We left Poti a bit disappointed and headed to south towards Turkey. Just like on the way to the Caucasus on the way back we stopped in Kobuleti for a few days. We lived at another family this time (for just 5 lari per person). The sea was a lot warmer and more people were enjoying it as well. In Kobuleti Felix’s favorite activity (or passivity) was sleeping, he thought it was 4am when I woke him up at 9pm. I was afraid that he won’t be able to sleep at night because he slept so much at daytime but it was no problem for him. 
We visited again Batumi, did some sightseeing (we visited nice places that we didn’t visit last time) and then cycled to Gonio. In one of the last shops in Georgia we bought pork salami (actually it was Hungarian) because we knew that it is almost impossible to find in Turkey. Even if there is it is really expensive. In Gonio we stopped at the same beach and run into Ruslan and his family just like before. They were not the only people who we met in Georgia twice: we also met Irakli from Chaladidi and the grandpa and his son from Kobuleti who we stayed at at the first Kobuleti visit. We were quite surprised we met so many people. We were lucky too meet Ruslan because he also offered us a place to sleep.
At the Georgian-Turkish border we met a cyclist. Whenever we met somebody usually we first began to talk in English. This time it turned out that the cyclist is Hungarian. Alfréd was cycling from Hungary to China and than to Indonesia. He was a professional cyclist and was really fast, he cycles 200 km a day. For him it took only 2 weeks to reach Georgia. He came through Ukraine and Russia where he was bored from the view and so he took a ferry to Trabzon and next day he was already in Georgia.
Our goal for that day was Artvin where we arranged a CS accommodation. Artvin was still 70 km far and it was already afternoon so we decided to gain some speed with hitch-hiking. It only took 2 minutes until a man stopped (when we just started to eat a grape) and drove us and the bikes directly to Artvin in a pick-up car. In this city there is at least 500 m difference in ascent between the lowest and the highest point. The city center of course is on the top. Our plan was to buy a Turkish sim card and then to call our host. We faced difficulties already at the first part. In the shops we couldn’t communicate because none of the shop assistants spoke English. We were just about to stop somebody on the street to help us to translate when our hosts recognized us from a van which they were driving and came to help. Leaving the bikes at a restaurant Felix went with Volkan (CS host) to a shop and bought a sim card. It only turned out later that 1.) we only can call numbers at the same service provider (Turkcell) and 2.) because our phone was Hungarian after 2 weeks our sim card can be blocked and we can’t call our receive calls anymore. Good thing we had a Turkish guy with us, we don’t know what could have happened if he is not there.
There was a big valley at Artvin with a few hills around it. On one of them was the city, on another one lived our host and next day we continued our way on a third hill. Everything was close in bee-line but hours on the road.
Around Artvin
We suffered next morning from climbing hours and still see the same city in the afternoon. Even downwards it was not so easy. Of course not so difficult as from Ushguli, this time we only faced strong wind. While winding down the wind came always from different directions but on the bottom it was constantly headwind. Being tired we didn’t want to fight the wind so we decided it was time to hitch-hike again. We made a quite late decision so when we arrived to Erzurum by a fully loaded truck (with the bicycles on the top) it was already midnight.
Hitchhiking with the bikes is more exciting
The driver was really nice, the communication was limited but he helped us as he could. He took us until a petrol station before Erzurum and arranged that we can pitch the tent on a grassy area next to it. The only thing we felt sorry about was that we missed the Tortum waterfalls (Tortum Selalesi) – we travelled next to it in the dark so we couldn’t see anything from it although it is very famous and beautyful. And before that, the gorge around the junction to Yusufeli was really breathtaking, with 100 or more meters high cliffs hanging over the road in the very narrow valley (so narrow that the GPS couldn’t see 3 satellites) – I couldn’t take a good photo of them. That’s the negative side of hitchhiking.
Next day we cycled into Erzurum where we met another very helpful and nice guy. We arrived to the minaret, probably it was visible from far away that we are foreigners. This guy came to us and offered that we can leave the bikes at a tea house where his friends can watch them and he also offered to guide us around in the city center. He was mountain and city guide, helped the travel book Lonely Planet many times and also worked and taught massage. He said he was a very famous guy.
A jackdaw on my hand
We walked a bit around and after that he even offered to stay at his place for a day. We experienced this kind of hospitality of the Turkish people in the next few days when we hitch-hiked most of the time.
From Erzurum we got a ride to Askale. From there we didn’t even hitch hike, just stood next to the road when a truck stopped. It headed to Kayseri which was good for us and the trunk was completely empty. Felix and the driver tightened the 2 bikes quickly and we leaned back satisfied that we had such a great drive so quickly without even hitch-hiking. Our joy was too early. About 15 km later police stopped the cars for regular control. I worried a little bit because in the truck there are only 2 seats (I sat on the bed) but the driver said that it is no problem and went to show the necessary documents to the policemen. He came back a little bit nervous, said only “police problem” and parked to a locked area next to the road. We stumbled over the difficulty to figure out what happened or what we should do. The driver was constantly talking on the phone with different people and none of the policemen spoke any foreign language. Finally after about 30 minutes later the driver said that one of the documents was missing and he has to wait there for an hour. We didn’t know what to do, 1 hour is not that much but somehow we didn’t believed it is not more than that. Once we have already seen such police control, we were having lunch next to it and we could see that it takes really long if there is any problem. Finally some policemen explained that the driver has to wait there 4 (!) hours and it can only go without the back part of the truck. So we decided to ride the bike or look for another drive.
The next drive was a lorry with a very cheerful driver. It seemed that he really enjoyed that he takes tourists, showed us the sights, called his friend and his English speaking cousin and invited us for dinner. He headed to Istanbul and took us until a junction before Sivas.
Typical landscape in the middle of Turkey
Next day just about 100 meter next to our camp place another truck stopped and took us to Sivas. So, if you want to come to Turkey and travel by hitch-hiking you won’t face difficulty. Most of the cars, trucks, vans stop and they are happy to take you with them. In Sivas we went to the city center to check some mails and look for CS for the next couple of days. We didn’t thought that we will proceed so fast so we were quite lagged behind with that. It was just one of those cases when we found internet, of course we got stucked there for hours… We were lucky to get another ride until Kayseri. Actually not until Kayseri and we were not lucky. From the truck we tried to arrange CS accommodation with the help of Felix’s mother but got only answers when we already pitched the tent. This was the only driver with whom we had negative experience. The truck we were traveling with was really shaky. We didn’t understand why because the road was bumpless and we saw other cars and trucks passing us and they were not shaking at all. We were really worried about the bikes in the back. The driver was also strange, very silent but he smiled strange at me through a mirror in the middle. Why did he have a mirror in the middle??? He could only see his bed there or somebody who sat there. In a truck there is no window in the back. We tried to explain that we would like to stop before Kayseri because we can’t pitch the tent in a city. He said he knows a nice place close which is good for camping. We had doubts because wherever we looked there were only cultivated areas. It got really suspicious and the camping place was always a little bit further so we told him to stop. After unpacking the bicycles he showed money with his fingers. We didn’t understand what he meant exactly. Finally he left with indignation. It was almost dark and no place for the tent so we faced the phenomenon “tentplacefearhysteria” (sátorhelyparahiszti) from my side but luckily we found the only grassy place there hidden behind some trees so we were not visible from the road! When we already unpacked the bikes received sms from Felix’s mom that we can go to Zafer in Kayseri. For that night we stayed in the tent but next day we contacted the guy and stayed in Kayseri for a day. We visited the pass at the mountain Erciyes by car with Zafer’s friend and also checked out the campus. It was interesting to see that all departments are in the same area which actually was huge. In the evening we did some shopping in a mall, the result was a small Langenscheidt (yellow) Turkish-English, English-Turkish dictionary.
Kayseri is about in the middle of Turkey west to east and we got there just in 5 days so this time we were not worried about the visa expiration. From around Erzurum we traveled on a high plateau, there were nice rolling hills and some passes but never so steep as on the Black Sea coast! Next day we cycled to Kappadokia. The plan was to spend some time there and then to travel to the Mediterranean sea.
You can see more photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/felix.kovacs/BikeToAsiaTorokorszag3#
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