We rode out of the city to look for a campground. A gas station owner kindly let us camp in his yard. None of us four understand Turkish.
The gas station owner knows French and German. Since Annetle and Sarah also know French and German in addition to English and Italian, they were our 'live Google translation’.
We had watermelon before dinner.
Sarah offered to share the expense; we declined saying, "We had been helped by a lot of people in our journey from Taiwan to Europe. It’s our treat. If you have a chance, please help others next time around."
Annetle and Sarah share a gas stove, which was a gift to Annetle from her father. It’s 35 years old. The tent is not much younger- 28 years old. These 2 important pieces a biker needs are over half a century old. Even the bicycle is not specifically designed for biking long distances. I guess it’s probably also from her family. With a basket hung in front of the bike and wearing a bike skirt, these two 20-year-old ladies rode 3000km to Turkey. The energy of the youth is surely amazing!
Annetle’s gas stove was still functioning, but it cooked very slowly. Before their water was boiling, our soup and spaghetti was ready to serve. It’s a pot luck time. They had tomatoes and tuna; we had Turkish soup and pasta. After dinner, Annetle and Sarah shared their Turkish desserts with us.
Our 3 female bikers had different experiences. Annetle and Sarah originally wore shorts.
They later bought bike skirts after the young Turkish men called out to them, hoping to avoid such an unpleasant encounter in the future. How about Yi? She has been wearing a long sleeve shirt, long pants and a head scarf, so she does not stand out causing unnecessary attention.
We have felt a "passionate welcome" along our journey in Turkey ( refer to the previous article : Turkish Hospitality ). Perhaps it's because we were riding in the rural areas. Conversely, we were harassed by a group of youth when we were in a road side shelter trying to get out of the rain in Istanbul. I also noticed that a few merchants wanted to charge foreigners more than the locals pay for. There were also little kids asking for money from us. I think friendliness is easier found among the country folks.
As morning broke, we said good-bye to Annetle and Sarah. Maybe someday we will come cross each other again. Take care, friends.
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