Black Sea Day 12: Gerze Hospitality

Our 3rd Month in Turkey

Welcome to the first day of our last month in Turkey! Both Selim and I have three month visas. For Americans, it’s $30 USD for 3-months. For Tunisians and Europeans, it’s free. I’m not sure about other nationalities. We woke up on Abhi’s farm and headed to the gas station to brush our teeth, wash our faces, etc. We didn’t necessarily want to prepare breakfast on the farm because our host might offer us something. He had already been more than generous so we didn’t want to put any extra burden on him. There wasn’t any hot coffee at the gas station so I just brought our nescafé and cups in order to make some with the hot water they had there. Soon after, we took off cycling with the intention of arriving in Gerze in the afternoon.

Tobacco and Rice Paddies

On the way, we passed tobacco leaves drying in the sun as well as rice fields. In fact, our host from the night before had his own rice fields, as well. He warned us that there might be a lot of mosquitoes during the night because of all of the water in the fields. Rice requires a huge amount of water to grow. The water in this area of Turkey comes down from the mountains and is directed towards the fields with massive piping.

Lunch Stop

We stopped to cook lunch in a picnic area that had fountains, tables, and restrooms. I used up the rest of the instant noodles while Selim rested. We use the Quechua camping pad often during our breaks to have somewhere to sit or lay down. It’s also nice to have our camping pillow handy for this reason. After lunch, we hung out for awhile to avoid the hottest part of the day. We washed a few of our clothes and hung them to dry using our bikes and elastics to make a dryline. For a while, I was carrying with me a packet of dry laundry soap for handwashing. After a while, I gave up on this and used shampoo to wash my clothes, as Selim had been doing the whole time. It was one less thing to carry and they only sell big packs of laundry soap so also a bit heavy.

Our Second Flat Tire

We cleaned up the campsite and pedaled off a few hours later. Five kilometers from Gerze, Selim got a flat tire. No big deal, this would be his second. We had a spare inner tube and a pump. Or did we? We must have lost our pump somewhere on the way because after going through all our luggage, it was nowhere to be found. The plan was for me to cycle into town with all of our belongings and try to find a bike store that sold a pump. In the meantime, he would walk his bike and try to hitchhike into town. If he showed up before me, we would meet at a designated gas station as our phones were about to die.

Shortly after I start cycling, I hear yelling and a horn honking behind me. It was Selim with his bike. He had caught a ride with a big truck lugging a boat. I was glad Selim got a ride but not as pleased that I was still carrying all of our stuff. It was really heavy! They dropped him off at the gas station while I struggled into town. This was the one time where a gas station somewhat failed us. And not even completely. Selim tried to explain that he needed air in his tire but the attendants thought he needed a whole new inner tube or tire. Two men approached him and offered to help as they spoke some English. They ended up driving him to two different bike shops to try to find a pump. When I got to town and we met up, the men were still with him and had invited us to their house. It was a short bike ride away so we’d follow their car there.

Dinner at our Hosts

We arrived at Abhi’s house and were offered a delicious dinner. We had çig kofte, peppers stuffed with rice, tomatoes, bread, sarma dolma. The family had a vegetable garden in the back yard and grew much of their produce themselves. After dinner, we all enjoyed tea together. They made it using a samovar, a machine that we had seen more and more in recent days. In fact, our host with the roadside stand had one. A samovar is a metal container used to boil water. There is an attachment at the top where tea is added. The heat comes from wood which lends flavor to the water and finally, the tea. According to Wikipedia, it’s originally from Russia.

We met his children and extended family as many relatives were staying there for the summer. The family usually lives in Bursa but summers in Gerze. The daughter and father spoke English and the daughter, Zeynep, enjoyed practicing with us as she was hoping to study in an anglophone country for university.

Camping in Gerze

After dinner, they offered to bring us to a site where we could camp and invited us back for breakfast in the morning. They mentioned that there were French cyclists that had been camping there in the past. We walked for about 15 minutes to a beach where we could camp and turns out, the French cyclists were currently camping there. We felt a bit awkward about stealing their camping spot but the man was very kind and told us there were showers and restrooms nearby. In the morning, we got to talk to the couple and hear more about their adventure. They had really nicely dressed bikes so we checked out those, as well! Now, I can appreciate a well-placed bike bag that allows for easier organization, camp set-up or break-down. More on Day 12, en route to Sinop soon!