Amasra to Sinop and the Hamam

We set off from Amasra quite late, it seems to take us a long time to get ready in the mornings! The climb out of Amasra was as hard as I had expected, I had been gazing at the road with terror for the whole of my rest day. But it didn't stop there, the hills seemed to get worse, climb 4km and descend 4km, always being able to see the hill ahead and always wondering 'Why didn't they build a bridge!!!' There was alot of pushing Whinnie up the steepest bits, they change is as good as a rest, and my thighs needed a rest. I was pleased when we had a long lunch break whilst Humphrey tried to sort out his Rohloff gear hub which now makes an interminable clicking noise but is meant to be indestructible...

The worst dog encounter happened today, I had been lucky up until now. I was plodding along, head down, heart pounding, Humphrey was far ahead. I rounded the corner and so a family with their donkey and three dogs, a safe scene in the UK. Not in Turkey, the dogs rushed towards me barking and growling, I got off my bike and they surrounded me baring their teeth and growling. With me frozen to the spot, it took the little boy to come running down to scare them off and the woman to tell me to keep going! Terrifying, when I saw Humphrey he said he had screamed blue murder and thrown stones at them...next time I will remember my war face!

We arrived in a place called Kurucasile, the Black Sea coast is not renowned for it's beautiful architecture, among non-Turks at least (they think it is the most beautiful place in the world, I liken it to Slough with lots of hills), so this little place did little to inspire us. Humphrey managed to convince a hotel manager to let us camp in his grounds and use the hotel facilities all for four pounds. We headed into 'town' to try and find some food and stopped at a little bakery. A very sweet family ran the place and we attempted to communicate with them, us with the phrase book and them using the, not so exclusively, British trick of repeating themselves louder and more slowly to make themselves understood. I have begun to notice that the hand signs we consider universal as a way of getting a point across are often met with a blank stare, this happens both ways as the Turkish signs are equally baffling. It would be useful in phrase books for these to be translated too...

I have refrained, up until now, to talk about my health on this trip. Up until Kurucasile I had had 5 days of bad tummy problems, which is tad difficult to cope with on a bike and didn't seem to go away over my rest day of eating and drinking all the right things. After an agonising decision making process, I decided to get a bus to the next town, Sinop, and meet Humphrey there while I recover. I arrived there late and very tired on Sunday but secretly quite pleased that I wouldn't have to cycle on my birthday.

I awoke to a phone call from Mum singing Happy Brithday to me, which made me miss home. I decided in the afternoon to go to the Hamam to try and relax. It took a little while to find but the recognisable domes came into view and I went in. A young chap came out and gave me a towel and asked if I wanted to be washed and I said yes and went to get changed. I thought it was a bit strange that I hadn't seen any other women there but carried on. He took me through to the baths and started showing me round, alarm bells started ringing as men and women are NOT meant to be in the baths at the same time. As if on cue, the fattest, hairiest bound through the door and took a comical leap back when he saw me standing there. The young chap spoke to him quickly but not so quickly that I couldn't understand the words 'english,' 'tourist,' and 'no problem'!! He turned to me and said 'no problem,' a little nervous I went to sit down, but promptly got up and ran out telling the man in quite clear hand signals and some Turkish dropped in that it was NOT ok for men and women to bathe together and this is a muslim country!!!! So not the best start to my 24th year.