Altınoluk

I was really looking forward seeing Peri and Wolfgang again, a German/Turkish older couple that I met on a campground in Igoumentisa (Greece). We kept in touch throughout my travels and was really looking forward staying at there place in Altınoluk for six days. :)) Taking some days of rest again would also benefit my achilles tensor.. Peri and Wolfgang were always really worried about me travelling by myself and me riding a bicycle in Turkey (for no reason, honestly). ;) So today I planned to cycle from Ayvalık to Altınoluk, however, they called me before I have even left around noon, telling me they would come to Burhaniye Iskele for the day, which is along my ways, and will pick me up there "so that I don't have to ride the entire way". :D They are just so cute and I eventually gave up on telling them that I actually chose to travel this way. :D

When I woke up in the morning, Seda was already gone to the airport and I was alone in the appartment with her three lovely cats. ;) I planned to have a look around Ayvalık in the moring before leaving this place again. So went out, grabbed some breakfast in a bakery, and walked around. It's cute little seaside city (or as Seda put it: sooo many retired people here :D), with lots of little shops, markets, and craft shops. I liked its vibe and strolled around the city for some hours.

Around noon, I got a call from Wolfgang and Peri, the German/Turkish older couple that I met on a campground in Igoumentisa (Greece). I was planning on heading to their place in Altınoluk today to stay there for six days. :) We kept in touch throughout my travels and was really looking forward seeing them again so I gladly accepted their invitation to stay as long as I want. :) Also, taking some days of rest again would also benefit my achilles tensor.. Peri and Wolfgang were always really worried about me travelling by myself and me riding a bicycle in Turkey (for no reason, honestly). ;) They called to tell me that they would come to Küçükköy for the day, which is on my route to Altınoluk, and will pick me up there "so that I don't have to ride the entire way". :D They are just so cute and I eventually gave up on telling them that I actually chose to travel this way. :D

After the call, I sat down in a little restaurant by the sea serving Ayvalık toast - a specialty you can buy even in Istanbul as I figured later. It's a special type of toast (no veggie options again unfortunately.. -.-) with veggies, meat and cheese in it that originates from this city. It tasted pretty good and I enjoyed a Turkish coffee with it. I then went back to Seda's place which was close by, packed my bags back on the bicycle and went to Seda's boyfriend's coffee shop, which was on the way out of the city. He invited me to come by before I leave. Together with a friend, he owns a coffee shop/art exhibition for art made by queer artists. The place is pretty cool and I enjoyed talking to the people hanging out there. They told me that it's not easy being queer in Turkey and they are super glad about places like this we're they can socialize and hang out. :) After some time, I headed off towards Burhaniye Iskele, which was about 30km away.

I didn't want to go back to the main road, so I tried to cycle on the small road along the coast as long as I could before going back on the main road. However, the small road turned out to be a terrible gravel road, sometimes there was no road at all. It took forever to cycle on it, also there were too many dogs. When a bunch of dogs started running towards me barking, I decided to change my route. :D I had to go back the same way to find a road connected to the highway, in total the detour took me almost an hour. Finally being back on the highway, it was super windy from the front and really hard to cycle. In Gömeç, I took a little break to get some snacks in a village I passed (I'm so sure I paid too much for the bakery goods but never mind). Arriving in Burhaniye Iskele, I was actually really glad that Peri and Wolfang picked me up. :) We put my stuff in the care and drove towards Altınoluk. We went straight for a really nice little cafeteria/restaurant where you can choose different veggies and rice from a precooked buffet. I loved the food. :)
We then went back to their place which is on top of the hill, overlooking the entire bay and the island of Lesbos. I was pretty exhausted from the day and glad to be in one place for a little longer. I had a shower and we sat together drinking tea, watching German news, and planning on things to do in the next few days. :)Read more