Volkan said he would leave early for work today so we set our alarm clock to go up and have breakfast with him. That breakfast took a long time and then his parents and sister in law came to say good bye. We packed, talked to the visitors and weren’t ready for take off until 2 PM and Volkan still hadn’t gone to work.
Özlem and Volkan had promised to lead us out of town but first to his shop to show it and take some photos of us there. The road leading down from the hill were the Yalciner family lives is extremely steep and when passing a sharp turn on the inside it felt almost vertical…. Our breaks did a good job and soon we were at the shop and got our photos taken.
Saying good bye to Volkan’s father (left) in front of the shop
We were guided by Volkan driving slowly in front of us with his mother and Özlem as passengers. He stopped at the outskirts of town and we took more photos and said a dear farewell. We have become very good friends with the familiy and when we left them a feeling of loneliness struck us since it was only the two of us now. It took an hour or two and then it was like normal again.
Only 6-7 km after exiting Zonguldak a car with a bicycle hanging on its rear passed us. It stopped and two guys came out and wanted to talk. They presented themselves as Umit and Ramazan and told that they were touring cyclists themselves and asked if we wanted to come and stay the night in their town. It turned out that each of them were hosts in the warmshowers.org which is a hospitality network for cyclists that we have used a lot so far. This network gets better and better since we don’t even have to send e-mail any longer and the hosts pick you up along the road.
Unfortunately the town where Ramazan and Umit live was too far away so we decided to decline their kind offer and continue. We are however grateful for the offer and would like to say thank you to Ramazan and Umit.
The road was slowly upphill, had many curves but for most of the time a good shoulder for us to cycle on. Being a main road it had some traffic but it was never a problem. We passed two tunnels, the first one about 200 meters and the other one more than twice as long. When we exited the second one we were at >400 meters of altitude and could start descending. We didn’t know how far we would go and if to stay in a hotel or camp.
At the entry of the town Gökcebey we met another cyclist. He stopped and came over to us. Unfortunately his English was worse than our Turkish and besides that he spoke very fast too. It seemed he was out on some sort of cycling trip himself, but although trying very hard to understand each other, we were not able to have any meaningful conversation. That was really sad because I think we would have had a lot to tell each other.
5-star camp site
Just after passing Gökcebey we saw a gas station that looked as a potential camping site 🙂 We rode in and even before parking our bikes we were offered tea. We sat down to drink our tea and one of the guys proudly said that the gas station had a free shower. We then asked if we could camp there and the answer was ”of course”. Another guy came out and told us he was about to drive and buy some food and asked if we would like join the staff for dinner 🙂
When sitting drinking tea at some tables outside the gas station we got a big surprise when a car came and parked. It was Volkan and his friend Hassan who we had met before. They were going to Hassan’s house in the next town and have a nice Saturday night with some friends and stay the night. Volkan had suspected we would be at some gas station and came by to look for us. It was a happy re-union only a few hours after saying a sad good bye.
Dinner with the gas station staff….
After shower and with tent pitched and sleeping bags rolled out we went to the staff room of the gas station to have a dinner consisting of a giant tray with some kind bread in the bottom and grilled chicken on top. It was to be eaten with the bare hands and tasted wonderful.
This is truly a 5-star gas station.
* unlimited supply of tea
** wifi internet
*** camping allowed
**** shower
***** dinner
Reunion with the Yalciner family
We have a joke based on a fact and that is that where ever I go I bring bad weather. Blizzard in Hungary, intense snow fall in Romania and cold and strong headwind before arriving in Istanbul. This story has continued and been proven correct here in Zonguldak too.
The Yalciner family live on 5th floor in an apartment building located high up on one of the city’s hills and they have a grandiose view of the harbour and the Black Sea from their very cosy balcony. Have we seen the Black Sea from their balcony during the three days we have spent here? No – there has only been a light grey almost white fog all the time so we will have to come back to enjoy the view another time.
Visiting Volkan’s mother opposite the street
Department store
Both of Volkan’s brothers live in the same apartment building and his parents live in another one just across the street. Özlem’s birthday is on 1st of May and Volkan’s mother hosted Özlem, Volkan’s brother’s wife and daughter and us for a Iskender lunch at Zonguldak’s only deparment store some very steep switchbacks below where they all live. It was a tasty lunch and it was also nice to see a department store again. We haven’t been to any since we were in Krakow almost two months ago.
Post office
We have visited the local post office and sent home a little more than 3 kg of clothes, a camera that has stopped working, some tools not needed, our map of Bulgaria and a few other things we don’t need anymore. Besides making our luggage lighter, this will open up some space in our panniers where we will be able to carry food which will be needed later in the tour.
4 days of intense training in making turkish coffee…
Football
After having been to the post office Volkan took us to his football field. Volkan and his two brothers have a electrical company that makes electrical installations and also has two shops selling deisgner lamps. Besides this they have a football field with adjacent changing rooms, showers and a little cafe that they rent out to local teams.
When Volkan told me about his football field I couldn’t understand why people would pay for that – local kids usually play football on any open space. Then I looked around me and saw the houses and apartment blocks clinging to the steep hills of Zonguldak and thought that maybe there is no unused flat areas where kids can play football so having a football field for rent may be a lucrative business in a town like Zonguldak.
Of course we had to try play some football. I am quite fit after having cycled all the way from Sweden to Zonguldak, but I am not used to play football and after 10 minutes we were all completely exhausted.
Jam session in the kitchen
Özlem and Volkan are very hospitable people and they have had friends over for dinner almost every night we have been staying with them. The last night of our stay their close friends Fatma and Levent came over. Levent is a teacher in traditional turkish music and I guess he came straight from work since he wore a suit while Volkan and I wore shorts and T-shirts.
Volkan is a serious hobby musician and has appeared in TV shows. He likes to sing traditional songs and soon Volkan and Levent started to play and sing. Levent played on his Ud (traditional instrument) while Volkan was percussionist using a very untraditional instrument – an empty cookie tin from Ikea. He later found a more traditional drum and played along with Levent for quite a while.
Turkish coffee made by a Swedish cyclist 🙂
Haircut and shave
Last time I got a haircut was during our short break in Sweden. It was now time again and Volkan took me to the barber shop he uses.
After cutting my hair it was time for the shave. I am not being used to being shaved by others so it was interesting to watch the process. First I got a big load of shaving soap brushed into my face for two minutes and then the shaving started. My face soon appeared from the thick layer of white foam and when the foam was gone the barber went over my face with his razor once more before he applied after shave. After a short feeling of burning pain I felt like a baby face….
With hair, face and eyebrows done the barber opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors with a big chunk of cotton on its sharp end. He dipped it into a liquid and then set the whole thing to fire. The scissors were now a burning torch that he started to move towards my ears…
After a brief confusion I rememebered that my Australian friend Michael who cycled around the world had mentioned something to me about the Turks having a interesting way of removing hair on the ears and this was just what was about to happen.
The barber waved the burning scissors past my ears a couple of times to burn off those little hairs. I could clearly feel the smell of burnt hair so apparently the method works just fine.
Tea with a view
One of the days Özlem and Volkan took us out for a walk in a little park which has good vies of the Black Sea, a cafe at a lighthouse and some nice areas to stroll around in. It was neither hot or cold but a little foggy so we couldn’t see the Black Sea clearly.
These concrete toy cars has been in the park since Volkan’s childhood
Departure
I write this in the early morning of the day when it is time to say good bye to the Yalciner family. We stayed with them for three nights in Istanbul and now for four nights here in Zonguldak and we have had very fun, lots of discussions and eaten lots and lots of super good food. This is definately not the last time we will see these new friends of ours and we will definately come back after having concluded this trip. We also hope to some day see them in Thailand and/or Sweden.
A big big big big thank you to Özlem and Volkan for letting us stay and enjoy some really fun days in your company.
We had too much food at the hotel buffet breakfast and got dazed and lazy and didn’t start to cycle until after 10 AM.
Last November the two Turkish cyclists Burak Yalciner and Gökhan Kutluer did a cycle tour between Oslo and Copenhagen and stayed at our home for two nights. When we arrived Istanbul we were invited to stay with Burak’s family and we immediately became good friends with all of them. Burak studies in Istanbul while his parents split their time between the family’s home in Zonguldak and an apartment in Istanbul.
When we stayed with the family in Istanbul they gave us many advices regarding the route and they insisted we should try to pass their hometown Zonguldak which we promised to do.
Today’s mission was to reach Zonguldak and stay with our friends there and enjoy their company and a few days of rest. The only thing that was between us and them was a climb of 500 vertical meters across a mountain.
The hill to climb before arriving to Zonguldak and our friends
It was a nice sunshine when we left Alapli but only 6-7 km along the way towards Eregli we cycled into a dense fog and when we arrived in Eregli it was even a bit cold. At the outskirts of that city we passed some big shipyards but the work seemed to have ceased at two container ships. Nobody was working on them and we later got the explanation why – the financial crisis and problems with the banks.
Turkey may have avoided much of the financial crisis, but not the owner of these two ships that no work is done on any longer.
Wej had not completely recovered from her sore throat and a few times I got a stinging feeling in the central part of my right calf which I had injured severely last year. The chilly weather and our physical conditions made us move forward with great caution.
The climb started right after we passed the city of Eregli. It was not steep, only 5 % on average, but it was almost 10 km long. We rode up very slowly and didn’t stop a single time until we reached the pass. Climbing 500 meters in one long go is much more fun and challenging than doing five climbs of 100 meters that once you have passed the pass immediately takes you down to where you started. Those small climbs are both physically and mentally de-motivating.
Trying the famous strawberries from Ereglie
Eregli is famous for having Turkey’s best strawberries and we passed numerous small stalls where the local’s sell these red delights. Even if we really wanted to buy some we kept going since we didn’t want to break the momentum we finally had gained, but we stopped at the first stall after the top. The strawberries were more expensive than we expected but they tasted great.
When we got up on the hill we suddenly had the fog below us. It was sunshine and a nice temperature as we cycled up and down the small hills on top of the mountain. The descent from the mountain was a bit difficult since the surface was not in the best condition and there was a lot of traffic. Road constructions was going on at several places and it was sometimes very dusty.
Road blocked by truck
When we came racing down a slope we saw a truck parked across the road. It looked strange and when we got closer a police man walked up to us and raised his hand to show us to stop. Yesterday the police escorted us, so we wondered why they stopped us now.
Once we had stopped they put up cones across the road and a sign telling ”traffic control”. We couldn’t understand why they would want to include us in their traffic control, but we had to stop. Nothing happened and soon more cars stopped behind us and a short while later we got the explanation by a police officer who could speak good English. He told us that the construction workers were going to blow up a big rock and that we had to wait about 20 minutes.
Talking to the police officer while waiting
We chatted with the police officer when a loud ”booom” echoed between the mountains and a huge dust cloud raised from the valley in front of us. We were first in the line but we decided to let all cars pass before we started to cycle again. I had parked my bike at the side of the road and when it was time for us to roll I saw that my front tyre had got flat 🙁 🙁 🙁
I had probably parked on something sharp and there was nothing to do than change to a new innertube. If I had seen what had happened I could have done it while waiting for that explosion.
All other cars in the que is gone and we are left alone to fix my second flat tyre 🙁
Finally we could continue our descent down from the sunny mountain and into the foggy coastline. We had agreed with Özlem that we would send her a message when we approached town. Soon we got contact and she and her husband Volkan came to meet us by car.
Volkan told us to put bikes and panniers into the car. I asked how far away they lived and I think I heard him say 200 meters but I thought he meant 2000 meters. We loaded everything into the car and drove up some very very steep hills and I think their house is 200 meters above where we met so Volkan was right after all.
Raki in the left glass and cold water in the right one
We were warmly welcomed and given a bedroom and a bathroom and showed around. The view of the Black Sea from their cosy balcony is stunning…..if it wasn’t for all the fog.
Özlem and Volkan prepared a very nice dinner to have on that balcony while the sun was setting in the Black Sea and finally I got to try the national drink of Turkey – the famous Raki.
Our plan for the day was to make an early start and ride until it got too hot, then take a long break to eat, write and relax before continuing during the afternoon when the temparature has cooled down. The alarm in our phone woke us up at 5.45 and once outside the tent we could work at ease since the mosquitoes had gone elsewhere.
The plan was also to not have breakfast where we camped but cycle the remaning 6-7 km into the town of Karasu to eat at some cafe. We immediately found a bakery and stopped to buy bread. The bakery had a big firewood oven and the two bakers were busy putting new bread into it. In Sweden bread made in firewood ovens are considered as having a nice taste but a not so nice price tag. The bread we bought cost 1 Turkish Lira which equals about 3.8 SEK or 0.6 €.
The baker and his firewood oven
We now had bread but nothing more so we continued cycling for another 2-300 meters where we found a tiny little grocery store where we bought some cheese, fruit juice and yoghurt that we intended to eat at the table outside the store. The shopkeeper shook his head to our question if he had coffee but but then shouted to his father across the street to make two cups of coffee for us. It was a wonderful breakfast in the sunshine with fresh bread and coffee. And the coffee was for free….. the Turkish hospitality again….
Breakfast
If the road yesterday was a neverending rollercoaster, than today’s cycling was almost the opposite. We soon got out on the road that follows the shore of the Black Sea. It was straight and almost without hills. It went through villages and some small towns, mostly close to the beach but sometimes 2-300 meters from the waterline.
I have only been to the Black Sea once before and that was in southern Russia in 1993. That time it was February and far too cold to think of trying to put the feet in the sea. This time the conditions were better and we had to try the Black Sea water. Unless you are not a Swede it was far too cold to swim in, but in terms of water temperature I am no longer a Swede but 100% Thai so we did not swim. Putting our feet in the water was cold enough.
With our feet in the Black Sea
Those of you who have followed this blog from start have seen photos of us and our bikes on the beach of the Baltic Sea and the Marmara Sea. In order to follow this tradition we proudly present a photo of us and our bikes from the Black Sea beach. Next beach photo will probably be from the Caspian Sea.
We and our bikes on the Black Sea beach
We are in Turkey so when we say that the cycling was flat means that there were at least some nasty hills. If you study the altitude graph below you will understand what we mean with meaningless hills. A couple of short steep hills that never bring us up to any high altitude. A lot of work to only one hour get back to the same altitude as we started from.
Altitude profile of today
Our intention was to have a long break during the early afternoon to avoid the heat. We stopped in the sea side town of Akcapoca to have lunch, but a fresh breeze from the sea made it pleasant and we could have continued to cycle. We found a restaurant beside the road that overlooked the Black Sea and we decided to sit down there to eat, do a bit of writing (yesterday’s blog post) before we continued towards the town of Eregli.
The plans for the night were to camp somewhere before that city but soon it appeared impossible. There is only a narrow section of flat area between the tall steep mountains and the Black Sea and that is where the road is. In fact there is not even room for the entire road so the lanes leading to the north east goes through tunnels while the lanes that go south west goes between the mountain and the sea.
We don’t like to ride in tunnels but what to do when the only option is to swim in the cold Black Sea with your bike. Wej would cycle behind and for increased visability we put all our back lights on the back of her shirt and then speeded through the 10 tunnels (!) at as high speed as possible. Fortunately there was very little traffic and we could ride through the first 5-6 tunnels alone without cars. It was great fun to shout loudly and listen to the echo inside the tunnels.
Besides that there was nowhere to camp, Wej also had a got her sore throat back and we decided to find a hotel or guesthouse. We went around in the center of Apali but couldn’t find anywhere to stay. When we saw a police station with a group of police officers talking outside we went there to ask for directions. Not being able to communicate in the same language the officers used sign language to tell us to wait. We thought that they were maybe going to find someone who spoke English or German, but not so. Two of the officers came back in a police car and showed us to bike behind them.
They drove slowly in front of us as an VIP escort with their blue lights on and when approaching a roundabout they sounded the sirens to make way for us. They parked their police car outside the only hotel in town and we tried to talk a little. Then they wanted to see our passports – probably not to make a proper check but more to see what a Swedish passport looks like.
The police escort checking our passports
Taking good care of strangers seem to be a national sport in Turkey. I am quite sure that if a lost tourist in Sweden ever would find any police officer it is highly unlikely they would get a police escort with sirens and blue lights to the nearest hotel…
The hotel was a bit expensive but since we got very good contact with the front office staff we tried to negotiate the price. We couldn’t get a discount, but they could offer us to include the dinner in the price of the room. When we got up to our room we could enjoy a beautiful sunset over the Black Sea before we went to have the dinner we negotiated into the price of the room.
Black Sea sunset seen from the window in our hotel room
