Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The End of the Road

Finished! 1, 700 miles complete, and one bottle of turnip juice drunk in celebration (disgusting, but it meant this gift didn't go to waste!).
   Before that, we had had to deal with the horrendously warm and humid conditions around Tarsus on Saturday. During lunch we drunk 3 litres of water each, and still couldn't stop sweating. Very glad that this weather came so late in the trip and for such a short period of time! A short section along the motorway and we struck off down a small road, which passed through a village that looked quite big on my map. Not the case in real life- a tiny, run-down sort of place. Nowhere to eat either, so we had to continue down the road past flock after flock of sheep, down to the sea, past an industrial centre and then, when patience was wearing thin and the sun was almost setting, we found a place to eat. Kindly, the owner of the next door fish farm let us camp on his land. To our surprise, we saw another tent pitched there: it belonged to a German man in his fifties, who had walked there from Munich and was spending the next ten years walking around the world! And all this with no money (or very little). Admiring such a crazy trip - one that takes him through Syria next - we bought him dinner and talked more about both of our trips. Meanwhile, a Spanish artist had turned up and was eating nearby and we got chatting with him as well. My broken Spanish struggling to keep up with his fast-paced rant about why Catalonia should have its independence (he was from Barcelona) and about his art. It was a truly bizarre evening, but an enjoyable way to spend our last night of the cycling trip..
   The last day started with me taking us off-route to try to find the ancient town of Issus. We failed miserably, but luckily didn't get lost and found our way back to the main road, where we past the German man pushing his buggy full of possessions and with his dog trailing behind him. So close to our own finish line, his journey, which he is only a tenth of the way through, seemed impossibly long. Shortly afterwards, we were invited by some men to join them for chai and they filled a bag full of apricots for us. Turkish hospitality has been such a highlight on this trip!
      The end point of our trip was the site of the Battle of the Issus, fought in November 333 BC and resulting in an overwhelming victory for Alexander over Darius - with Alexander personally leading the decisive cavalry charge.The battle took place on the ancient river Pinarus, and there is still quite a lot of dispute as to which river this is. We rode over the Deli Cay (one of the contenders), but paused for a longer time on the Payas river, which seems quite likely to be the Pinarus, since it corresponds quite accurately to the width of the battle site which Alexander's surveyors gave; this was quite narrow because on the left is the sea and on the right some hills. Unfortunately, this river is now surrounded by many factories: the smog is unbearable and the place ghastly. Very challenging on the imagination! Slightly disappointed, we set off on our way to the next town from where we could catch a bus (not continuing another 18,000 miles as far as the Indus and then back to Babylon like Alexander, over challenges such as the Hindu Kush and the Makran desert!!); Iskenderun was the proper finish line and we arrived there on Sunday in the early afternoon. We are now recovering in Olympos, after a gruelling 13 hour bus ride here! Still hasn't really sunk in that we have finished..
   The four and half weeks cycling and our stops off along the way from Troy to Iskenderun have been an incredible experience. One that has been helped so much by the generosity of nearly everyone we have come across here in Turkey; made easier by the incredible places and sites we have visited along the way; and also the by wonderful food and chai we have had! That's not to mention how enjoyable cycling with Michael, Jordy and Maggie (the Aussie family) was and likewise our unexpected meetings with crazy travellers like the couple who were cycling to Japan and the around-the-world walker! We can now only laugh about how bad some of the roads were, and the lows of Didim and Ankara!! The lists of positives is too long to mention now!!
   A massive thank you to everyone who has followed our progress on the blog (sorry for the long-winded nature of it!) and for the incredibly generous donations we have received for the trip. Currently, we have raised 4,300 pounds, which is enough to sponsor two day students or one boarder through Mvumi (with a the remainder to be spent on books for the school - we will talk to Roderick, the Trust's Chairman about what is most needed). Thanks again!
  Best wishes to everyone. We get back to England in a couple of weeks time and look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible..
 

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