17 September, Sinop
to Ayancik, 64km
Otel Apart 80TL (breakfast included) (negotiated down from 100TL)
Today we toiled and tumbled over one hill
or headland after another making for a tough but lovely ride. At times we could
see the sea, often dropping into bays; at times we cycled embraced by densely
wooded hills, trees and ferns and bushes beside, below and above us. We cycled
the old coast road, a narrow strip that is ungraded and runs through much more
rural countryside than we have been treated to along this coast since Trabzon. A
dog “incident” came very close to unsaddling me. I think perhaps I woke the
pooch from his slumber and that he was more startled than actively aggressive.
Whatever the case, he leapt into the road barking and so startled me that I
screamed, and slammed on my brakes, trying to dismount and put the bike between
us all at the same time. As I was travelling fast on a slight decline, my
unprecedented reaction literally lifted the back of my bike around 30cm off the
ground, panniers and all. Both Charl, viewing the entire incident from behind
me, and I thought the bike would flip and down me. But I managed to hold it
together, while the dog, already calm, pottered on home. Charl and I swopped
saddles for the day and I was less uncomfortable, though he was more so
(generous man). Ayancik is a town of 13,000. We were surprised to find that the
Öğretmenevi and three of their five hotels
were full, but are relatively comfortably established in a small apartment-style
hotel with a balcony overlooking the ocean.
Between Sinop and Ayancik
Between Sinop and Ayancik
Between Sinop and Ayancik
Between Sinop and Ayancik
Between Sinop and Ayancik