Tuesday 18th October Orhangazi – Gebze 28.55miles

​Late leaving again!  Climbing up out of Orhangazi I met a man and his wife who invited me to have coffee.   He has built his house –but he and his wife don’t speak very much English.  It was a lovely hiatus.  Then later the same day I met two Turkish English speaking cyclists with some very flash gear on their bicycles.  
They assured me I was about to go downhill – but I knew from my map I had another couple miles of uphill to traverse.
 
Shortly after leaving them, I came upon a hungry dog with four very new puppies.    I suspect it’s the wrong time of year for these youngsters – as it was for the kittens in Kekova – but I gave the mum my lunch anyway, as she was obviously more in need of protein than me.  I’d have put sudocrem on the open sore I could see on one of her nipples if I thought she’d have let me get near it – but she’d growled at me when I’d petted one of the pups so I suspected not.  I gave her a scratch behind the ears instead. 
It was up for a while more – with better and better views – until the glorious downhill again – towards the coast and the sea of Marmara. 
 
I lose my way slightly about midway between Yalova and Çiftlikkoy.   I see children coming home from school.  Ask two guys the way and they give me great instructions and send me down the road I thought looked like it was disappearing (as it got narrower and muddier).  I stop for a couple of cheesy buns and a lovely chat with the owner and crazy cat-guy of the pastry shop.
Then had an expensive pizza supper –but plenty enough to put half in a doggy bag for later.     
 
The ferry was fun and then it was on up into Gebze.  I had a bit of a minor fall as I was coming out of the harbour – there were posts to the right of the road – and I cycled in between them – not realising there was very thin wire connecting the posts which I couldn’t see in the dimpsy – despite torch and headlight and streetlights.  I got tangled up in the line, broke it and (obviously) fell over, which was a bit of a shock.  No harm done and onwards.   (I had a few drops of the Bach rescue remedy that Sophie from Paris had given me for just such an occasion). 
 
 Noone told me there was a hill – which is just as well, because then you just get on with climbing it.    I found the hotel after a bit of running around, at about 9pm.  The guy on reception was fascinated by me, I believe.  I think he was quite innocent – he had a picture of his two girls on his phone, which endeared me to him somewhat.  Kept bringing me çay and more çay -   however I was a little bit surprised when he brought tea to my room –walking in after knocking (not even waiting for the ‘enter’).  It was 0020hrs and I was in bed!  Fortunately I was actually awake and looking at emails.  I locked the door after that, and took the phone off the hook and slept soundly.