Distance cycled: 89.6km from where i was this morning to Alanya, Turkey
Average speed: 18.6km/h
Moving time: 4h48m
Total distance: 7945km
Border X'ings: 22
Money spent: 35 lira
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I now have a new tent that one of my aunties bought me when I was up in Scotland, a light weight 2 person tent that seemed to be superior in every way to my $12 dome tent that lasted me almost 2 years (it's still fine but auntie insisted to purchase me a new one). Anyway this new tent is waterproof, of much better build quality and obviously more durable, however having slept in it for one night I would have my old tent with a tarp strung above back in a heart beat. This new tent requires you to peg it down, this is of huge concern as it limits many camping locations where perhaps it's too rocky and/or lacking dirt; it is also not as spacious and much more time consuming to erect than my previous one. Yes, this one may be waterproof but nothing better than stringing up a tarp above my much less expensive green portable and collapsable home. Some consumer advice for you - for any trip, a less complicated dome tent will easily suffice.
Having recently uploaded a decent map of this area of turkey to my GPS I was now able to venture off the main road without the worry of hitting a dead end and subsequently backtrack, tracing the back roads though towns or perhaps closer to the beach makes my day more variable and also It greatly benefits me by getting me off the main highways.
Using this new upgrade to my GPS I found myself beside the beach in a very German resort town where the majority of people walking the streets were not of Turkish origin - even the street signs were written in German.
Later in the day I was told that Alanya (the next big city I would be passing through) was a Scandinavian holiday hotspot and without hesitation I pushed myself to the limit to get there thinking that beautiful young Swedish girls would be frolicking with one another on the warm sunset lit beach while others would be bouncing around playing beach volleyball. Yes, yes... It has been a while.
This was what was going on in my mind but upon arriving in Alanya I was severely disappointed, it seemed here like many other of the coastal resorts I cycled through today were just filled with stagnant, boring old tourist couples who expressed no interest in anything that surrounded them. There was not one sign of any young foreigner backpacker, nor was there any backpacking hostel.
I was lucky enough to be directed to a cheap friendly hotel where I was given a luxurious and huge room fit for perhaps 5 people that included a kitchen. I would have cycled east pass the town and found a place to camp but it was getting dark and the outside edge of the city was 25km away... Also, with any luck I was hoping that the Swedish girls basking on the sand would be there tomorrow.
This Norwegian woman I met in Alanya.
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