Heading towards the Black Sea

When leaving Ortahisar I wonder whether (when) I will meet the 3 Brazilian cyclists again. We're all on different routes now, yet heading for the same mid-term goal: Georgia. Surely our paths must cross again!

But first I'm paying Kayseri a visit, where my host Gökhan and his father welcome me with open arms. Gökhan shows me around the city where we visit different museums, enjoy the local food, I get a hair cut and my bicycle gets a tiny tune-up.

The latter not without some hiccups, as the correct Torx key to open the frame ends (which is necessary to tighten my chain) is not readily available and first must be retrieved from a different location. So altogether we spend almost 2 hours in the bicycle shop watching TV and eventually I leave, with a tight chain, readjusted brakes and centered wheels.

At home I check the brakes again and decide to change all pads: it was about time!

The people on this part of the trip are now noticeably more curious. It seems this route is not very popular for cyclotourists and everybody wants to talk to me. At a water stop, a local grandpa yells at his grand kids to bring me a lunch box: some bread + cheese in a bag. And the local vendor from which I buy a candy bar hands me some freebie candies afterwards. When I eat my lunch a while later at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere, 2 young boys strike up a conversation

The next morning I spend some hours at the camp fire, heating up and drying my still wet shoes. I had tried to cross a stream the other day on the bicycle and... well it didn't quite work out. When I pass Yesilyurt not long before lunch, I stop at the local supermarket and briefly talk to a man outside. When I come out again 5 minutes later, a crowd of 10-15 people is waiting for me. Among them some Turks living in Austria who happily strike up a conversation in my native language. Yup, not many foreigners out here, they confirm.

Still in Yesilyurt I'm looking for an ATM when suddenly a guy approaches me: "Hey! Do you know me?". And I think in fact I do: it is Dr. M, a cyclist who had offered to host me in Tokat that very night! We promptly have lunch together and he invites me to visit him in the local hospital 5 minutes away, where he works. He had actually offered me also to camp in the Yesilyurt hospital garden the night before, but I didn't get the details in time (and actually had a rather perfect camping spot, anyways).

Minutes later I'm sitting in his office in small hospital, chatting to the doctor and his colleague while sipping some coffee. Every now and then, a patient is entering the office and the doctor withdraws behind the curtain to conduct some examinations. No need to leave the room.

"You really should get going!" says Dr. M. It must be around noon when I leave the hospital. Dr. M explains me how to get to the hotel in Tokat where I can stay for the next 2 nights. Yes, again a hotel has offered to host me without a charge. I'm almost starting to get used to it... ;)

Upon arrival I am greeted in German, once more: turns out the Turkish guest who is chatting to the hotel director in the lobby is the mother-in-law of a former German high-ranked politician. She has lived in Germany for 50 years and is now spending some weeks in Turkey.

The hotel itself is a simple "Pansiyon" with shared bathrooms, but clean, with a spacious lobby and friendly staff. I just have time enough to shower when Dr. M asks me to join him for dinner at the 5-star hotel "Dedeman". Looking at the menu I'm a bit concerned about the prices. Is this an invitation? Turns out it is! The hotel's general sales manager is joining us and I enjoy one of the tastiest meals I've had in the past 6 months.

- "Now, back to your hotel. I have a surprise for you"
- "!?"

Small problem back at my hotel: no power. No big deal because minutes later light comes... in form of candles on top of a birthday cake which Dr. M has ordered for me, along with a bottle of red wine!

I'm touched but also feel quite guilty for mentioning it was my birthday earlier that day when we had lunch. After all I had just planned to maybe buy a bottle of sparkling wine and make a toast.

I take note of Dr. M's upcoming birthday in August: surely there must be a way for payback!

- "This is my gift for you" says a man and puts a plate of baklava on my table.

I have just had a small "supermarket lunch" somewhere outdoors in Niksar, only meters away from the man's small shop. The man who introduces himself as Gökhan even offers me to stay with his family for the night, because "rain will come".

But I am to eager to get going. And the weather is still looking perfect, after all.

I'm not sure if the almost 1500 meters in altitude gain that my navigation app shows are correct, but I guess they felt rather easy mostly because the gradient wasn't too crazy and it also it wasn't 35 C in the sun (Hello Tuscany, I'm looking at you!)

Around 19:30 I reach an old ruin of a house, providing me enough shelter for the night to pitch up my tent safely from any "elements". A good choice, because when I wake up in the morning, everything is white! My first snow! Yeeey!

The roads are clear though (I could hear the snow plows going by in the early morning) and I make my way through the beautiful winter landscape without hassle.