Trapezous Eastwards : Saturday, 05 August, 2017 --- Day 19 -- From Shankir To Ganca

ΚΑΤ’ΕΜΠΟΡΙΑΝ ΚΑΙ ΘΕΩΡΙΑΝ

ES MUSS SEIN

CARTAGO DELENDA EST

Nos perituri mortem salutamus

Saturday, 05 August, 2017 --- Day 19

From Shankir To Ganca

Stats

Day dist: 42.92 km

Riding time: 3 hours 10 mins

Avg speed: 13.54 km/hour

Max speed: 32.52 km/hour

End day odo: 2,523 km

Dist covered so far: 823 km

Coordinates: 40,679758N 46.361315E

Alt: 426

I woke up before 9:00 and by 9:30 had finished talking to Dex from travelocity in the attempt to fix the misspelling of my first name on the airplane ticket

Went downstairs and had breakfast, pulled my stuff together and hit the road at 11:15.

Otel Serhan

The road

My first tea break was at gaz a station (11 km) where I was offered tea and had long conversation w/ the Russian lady (Vera) who seemed to be the boss.

The next stop was at AZ petrol. Went into the coffee shop and had tea. Carried conversation w/people there. In the end, the lady refused to take money for the tea.

Left for Yevlack. About 100 m further down was a highway patrol building and 3 cops were out taking care of traffic. I approached them to ask which way to go. The highest ranking officer among them showed me the direction and almost “forced” me go up to the building to have a cup/ of tea and something to eat. A nice lady who seemed to be doing the housekeeping took good care of me.

I biked on. It was hot and I guess this is where the highway started.

There was no shade, no tree to go to protect oneself from the sun. Further down I saw an underpass. My only chance to take a rest in the shade. Before I got there, however, I asked a local, if there were a nearby market place to buy food. He pointed the road over the underpass and told me that if I took that road and went through the city of Ganca, I would find a place to buy food and I would also save myself 20 kms.

I took a rest under the Underpass (34.67 km, left at 16:30) and then took the advice of the local person.

Towards Ganca

Almost two kms down the road there was an animal fair. I took a couple of pictures and continued. The place looked underdeveloped.

When I stopped by a very small greengrocery to ask for directions, the owner smiled, pointed me at the right direction, and then told me to wait. He went into the small store, fillled a bag w/ fruits and offered it to me.

Nothing warned for city beauty that followed. A couple of kms further down the backwards town turned into one of the most beautiful small towns. I decided to stay.