Day 29 – 33: Igneada – Göreme, „a paradise with a pile of s**t“

After a wonderful weekend with the VW people in Igneada, we started to return to Asia, once again crossing the Bosporus bridge.

Farewell ceremony at the VW Bus meeting

no overtaking - street scence just behind Igneada

This time, we approached Istanbul at Sunday late afternoon, a time plan that rewarded us with 40km/h speed for almost 2 hours – curious looks, thumbs-ups and even a „Servus Kollege“ from a Turk with some obvious bavarian history were on the lanes next to us.

We decided to go straight through quite some parts of the country, sleeping on a highway autostop near Ankara, so that we arrived early afternoon in Göreme – the small village in the center of the famous Cappadocian tuffstone landscape. Already some time before spotting Göreme on the signposts, caves appeared besides the road, carved from the sandy stones. On our way down to Göreme, it really blew our minds, countless holes, doors, windows, stairs, all carved from stone pillars, walls and pyramids. The thought that people actually lived here is really startling.

We chose Dilek camping, just next to the town center, to stay here for a few days and use the luxury of a washing machine. The spot is run by a whole family since 2 years, and we really enjoyed the funny brothers, uncle, father and some kids.

On arrival, we realized that Patty and Ingo, whom we met 2 weeks ago in Istanbul (fehlzeit.blogspot.com) were staying on another campground up the hill in Göreme. In the evening (after the desert-like heat was gone a little bit), we pedaled up the steep road, past the Open Air Museum, to see the two. Just before dawn, we took one of the countless little trails down a wonderful valley, which proved Cappadocia the trail paradise that some people talk about. 30cm wide, just steep enough to roll without much effort, and this great landscape with stone caves everywhere. Our chosen trail ended in some thick green bushes, however, which prompted us to climb the side of the valley. No big problem, so we found ourselves just on top of another handful of trails, winding through caves, chapels and stairs. This is truely a paradise for mountainbiking (but consider not coming in July, as it is simply too hot between 11am and 7pm).

The next morning, we wanted to start early. And really, we got up before 8 to use some morning coolness. However, the notorious Cappadocian thornes gave Katha a flat tire yesterday, so we were delayed a little. We then rode up the asphalt roat to Ulcisar, the neighbouring town with an impressive stone castle in the middle. After about 250hm, we arrived on top of a green valley where a small, brownish line went in curves on the bottom. It turned out to be one of those holy trails you seldomly find.

As we rode up and down through the valley, we passed a little green stream coming from the top. Well, spoilt by the Alps (where you cross crystal-clear snowmelt water), we crossed through, to late to realize that this stream was coming directly from the hotel just above, on the valley edge. You may imagine what flows down from a hotel – we were disgusted „a little“, trying to at least get rid of the stuff from our tires, by covering them with sand.

Nonetheless, the rest of the ride was just as epic as the part before.

Back at the campsite, we used the rest of the day to escape from the heat – we had our place in the shadow of a huge stone pillar, and the campground had a pool. As the sun went down (Ramadan just started – we, however, chose NOT to fast), we prepared some fish we bought a day ago.

One of the campground brothers served us a glass of self-made spirit, we chose not to drink it completely...not only because we had to get up at 4.15. Michi's birthday present by his parents was a balloon ride in Göreme, so we found ourselves on a sandy plain just before dawn the next day. We were not the only ones waiting to climb the baskets of countless balloons prepared to take off – as in Pamukkale, it's so beautiful that you have to share it with a lot of people. In an one-hour-flight, we flew over Göreme and the fairy chimneys, and also in a surprisingly low altitude through some of the valleys. The view was really great, we witnessed 3 sunrises and two sunsets because of the repeated gas shots the pilot gave into the ballons -up and down, up and down, and up. The landing was another little aventure, as the pilot – connected to the driver on ground by walkie-talkie – point-landed on the trailer of a driving Landcruiser. Needless to say, this was in the middle of a bumpy field, so the car was appropriately challenged as well.

 

The rest of the day is quickly said: we thought about bikeriding, once we are awake at 7am – but the transport back to the Camping made us sufficiently tired to sleep until 11. After some mechanical maintenance and routine checks on Kalimero, we went to see Patty and Ingo, who switched their place from the campground to a just as beautiful freecamp next to the Open-Air-Museum. Millenium-old church ruins and remains of frescos, and freecamp on an empty field less than 10m away from it – try to do that in Germany. Another camping truck (4x4 camper in a foreign country, this must be Germans!) with two guys from northern Bavaria was standing next to them. We spent the afternoon there, when 2 young cyclists from Austria arrived (they want to do the tour to Thailand until January – Chapeau!) and stayed there as well.

For the evening, we had ordered „testi kebab“ at our restaurant (the spirit-serving brother is the cook) for us and Patty and Ingo, and it was not only a delicious stew – it is cooked in a pottery cylinder, which is cracked open with a giant knife for serving.

The next day, we left Göreme to go further east. From nearly every place in Cappadocia that is not deep down in the valleys, you can see a huge, pyramind-shaped former volcano on the horizon.



Erciyes Dagi (with over 3900 also quite high), which is actually one of the two volcanoes that created the thick tuffstone layers that enabled the early Christians to find refuge here and carve churches. As it was too hot to do extensive bikerides down in Göreme, we thought about going in this direction – especially after the great days at Uludag.

Day 24 - 29: Kabak - Igneada

It's not easy to get started on these kind of overnight places...
deep down in the valley, just above the sea, Kalimero doesn't heat up in the morning. Our window shades are lightproof, so it's no problem to NOT get up before 9.30. So once again, we start slowly, refill our water tanks, wash some clothes and dishes and enjoy life. (Nuclear power plant mutated, teenage mutant hero?) hornets of 5cm size shared our spring, but luckily they were pacified by the cold water.

We wondered whether we should go east to Kemer or Cirali, as there are either bike trails or a nice beach to stand on. But, as the Balkan Bus meeting already started Friday, we decided to rather take a slower tour via the Agaean coast.

It was noon until we were in Fethiye, and we ended up driving until late afternoon.
After our wonderful experience in the Uludag National Park, we decided to look for a decent picnic area in another national park, the Dilek Dagi just south of Izmir. Our travel guidebook only had a few lines about this park, so we took the detour to see if it's worth it.
Unfortunately, the intention of this National Park really seemed to be the saving of nature - a main focus was NOT to serve as a clean-air-picnic spot or poshy ski resort for metropolists, as the Bursa-neighbouring Uludag park.

So, we were stranded in the absolutely picturesque village at the bottom of the mountain, just at the entrance. About half of the buildings were completely falling apart, and the other half was stylishly renovated, with porches, terraces and winestock.

One of these buildings was a local museum, and we were just in time to meet a Turkish-Dutch couple, living in the US, who were given a guided tour by the local landlord. The Turkish girl did some great interpreting for us, so we were told to stop by the next village, the last one before a military zone. The park was not only closed by night, but also regularly patrolled, so we opted for the village.

Few kilometres further, we briefly stopped on the road by a small, local-populated fish restaurant directly on the shoreline. The owner - while serving the charcoal grill - used his sparse English: "eat fish? Camping?"
Sounds great, the overnight price negotation was simple: he suggested "eat fish - no pay." Schahane/Awesome!

The next morning, we hit the road to go further up north. Nothing spectacular to report here - just can't wait to get on the road again, as Willie sings.  Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway...

For the night, same plan - National Park, Picnic area, just as at Uludag. This time, we chose Kaz Dagi. At 6.30pm, we stood at closed gates, and the park guard explained us something in fluent Turkish. After 10 sentences and finally realizing our level of Turkish laguage skills, he pulled out a phone and had us talk to the English-speaking Park guide.
The Kaz Dagi seemed to be wonderful, but visits are only possible with him as a guide (again, Nature first, BBQ and Picnic second). Of course, not for free, an overnight stay ends up in 120 Lira. As this is a little bit too much, he told us to come back to the village, he might help us - by explaining us the route to the abandonned campsite of his friend, where we can stay. Not quite sure if we were on the right road, we rode through the bumpy, narrow forest road to find a wonderful space with a small river, olive tree terraces and absolutely no people - except for the owner, who just caught some fish and was about to go back to the village. We talked in a mixture of English, German, Turkish and sand-drawing, and were happy to stay here for the night.

For the next day, we had about 500km to go to Igneada, where the Bus meeting took place. Quite much for one day, even more if you start at 11am and stop to eat, drink tea, refill Diesel, drink tea...

We re-entered Europe via the Dardanelles/Canakkale Bogazi ferry, for the more-than-cheap-price of 12€ for a 5-minute-boat-ride. Heavy navy ships crossed our way.

On Gallipoli at late afternoon, we chose to go to some of the numerous WWI-sites. The Allies started a marine attack on the coast in 1915 to bring their navy to Istanbul, which resulted in almost 100.000 death soldiers in total and countless British war cemeteries spread across the Peninsula.

As the Turkish outnumbered the Allies in terms of casualties and defended their state here, it is as well an important Turkish memorial site with many visitors. A speech of Atatürk few years after the war became famous and is written in huge letters on a house on the peninsula. We found it very moving to read these lines by this great man, spoken short time after WWI in 1934 - especially when you think of what the small, moustache-wearing lunatic WWI-soldier in Germany did at the same time.

Heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives!
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

Thanks to a great tip from the IG16-Forum (thanks, Martin/silversearcher!), we then pulled over at a white-sanded beach on the northern part of the peninsula, where we head a great sunset and the mirror-flat Agaean Sea to swim in.

What a surprise - it became noon before we departed, but this time also because poor Kalimero worked hard with the soft sand. With our small Diesel engine and fully inflated tyres, no chance to get out. Some wise tips from syncro drivers in the head: you don't need horsepower and mattings to get out, you need to deflate the tyres. And yes, with 1.5bars, we easily drove out.

The last 300km to Igneada took us 7h, so we arrived at the Bus meeting just before dawn. On the way, we also saw our first rain since leaving Germany 4 weeks ago.

In Igneada, under shady oak trees, we spent wonderful 2 nights with the crazy Bus and Beetle owners from 8 countries. All people were more than friendly and welcoming, even though communication was not always easy - but always funny!
In Germany, we have tons of Buses, spare parts and Volkswagen stuff. In Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria etc., it takes much more effort to keep these cars not only running, but also in the shape we had seen on the meeting.

It was really a pleasure to be at this meeting, we can only recommend a Balkan trip to attend the annual meeting to any Bus driver in Germany!

Tag 21-23: Pamukkale - Kabak

Wir sind also in Pamukkale, unser Campingplatz ist nicht billig, aber er liegt in Sichtweite der Terrassen. Und hat eine Waschmaschine. Und einen Pool. Leider gibts den nur in Dauerkombination mit schlechter Großraumdisco, weshalb es dann doch nicht sein musste, trotz 38°und absoluter Windstille. Unser genialer Masterplan war, gegen Abend hoch ins antike Hierapolis zu gehen und neben weniger Menschenmassen auch das bessere Licht abzubekommen. Gut, also bis 4 Uhr wummwumm-ummzummz.

An sich könnte man diese wasserüberfluteten, griffigen Kalzitstufen perfekt mit dem Mountainbike runterfahren. Aber als oberbayrischer Radler ist man solche irrsinnigen Repressalien ja sowieso gewohnt. Also dann halt zu Fuß.

Am Rand sind immer wieder kleine infinity-pools und Katha kann nicht widerstehen und schmeisst sich gleich mal rein. 

Bikini-Neuseeländer plantschen neben Vollverschleierten, dazwischen 1 Mio begeisterte Kinder und wir mittendrin. Oben angekommen laufen wir ein bisschen planlos zwischen sehr, sehr alten Steinen rum, den Reiseführertext mögen wir noch verstanden haben, aber um sich hier eine antike Stadt vorzustellen ist es einfach zu heiss. 

Beeindruckt sind wir, für Details gibts Wikipedia. Wir Kulturbanausen!

Wer vorhat da demnächst mal hin zu fahren, unbedingt bis zum Amphitheater hochgehen und unbedingt eine grosse Flasche Wasser mitnehmen! Es ist wirklich sehr schön, so schön dass man es halt mit seeeeehr vielen Menschen teilen muss.

Nach 2 Nächten (eigentlich 1 zuviel) ging dann weiter in den Süden. Nächstes Ziel war Fethiye, wo in etwa der lykische Höhenweg endet – ein Weitwanderweg an der sogenannten türkischen Türkisküste. Als oberbayrischer Radler sagen wir – schauma moi.

Laut Internet ist es aber eher mau, was Trails angeht. Nur zwischen Karaagac und Kabak soll es ganz nett fahrbar sein. Wir quartieren uns also in Kabak ein, was wohl eine etwas alternativere Alternative zum doch sehr überlaufenen (weil halt Bilderbuch-Türkismeer und Weißstrand) Öludeniz. Sieht so aus:

Kabak ist eigentlich nur 2 Restaurants, ein kleiner Laden und das Ende der Teerstraße. Wir stellen uns an eben das Ende, bekommen das für die Familie vorgesehene Essen der Köchin serviert ("your wife go to my wife to kitchen and look") und sind ganz zufrieden mit unserer Routenwahl.

Kabak/das Restaurant/unser Schlafplatz liegt auf 200m über einer malerischen Bucht, die Route zum Trail führt nun erstmal einige Kilometer bergauf-bergab an der Küste entlang, bevor es 500hm nach Kirme geht. Wir entschließen uns, wegen der 35°, der Länge der Tour und unserem Trainingszustand mit diesem ersten Teil die lokale Taxiindustrie zu fördern und chartern uns einen klapprigen Fiatkombi samt türkischem Rallye-Nachwuchsfahrer. Lokal angepasst laden wir unsere Gefährte ins Gefährt und setzen uns nebeneinander auf den Beifahrersitz.

Nach Kirme kommen dann abermals 500hm – dieses Mal staubige Jeeppiste – die wir mit eigener Kraft bewältigen. Ein wenig bergauf-bergab in den Hochebenen und durch Ziegenherden, und schon stehen wir am gelb-rot markierten lykischen Höhenweg, wie er vom Jeeptrack abzweigt Richtung Türkis.

Was nun folgt, sind 750hm feinster Mittelmeertrail, die sehr gardaseeähnlich in Richtung Kabak abfallen. Mal sehr flowig über Piniennadeln, mal eher holprig und geröllig, genau die richtige Mischung. Im Nachhinein sind wir jedenfalls sehr froh um unsere Shuttle-Entscheidung, sonst wäre die Tour schon arg lang geworden. Zumal die Ausschilderung und Streckenführung doch noch weit entfernt vom oberbayrischen Wanderweg ist.

Nach 400hm schafft es der Fahrkünstler Michi, einen Stock so in sein Hinterrad einzuflechten, dass das Schaltauge klüger ist. Mrmpf, also Schaltwerk abbauen und kurz über den chainless ride nachdenken – mit noch ausstehenden 350hm dann aber doch lieber Kette kürzen und singlespeed. Ist eh viel cooler.

Wie ein Trail enden sollte: wir flacken uns an den Strand, Eis, Badengehen. Gut, danach noch 200hm hochschieben/-tragen, an den Hippie/Yoga/MalUndBastel-Camps vorbei – unser Kalimero steht ja da oben, eine fahrbare Straße dahin gibts nicht.

Unsere morgendliche Bekanntschaft Eberhard (ehemaliger Segler, der sich nun "am schönsten Ort" niedergelassen hat) hat uns dann noch empfohlen, die Piste bis zum Ende zu fahren, wo uns dann ein Bilderbuch-Platz erwartet hat (wer findet Kalimero?)

Hier haben wir dann übernachtet, die Wasserquelle mit lieblich-niedlichen 5cm-Hornissen geteilt und sind am nächsten Morgen (12 Uhr) wieder in Richtung Norden aufgebrochen (VW-Bus-Treffen wartet ja bald!).