Day 71 - Thursday April 11th - Beysehir to Boskir - 63km

 Left the hotel at mid-day and stopped 10km out of town for a picnic. Lo and behold, I spy a couple of fellow tourers going in the same direction as me. They are Loic (two dots over the 'c' - he's from Brittany) and Anne-Sophie who have clocked 9,000 km since last August, spending the worst of the winter in Tunisia. Making me feel like a wimp, they admit they don't use hotels at all. We decide to cycle together but they are heading for Konya and their turn-off appears just 10km further on. A shame, it would have been nice to have had a few nights swapping stories around a camp fire.

Fellow travellers - Loic has a yellow band around his ankle to show he is using one of those old-fashioned oily metal chains. These two have been around a bit. Check them out at www.bicyclou.fr

Having decided that we haven't got any photos of  us 'mounted', 'Bicyclou' and I pose for a few.

Around 5pm I'm looking for a grocers shop to pick up food but none of the villages seem to have shops. A cowherd points me in the direction of what could possibly be a shop but  is definitely closed anyway. He shouts instructions to someone and the shop eventually opens. One by one the young family are produced to talk to me in English but admit that their proficiency level is actually "So, so". Eventually we get to the oldest, Ehmet, who is quite accomplished and I manage to get my eggs, potatoes and strawberry jam (1 kg tub!). We part good friends and I hope to find him on Facebook.

Ehmet and family outside the family village store. Qu. How many cyclists carry a 1 kg pot of strawberry jam and 1kg of potatoes and half a dozen eggs in their panniers?

Thanks for the translating Ehmet!

I'm camped not far from the road and next to a major irrigation canal. It's fast flowing and the concrete banks are too steep to go down and get water. If you fell in you would never get out again. In Italy they have ropes and floats stretched across the canals so you'd have something to grab on to, but not here.

I want to get water from this canal for washing but it's not worth slipping in and getting swept away

At dusk, as I'm mashing my potatoes I have a visit by half a dozen Jandarma (they are supplied and trained by the army) brandishing assault weapons. Happily they are content for me to stay where I am but come back about 30 minutes later with a chap in civilian clothes who wants to see my passport and visa. No problem. As they leave they all practice their English -
"Good morning!" and "How do you do".  I'd like to offer them tea but I don't have enough water.

Satisfied with my credentials the Jandarma take their leave......and I continue my star-gazing while my heart-rate settles.

PS Only 315 km to the ferry port.