13 July, Siverek to Hilvan, 38km
Hakan Otel 80TL
Shorter distance, easier territory, cooler
weather, better day. We cycled past fields of corn and tomatoes, and past
fields of hay already cut and being packed in white sacks. The fields were
delineated by large black boulders, cleared from the ground to make space for
planting and piled to form rough walls. At our one brief stop, the proprietor
of the roadside stall lay wrapped in blankets, fast asleep on a mattress next
to a shaded side wall. All his fridges were locked, except one. From this we
helped ourselves to a cold lemon-flavoured litre, leaving the empty bottle and
2TL where he would later find them. As usual our passing solicited shouts of
“Hello” from fieldworkers and invitations to join them for çay – the invite
accompanied as always by a stirring motion. Yesterday was so hot that when I
stood still the sun lasering through my black trackshoes felt as though it
might set my socks on fire! We have cycled just over 2,500km.
Between Siverek and Hilvan
Between Siverek and Hilvan