Vagabonding

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Vagabonding Traveler
Adilcevaz
June 25, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
So my stay cannot be extended. 😑

I find a bus company that would transport me and my bike, but it doesn't leave until the day before my residence permit expires. The information they give me is sparse and doesn't give me a good feeling, so I prefer to set off on my own.
I have no time to lose and set off in the afternoon. It's 400km to the next Georgian border point and I have 3 1/2 days left. It's going to be a tight ride if I have to do it all alone. I would probably have to do two stages a day. 😬
On the one hand, I detest such stress (especially here, where you're invited for a çay every hour), but on the other hand I'd like to find out if I'm fit enough for it.
I try 👍 hitchhiking for an hour, without success.
Then I set off, I want to do 60 km today.

I cycle through the night. There is little traffic and my safety vest and warning light are finally being used again.
Good music motivates me and the darkness takes away the visual stimuli so that I can think and reflect more.
A few hours pass and at some point I stop for a snack break.

A moped pulls up next to me and two young men ask me if I'm hungry or if I have dust.
I answer, not entirely honestly, that I don't feel anything like that. 🤥
I would like to stay, but I have to do as many kilometers as possible to leave the country in time.
They speed off. Meanwhile, I try to charge my broken cell phone, which has been stuck in an endless loop all day.
While I'm squatting on the ground eating a pudding, the moped comes back - I've been caught. 😁
We ride down to the bay, to the group's regular café. It turns out to be one of the most pleasant conversations I've had here. 🥰

With renewed energy, I start the last hour of today's stage and finish it at the 72nd kilometer. Tired, I set up my tent next to a small hut at the edge of the field. And then a tent pole breaks 😩. So I sleep under the stars.
It's 9 degrees, a temperature I've never experienced before... the continental climate is making itself felt.
Wrapped up in my winter clothes, I fall into a deep sleep.Read more
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Vagabonding Traveler
Patnos bus station
June 26, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
I wake up in the morning and feel the heat of the sun that has already risen. The night was pleasant, but I was too exhausted to make high demands.
I'm still tired but already have adrenalin in my blood. Just under 400 kilometres to the Georgian border. Everything is doable, but my stomach reacts sensitively to stress and makes me feel it. 😬
A good breakfast follows and I cycle to the next major town on the route:
Patnos.

The bike gets a minimum of attention here again:
-The chain is already really worn out and has jumped off my sprocket several times in the last three days.
-A broken spoke is replaced and when retightening the nuts I ask the mechanic not to use all his physical strength so that I can loosen the connection myself with my own thin arms in an emergency.
- New oil makes the chain go round

There's also a bus station - this time I have a good feeling and buy tickets for 1 person and 1 bike. Departure tomorrow at noon, I'm also offered accommodation behind the ticket counter. Top 😍

I spend the time until departure chatting to the shop assistant in the supermarket, the sales assistant in a perfume shop and Mohammed, who sells tea and coffee at the station.

Bike and bus - it's as simple as that. =)Read more
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Vagabonding Traveler
A last shared Çay
June 28, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Exit in Kars - blatant. This is Turkey too?
The air is cold and I pull on my jumper. The people look just as friendly and interested as before, but as I roll through the town, the familiar shouts and invitations to the national drink are missing.

The landscape changes - it is now lush green meadows stretching over gentle hills to the mountains on the horizon. The last 100 kilometres of Turkey give it a completely new look. Here I have an even stronger feeling of vastness than before.

For the last time, I share Çay and a meal with three locals while enjoying the phenomenal view.

Lost in thought, I roll through small villages with cows and geese and review the last three months.
I had no idea what to expect - certainly not that I would have such intensive contact with the culture and be so enthusiastic about it that I would now start conversations with other people on the street myself.

That I feel gratitude in a new dimension: for the people who planted the food that I can enjoy, for the people who paved the road that I am allowed to drive on. For the privilege of being here now, at least as a guest, mostly as a friend or already a member of the family.
For the people who accompany me for a short or long stretch of my journey. From whom I can learn something.
A new part of my personality has come to the surface.
I have experienced warmth from strangers and want to pass this on.
I have travelled to the end of Turkey - further east than ever before.

Tears of joy well up in my eyes as I realise this and think of my grandpa, with whom I would have loved to share this experience.

Tomorrow begins a new adventure within the adventure: Georgia!Read more
TravelerWe can feel your thankfulness and feelings through the letters - beautiful ❤️
7/3/24Reply
6 likes
Vagabonding Traveler
Border Crossing
June 28, 2024 in Georgia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Rolling into Georgia.
The change of country is just as relaxed as ever.
The only difference is my doubts as to whether I've made a mistake by calculating my 90 days five times :D
Nobody raises any objections to my departure. I'm asked to open any bag and am asked if I have any alcohol or tobacco with me.
After a few minutes the act is complete.

On the Georgian side they ask me where I want to go. This question keeps coming up - maybe someone can explain to me whether this is just small talk or has a deeper background - in any case, I have to pass, my navigation over the last seven days has been solely focussed on leaving Turkey. I haven't done any research on the country I'm entering.
But the lady behind the counter doesn't seem to mind.
*Rumms* - I hear the hammering of the stamp on my passport, which seals my entry and I am welcomed into the country.

I make it just a few kilometres past the border post behind a thin row of trees, set up my tent there and go to sleep - a minor illness is on the horizon.
I'm very tired, my limbs ache and so does my head. I prepare my food and my body is already shivering as the sun disappears and I crawl into my cosy sleeping bag, where I feverishly sleep through the next 12 hours.Read more
TravelerJ'espère que tu vas mieux..
7/5/24ReplyTranslate
8 likes
Vagabonding Traveler
Vacation
July 1, 2024 in Georgia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
I have rented a flat and enjoy the luxury of warm water, an all-time-accessible bed, a freezer(!), electricity and internet…
The turks have an expression for lazyness:
It says that the baked pears are flying into ones mouth and that is exactly my feeling here. 😇

In the garden the small kitty of two months wants to play and nags on my toes.

I use the time to do some photo editing and research some new hikes for the upcoming weeks. ⛰️Read more
TravelerArmut piş ağzıma düş
7/9/24ReplyTranslate
TravelerEin schöner Spruch! 😊
7/9/24ReplyTranslate
TravelerIl va falloir faire de la place dans la sacoche de guidon...
7/9/24ReplyTranslate
TravelerOui, le chat ne serait pas un mauvais compagnon 😉
7/9/24ReplyTranslate
8 likes
Vagabonding Traveler
Winter in Europe
August 27, 2024 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C
In August I feel a lack of motivation to travel. The countries to come are more difficult to travel to than the previous ones and it's the second anniversary of my trip.
All in all it is reason enough for me to spend time with my family and travel to Germany for a few weeks.
I travel around and visit friends and family - there's not enough time everywhere.
I will spend the winter in Europe. Then I'll continue in spring 2025.
How? We'll see. 😊Read more
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Adilcevaz

Patnos bus station

A last shared Çay

Border Crossing

Vacation

Winter in Europe