Denizli

I took the bus!?! from some city to Denizli, and Im not entirely sure why to mention this, but it is the first time other than cycling and ferries, and first-times are always worth mentioning. The road friday was boooring and busy —flat, straight, and sooo many cars — and I was tired because the guy I slept at made some fire at night and also burned weird shit that should not be burned (plastic…?) which woke me up due to the weird smell. That dude does not have his shit together. Nice guy, and I won’t post pictures of the mess of his place, but… damn. Made me feel like shit the next day.

That next day, I first visited the archeological museum of Ephesus, which was very impressive: small coins from many different periods being recovered and on display, medicinal tools from the ancient city on display, and so many cool statues. (And I was alone.) Enjoyed it more than the site itself.

Bought some cheese at a cheese shop, had a big breakfast, and went to start with the climb ahead… and was told to “stop! Stop! Stop!” by some —presumably—police car. Turns out it was a huge convoy of trucks transporting huge pipes. Please respond if you know what these are ;)

At the top of the climb and then some, I just felt tired of the boring road and the many cars, and decided to take a train to Denizli. Was offered tea by some guys at the train station who said it wasn’t a problem with the bike (I guess that’s what they said), so I booked an airbnb at Denizli. The train arrives and, you guessed it, bike is not allowed to go onboard. A young guy tried to help me (who spoke german very well) but they insisted it was not possible. Next option was to take the bus from the next big town, Aydin, 20km away. (Not that the train personal said that, they really couldn’t give a shit, it was the young guy who helped me out.) Probably due to the Adrenaline, tea, and anger, I did the 20 km in one go quite fast, and at the bus station they said, not in so many words, it “might be an issue”, that the wheels would probably have to go out, whether it is not a folding bike (does this bike look like it folds somehow?), but let me buy a ticket anyway. 30 minutes or so later, there are 5 other people on the bus and the bike just goes in without any adjustments. Also cost me only 6 euros for 2 hours, 150 km, so its cheaper than cycling even —I eat a lot. Pretty good deal.

I just read in a guidebook that there were really nice canyons and stuff way south of the road I was taking, but yeah, mr hindsight. There should be lots of nice nature on the way to Konya.

Denizli is known for the beautiful chalk-mountains of pamukkale, which I visited, but didn’t enter. They charge a price of 23 euros — which includes the old city of hierapolis, but Ive seen enough ancient cities for now — and that’s too much for me to see a natural phenomenon. So, I didnt see the chalk-waterfall-terraces. But did have this picture taken by some Turkish people on ebikes.

Sorry for the delay: I was out cycling. Everything after denizli that has already happened will be shared later =).もっと詳しく