinations.