Day 74: Alexandroupolis to Gökçetepe, 13th September.

Up at 8. I packed and cycled through Alexandroupolis. There I picked up a spanakopita another decent pastry, and a huge sickly doughnut from a bakery. I ate the savoury stuff and continued on. The route took me once again along quiet roads through the remnants of a wildfire. As “The Great Gatsby” audiobook finished up I finished off my doughnut stood in the shade of a tree.

A few km on and I reached the Greek Turkish border, around 13:00. I waited for 20 mins to get through the Greek side. The guy asked me where I was headed. I was worried until it turned out he was just interested in my Nepal shirt!

Country 13: Turkey

The Turkish side was a little faster. I crossed over a bridge patrolled either side by armed guards, had my passport stamped, and was in! I went into a duty free to get data, cash etc. The only Sim cards on sale were thirty euros. I was only able to withdraw 250TL – around £7, and couldn’t even buy an ice cream with card to cheer me up! No matter! I was in Turkey. A new country at last. I had been in Greece for one month exactly...

I turned off the main road into Ipsala where I stopped in a café. A helpful patron got me some wifi, and I bought some Turkish tea in return. I foolishly didn’t use this wifi to buy an E-Sim, and continued on into the town. With my new morning money I was able withdraw 1000TL. I went into a shop for cookies and water, then tried to follow my maps.me route – immediately it took me past yapping dogs to a disappearing road.

Perhaps I’d better self-navigate here. I may even spend most of my days following the main dual carriageway. It has great tarmac and a wide hard shoulder. Almost all the side roads are unpaved gravel paths. After following the carriageway for a while I turned onto one of these paths through a sunflower field. Almost immediately a man in a truck pulled up and advised me not to go that way. He was from Hamburg but owned a walnut farm here. He was very friendly and even gave me some water. I followed his advice.

I followed the main road, feeling less guilty about doing so when I noticed locals walking along it. Eventually, around 16:45, I reached Kesan. There, a helpful gas attendant told me I’d be able to find SIMs in town. I felt much more in need of one here than I had in Montenegro. I cycled into town and stumbled across a Vodaphone shop.

I ended up paying 650TL for a 20GB SIM, far less than at the border, but far more than the 250L advertised. Ah well. At least they gave me some tea to drink as I waited. After, I deliberated about whether to stay in that town (it was already 17:30), or make a dash to the coast to camp. Eventually I checked a “cheap” hotel and they asked for double what google maps had suggested (2000TL!). Fuck that.

I sped down the main road, following google maps route. This eventually took me off the main road through beautifully tarmacked side streets. I passed endless sunflower fields, a small town, then was up into the hills, racing through green hills and red mud forests. As dusk set in I saw the coast and sped down to it, my front wheel making concerning noises. I hope it holds out until Istanbul.

I passed through the small town of Gökçetepe, then found myself at a barrier. The girl there called her friend who spoke English. I paid 250TL for the night. A much better price. The actual camping, I found, was about 2km on, through endless woods.

I set up my tent as the sun went down, resorting to a head torch and beating the pegs a few cm into the hard baked earth using a rock. I tried to shower, but the most the taps did was trickle. The toilets are a mystery to me too. I’ll be gone tomorrow luckily. I intend to be in Istanbul in two long days. I’d prefer three short ones, but there doesn’t seem to be much to see, or do, or many places to stay between me and “the city”.

I bought some snacks from the local carrefour, then a tasteless pizza from the camp café (it may have been tasteless due to my cold (COVID?) who can tell?). I ate that, drank my energising coke, and wrote this. No beer tonight. I’m in a muslim country.

It was hard to sleep, my head was downhill, and my mat is punctured. Ah well. I got through it.

Video of this day (Greek part)

Video of this day (Turkish part)