Day 62: Canakkale to Foca, Turkey. 310km, 30 - 37.5 DegC

On our way early today.

There are many high rise apartment buildings, shopping malls and a huge new mosque under construction in Canakkale.

The road is a motorway.

In the absence of overbridges there are traffic lights every 10km or so.

Troy is our first stop.

The first settlement of Troy was during  the Bronze Age. 4 millennia BC.

There have been 7 iterations on the same site.

The Troy immortalised in Homers Illyad is Troy VIII.700-85BC. 

Did Helen of Troy exist? 

For the benefit of tourists there is a huge wooden horse.

The wooden horse on the foreshore in Canakkale is the film prop from the Brad Pitt version in 2004.

A new highway has been built bypassing the present village of Troy.

We rode through the village. 

It felt dispirited. The vegetable seller called out to us for attention.

The men playing games and drinking chai in the shade continued playing games and drinking chai.

It is hot. Around 37degC but not humid.

I said to myself...as I used water from my Camel water pack to wet my trousers and to wet  by bandana and achieved instant evaporative cooling,

"With a bright idea like that, you should have been born a boy."

We stopped for tea at a local road side restaurant and ordered some Kofte.

We had a delightful time communicating with our new friend who had some English.

Then to Foça on the coast.

Lola 38° is our charming home for the night.

A place for Orlanda under the vines.

A place for us, for tea and cakes,

For a gin and Tonic and nuts till the sun began to set.

The off to Sahil to a seafood restaurant.

The mussel seller is selling mussels stuffed with rice, the walnut sellers and chatting...

At the restaurant we meet Birhan and his wife. 

Plenty of conversation about life in Turkey and about prospective parenthood in a couple of weeks for them.

He said "Keep  sharing your adventures, it allows us to dream!"

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Everything in this stall was grown in the garden below.

 

 

We stopped at the pedestrian crossing. The mother smiled and waved us on.

 Vehicles in the other lane weren't stopping.

 

 

 

Thank you for the koft, barley salad and pesto.

 

 

Sea water salt works.

 

 

We rode through hundreds of km of olive groves.

 

Lola 38° a paradise for the night.

 

Ozlem painting, Çem resting.

 

Out on the promenade.

 

Squid, garlic prawns and fresh sea bass for dinner...

And conversations with new friends nearby.