Tag Archives: invitation

Day 307 – Sürprise

Getting up and making breakfast wasn’t much better than dinner last night and I guess, we didn’t take a single picture of our camping spot 5m from the restaurant. All we wanted was to get going, ride the 160km to Antalya, have lunch and decide on a plan. For quite a while, we had wanted to skip Antalya altogether but now, it was conveniently placed. Also, Flo wanted to at least have a look around the old town. Where to go from there, was completely up to debate: Go inland to Pamukkale and skip most of the Mediterranean coast? Follow the coastline which might disappoint and then double back to see Pamukkale?

just say yes ...

just say yes …

The ride to Antalya was nothing special. We put on some music and it mostly flew by. Getting close to the inner city, we stopped in the shadow of a bridge to see which places the Lonely Planet recommends for lunch. Flo hadn’t even managed to get the Lonely Planet out when a BMW rider stopped just a few meters in front of us. Actually, they rode two up as well and with the panniers, their silhouette looked much like ours. We closed the distance so we could speak and they asked us if we needed help. Oh! “Nah, we just need a bit to figure out where to have lunch” – *brief conversation in Turkish between the two* “Okay, follow me”.

Önder and Nazan in road attire

Önder and Nazan in road attire

One of the advises the Lonely Planet gives you for Iran is “just say yes”. Wondering if that sentence still applied for Turkey, we followed the BMW as it wove through the traffic. Stopping at a place that is owned Antalyaspor, the sport’s club, we introduced ourselves. Önder and Nazan were on a day trip to Kas, about 200km further down the coast, and back. They invited us to join them but 400km starting at lunch time seemed too daunting for us. So while we had lunch and they had a coffee, we explained our journey. It ended with an invitation to Önder and Nazan’s house for tonight. They would be back in the evening so we had the whole afternoon to explore Antalya before being hosted. Such a sweet deal was not offered often so we said yes once again.

Riding through the old town

Riding through the old town

Already being slightly late for their expedition, our two future hosts left soon after to get on the road. We took a bit longer in figuring out what to do. Mostly, both of us were tired already. Thus, we spotted a park on the map for a relaxing nap and a bit of reading time before doing anything else.

Three hours later, the light started to look golden so it was now or never to see Antalya’s old town. Access to the old town is restricted but Flo managed to get us in without having to take a ticket. Maybe motorcycle don’t count. Once we were at the car park, the owner saw our license plate and started speaking German with us. He had actually lived in Frankfurt for 16 years and seemed happy to speak German again. An invitation for tea followed soon so we sat down for some çay and some talk about Frankfurt. It almost seems as if there is a pattern emerging: A lot of people we met have lived in Germany and have good memories about it and speaking German. Others, who probably haven’t lived in Germany, seem to be slightly hostile. If that is because of an abundance of German tourists or because of the recent political things, I cannot say. Being German provokes a reaction is all.

Another ally and minaret

Another ally and minaret

After tea, we started on the walking tour that the Lonely Planet recommends. Strolling through the small streets of the old town, it reminded us of Höchst’s old town, the quarter in Frankfurt where we had lived. Yes, there are a lot of hotels and restaurants catering to tourists but you can also find quiet corners. We really enjoyed it despite our negative expectations beforehand. It is pretty. Having more money would be good because then you could actually try one or two of the hipster food places that we now only imagine are lovely. When we got to the marina, we noticed the other reason why we might like it: The lack of tourists. Yes, the odd ones are there but given that it is high season, the city is practically empty. Turkish tourists can be found but not in masses.

We came past some old houses, a mosque which had started as a church, ruins of old, the old city wall etc. etc. In the end, Flo stopped with a surprised shout. One of the motorcycle rental shops had a transalp in barley yellow on display. Rocinante without being Rocinante. For us, it is the first time we have seen another yellow one but not a lot of people seem to be riding the Transalp anyway.

15 km through the night, always the eyes on this

15 km through the night, always the eyes on this

By now it was 7pm. Önder and Nazan hadn’t gotten back to us yet so we dined in one of the nicer restaurants. Veggie kebab for me and half a chicken grilled over charcoal for Flo kept us occupied. Still, we hadn’t heard anything. So that is my excuse why I had dessert. 🙂 Another round of sweet rice pudding and also a text from our hosts made me really happy. It took them another hour to make it into Antalya but they picked us up from our parking spot so we could follow them to their home. They’ve had a hard time making it back as there had been a 15km traffic jam, adding to the already long day both of them have had.

Finally, we made it to the place where we could rest our heads. I was slightly surprised when we turned into one of the gated communities. Once we’d parked, a tiny kitten which I thus dubbed “Tiny” greeted us. Being pre-occupied with the kitten, I was flabbergasted when the door opened. Despite being “forewarned” that we would get a whole floor to ourselves, I couldn’t believe it. It was a whole flat just for us. A fully functioning flat with a bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom. And after refreshing ourselves with a warm shower, we were invited for tea upstairs.

By now it was really late and everyone was dead tired but we still had a lovely tea with nibbles and conversation. Önder suggested a couple of things that we might look at along the coast, especially Kas where they went today. Flo, on the other hand, promoted Ted Simon and Horizons Unlimited. After that, we just fell into bed intend on sleeping in.

Day 283 – Generosity

Camping spot in the morning

Camping spot in the morning

Right, there exists something called weather in most of the world …

We woke up in between showers. The rumble of thunder was still audible somewhere in the valley. When I poked my head out and tentatively started to make breakfast, the drops started falling again. All around were dark clouds, except for one small patch of blue that sparked our hopes. By the time breakfast was ready, the rain was in full swing again, though. So we climbed back into our little bubble and sat it out.

Sun...over here, please. Epic sun beams on the other side of the valley

Sun…over here, please. Epic sun beams on the other side of the valley

By 10 am we had packed everything up again. We had some luck and just got all in during a brief pause in the rain. The tent will have to be dried at some point within the next two days, though.

I must say I enjoyed the change of landscape and weather. For the first time that I can remember, we were both wearing the full Compañero, including the rain proof layer, so the cold and wet did not phase us at all. Besides, we only had 150 km to go to reach Kermanshah, where we would likely stay overnight.

...except for sheep...

…except for sheep…

I am not sure if it is just the lack of a direct route or my setting the GPS to shortest distance, but we took a real back country road for the last 90 km or so. It was nice and quiet, but could have done with a pothole or two less. The quiet road made the contrast all the more stark, coming over the last hill into Kermanshah. From subsistence farmers with donkeys to the three lane boulevards of a ¾ of a million people city within 10 minutes.

We stopped soon after getting into town to set a waypoint for a recommended food place near the city centre. Open street maps are pretty reliable, but most waypoints are only stored in Farsi, which the Garmin does not handle well. So instead of searching, I usually have to set waypoints manually by matching them with the maps in the Lonely Planet. Kermanshah is big, so it took me a while right there on the side of a busy road. A few people stopped, until Hesam came out of his car to check up on us as well.

Into the city

Into the city

A moment later, he got his sister Sara on the case as well, who’s English was even better than his. Instead of fiddling with the GPS, they offered to lead us there with their car. Once again, we are blown away by the kindness and hospitality of the Iranian people. It is a strange thing, on the one hand, we are getting used to these random acts of kindness, on the other hand we have to laugh hard imagining this kind of genuine “Menschenliebe” anywhere else. In Germany, people would probably rather call the police than follow a stranger.

We only went for 20 meters, when Sara and Hesam stopped again and Sara came to talk to us once more. She asked if we were only looking for a simple room. If so, we could come and stay at her family’s home, where her mother and aunt live. She and her brother were also just visiting at the moment. We had not gone with an invitation since Azemeh’s home and with the rain still going on, we were really glad for a dry place, so we kindly accepted and followed them there instead.

We got a very warm welcome by mother Fereshteh and aunt Shahin, got immediately treated to tea and biscuits and when we remembered that we had still not eaten, Hesam went out to organise Felafel sandwiches for everyone. They had a spare room in the cellar which was just perfect for us and while I unloaded our gear, Nina got the chance to take the shower first.

Flo was moderately excited

Flo was moderately excited

After we got everything sorted, plans were made. Sara was only in town till tomorrow and had family matters to attend to this afternoon, which left plenty of time for us to explore the city’s main attraction Taq-e Bostan on our own and sort out some things in town. We got back on the bike and headed for “the mountain”. Taq-e Bostan is a Sassanian era bas relief at the foot of a massive mountain that rises almost vertical and forms the natural northern end of town. We took a little detour up the public park that stretches one third up the slope of the mountain, to watch all the picnickers and weekend frolickers out and about. At the sight, the restaurant next to the entrance was kind enough to let us park our bike under the CCTV and we got in to once again pay the ridiculous 400.000 rial ticket price. This time, I was really a bit annoyed, since there is little to the site but the relief, a spring and a pond – no explanation or much of anything else given. The annoyance lasted only for a moment, though, since the setting was rather nice and the people were continuously lovely. We sat on the grass for a while and took some photos with a group of polymer chemistry students while generally having a good time.

A group of chemistry students swarmed us at the park :)

A group of chemistry students swarmed us at the park 🙂

Back at the bike, we made the day of the young soft ice cream seller’s daughter by letting her hop on Rocinante for an Instagram. Pa was in a good mood as well and outright refused to take our money for the two soft ice cream we had.

Back at the house, we had a good time showing Shahin and another aunt some of our pictures from Oman and Iran and communicating without pretty much any shared language. When Hesam came back later, he asked if we would like to join him catch up with a friend at his restaurant. We tagged along and had a good time with even more tea, tochmeh (roasted sunflower seeds) and cheese flavoured popcorn.

We did explain to Saleh how this sign could be misunderstood ;)

We did explain to Saleh how this sign could be misunderstood 😉

As a bonus we got to observe friend Saleh and his crew try to improve the decoration of the place.

After such a full day, with many great and unexpected moments, we had to retreat to our room pretty soon after coming back to get some good sleep. On top of the long day, I was also coming down with Nina’s plague from last week …