9 Jan. Ride back to Side.

 I'll be volunteering at the hotel where I previously stayed. This time in exchange for food and lodging. I'm happy to have something to do and to meet, mix, and mingle with people again overva longer period of time, about a month. That may change later. Who knows, I just got here. I met a woman the daysy before she left the hotel in Side. She has been here doing work exchange since early November. She uses work/travel/volunteer platforms like Workaway and HelpX.org. She told me enough about them that I started setting up a profile on one of them. That night she texted me that since she's leaving they may need some help here. The next morning I spoke with the owner and here I am. She's been traveling around the world like this for a year. I hope it's a good fit for me. There's so much more of the world to see.

This time I took the D400 all the way up here. Easy. I even had time to veer down and wend through all of the shut down amusements along the coast. The area reminds me of a Stephen King book I read called Joyland, about a young man who takes work minding an amusement park in the winter months while it is closed up.

My hotel sink coffee sucked. So I stopped at a market for s fortifier, to which I added one packet of instant and one packet of 2-n-1 ( cream and coffee).

8 Jan. Brief ride around and beyond Avsallar.

 Had very little energy after the previous day's ride. A couple hours of toodlng around was in order. It was a nice day.

The Mediterranean coast of Turkey is built to support tourism. Europeans and Russians flood the area year round. Turkey is also a place for cheap but high quality dental care and cosmetic surgery. Health tourism. But because of the lockdown, all nonessential medical services are unavailable. Tourism accounts for roughly 9% of the country's economy. What other industries are included in that figure are unknown. Tourism would include the most obvious: hotels, car rentals, tour busses, airlines. But the supportive industries such as those that produce and supply the hotels or mechanical parts to busses should also be taken into account, for they are adversely affected by a drop in tourism. There are no social welfare programs here such as unemployment insurance, housing vouchers, food banks etc. I ask friends in Antalya what do people who are out of work due to Covid do? The response is noncommittal, shakes of the head, shrugs. They make do. I see people setting up sidewalk shops with items on a blanket. Or lugging carts through the streets calling out the goods they have for sale. Or carrying huge flat baskets of homemade breads. Trying to make a few lira. Or fishing. 

Food here is cheap but that's my American comparative. Cheap can still be out of reach when one has little to nothing. My rides through the back roads take me past farm after farm of all sizes. Fruit trees abound, chickens wandering, herds of goat pop up regularly.

The massive structures that make up the coast fascinate me. Literally thousands of rooms sit empty. Resorts with every manner of playland, family amusement parks, Disney-themed, Vegas-themed. All completely empty. By the abundance of weeds they've been empty for some time.

I do hope things get cracking again. For now I consider myself fortunate to have seen this during such a time. Imagine the freeways of LA completely empty. Yeah. Like that. Bizarre.

Oh, and here are the Manavgat waterfalls. 

Back to Avsallar and surrounding areas..

7 Jan. Ride to Avsallar

 It was a simple ride. 19 mile as the crow flies. I use maps.me as it has a cycling option whereas google maps does not. Usually, maps.me takes me on the back roads. I enjoy it, especially here. It's pleasant. I swear different side of life than is visible in the cities or tourist areas. Lots of MC Hammer pants and headscarves, chickens, goats, nature, dwellings of all manner. There are few cars. 

I til the "avoid unpaved roads"option, always. Usually, this works. On this ride it failed.

It started out nicely enough

The roads here can be rustic. I trusted maps.me would keep me on roads.

Then, a bit uphill...

Oh how cute. A doll.

Now it's fully dirt road. I hope this is temporary. My bike and bags weighed 65 kg at the airport. We do poorly on uneven surfaces.

But look at the view

Oh crap. More uphill dirt road

I didn't photograph the steep rocky parts, or the sandy or muddy parts. I was occupied pushing Loretta up with all my might. And cussing. Loudly.

Down this hill. Can't ride it.

After an hour of this hell I start to hear cars. Oh thank dog. Road. But where is it? The map shows this "road" I'm on ends here and connects to the road-road. All I see are trees and bushes. This way-

That way-

This, this is the road end. Great. Just great.

I leaned Loretta up against a tree to go find the road and the way to it. Not pictured: the gully in-between the actual road and where we stood, the thicket of shrubbery between it and us, and the fifteen foot drop off to get to the gully. 

Great.

More cussing at maps.me. Well, girl, we'll just have to barrel through this, I'm sorry, I told her. I pushed us through the jungle wishing I had a machete. I unhooked the bags, tossed them one by one into the gully, then eased her and I down the side of the drop-off. I really wished I had a bottle of wine right then. And dammit I gave all my smokes to a man with a walk eye some time ago.

I reattached the bags and plotted a new course. I'd been riding for about three hours. I was too scared to trust the "cycling" option again. The sun was going down. I remind myself of my resources- plenty of lights, layers, food, coffee packets, water. If I stay on paved roads I'll be doubling back to nearly my origin inorder to catch the D400, Turkey's main highway. It was worth it just to pedal on predictable terrain. I had 19 miles to go this way. I started off. Came upon a petrol station half an hour later. Bought cigs and chocolate. Because I love you, girl.

Rolled into my hotel at half past right.

The end.