1500km from Istanbul, resting up today in Giresun on the black sea coast of Northern Turkey. A fond farewell to Gavin who took the bus/plane back to Istanbul, was great company and really great to have your company on the Turkey Leg, we will miss you Gavin, maybe see you ın China later.
Turkish people have been friendly, the black sea coast is not a western holiday destination, so has been good. Yesterday, some students asked why we had come here - and not other parts of Turkey - and we had a good natter, they were most interested in English salary, and whilst they were learning good stuff, their opportunities were limited in this area, the main industry is hazelnuts, not exciting for a youngster.
Will be turning inland soon (at Tirebolu) towards big mountains, temperature will drop towards freezing as we reach the skiing areas where there ıs end-of-season snow. Looking forward to the down hills, the mountains will be more remote, will be harder on Keith who enjoys a well earned beer after a day in the saddle. Have opted for the hilly route and not the flatter longer route through tunnels, should be camping wild tomorrow night.
Lots of coffee stops - many tımes they're full of retired men, no women (they must be somewhere?) - all very characterful faces, playıng card games - chatting and idling tıme away (beats TV) - always a good wood burner on the go - has been a lıttle wet recently and cold surprisingly, it takes tıme for summer to get goıng here - temperatures will sky rocket soon.
One interestıng bike problem - Steve's seat post broke - so we wedged a block of wood ın-between the seat and the back rack - the locals bemused as we raided their wood stock piles, outside their houses - worked well (got the idea from a photo I'd seen surfıng the ınternet) - later, we got the set-post mended at a work shop on route.
There is something about cyclists which seriously attracts dogs, Eastern Turkey was quite bad, pannier bags bitten, dogs barking and chasing us, they can move fast! Can be scary, especially when there are 3 or 4 dogs together, as they attack from all angles. Thankfully, lots of skirmishes, no problems - everyone has rabies vacinations, except me, so good, saved some money there.