From west coast to PamukkaleWe entered Turkey at kap. Andreeevo, between Svilengrad and Erdine. Luckily the visa was suppressed just a week or two before our arrival, so it all went without too much waiting and bureaucracy; all they wanted to know was a motorbike registration number. Already at arrival a big mosque awaits you, letting you know which country you have come to. We stopped in Erdine to have a kebab. People are immediately so different from Bulgarians... friendly, curious, hospitable and helpful. We left the bike on a street while we went in the restaurant; men on the street assured us to look after it. We felt relaxed and comfortable.

We continued south, by the west coast. The road was straight and dusty with a lot of traffic, what a boring ride. It seemed it will never end. After crossing Canakkale bay, which we did at Ecebat, the road went inland, crossing some hilly area and finally it reached coast again, a little after Ayvacik. Wide, endless road right at the coast, with numerous hotels, villas and other touristic objects, beaches, bars and restaurants and of course, crowded with people... crazy. Massive tourism. And all those buildings, you can see they are new, probably build just some years ago.

Somehow, in all that crush, we managed to find a patch of freely accessable beach somewhere near Edremit, a sort of picnic area, where we parked our bike; we decided to stay overnight after asking some local people who were there, having picnic, if that is ok. Nobody seemed to have problem with that, so we cooked our dinner and washed the dishes. The locals slowly went home and for few minutes we were alone. Then the car came and 4 men got out with heaps of food and blankets, placing the things just about 30 metres from us. Hmm, yes, it is Ramazan, when it is forbidden to eat between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m., so this is probably going to be a picnic. A night picnic. Second car arrived with women and children. We were hoping it won't last the whole night. After praying they began with the dinner. We quietly sat on our panniers drinking tea. Soon a man reached us, holding a plate with a meal and two forks, giving it to us. Really nice. However, the picnic was quiet and it didn't last the whole night, so we had quite a peaceful night.

Escaping crowdedness, we turned inland the next day, towards Pamukkale. Following the shortest way found by GPS, at first wandering in a labyrinth of some village streets, finally we find the way out, which took us to the hills, away from touristic coast. All around are plantations of olive trees. Or the hill-sides are covered with pine trees. We cross some small old Turkish villages. It feels so good to be in the nature again. It is so peaceful and beautiful.

The next morning we find out that the oil from right fork is leaking. Quite bad, because we are in the middle of nowhere, so we have to think of something on our own. Good thing is that Zoran knows every piece of this bike, so he puts the fork apart, finds out that a small part of oil sealing oil is rolled up. Luckily, it is possible to straighten it up again, so the problem is fixed in about 2 hours. We hope it works.

We continue towards Salihili. Soon we leave the hills behind; the land becomes flat and there are vineyards all around. Each vineyard has it's own small place for drying grapes for raisins. We stop to make ourselves a coffee. A man comes to greet us. After some words he leaves, but soon he returns with his kids and a wife, carrying a big piece of grapes for a gift. We talk for some minutes although they don’t know any English and we don’t know any Turkish. Before they go, they bring us also a loaf of home-made bread. They are really amazing.