Waking up knowing I only had around 50kms to cycle meant that I had a nice lay in and a leisurely breakfast of dairy lea sandwiches and a few Cheetos. (I'm addicted to the Cheetos recently, a family pack is only 40p so I'm hammering the cheesy wotsits at the moment!)
The ride itself was pretty boring. A few up and downs and it appears that the mountains stretch right the way up to the coastline. In the areas of flat land where there are no mountains there are 100 hundreds of greenhouses. I couldn't quite see what they were growing inside but they're obviously making the most of the humid air. I wouldn't mind if they knocked down a few mountains for more greenhouse area, would give my legs a rest at least.
The last two days I've been cycling with a bit of a buzz. All the beeps from cars and people sat outside shops or at bus stops have been greeted with a smile and a wave, my arm's been up and down more times than a bandit in Vegas. Everyone is so friendly here and i almost got a really dirty look from a local when I didn't acknowledge his wave, I did eventually and then he smiled. I had four old men at a bus stop all do it simultaneously as well once, it was like the Arsenal offside trap! It looked hilarious.
Another thing that looked hilarious to me but its obviously very natural for the locals is the way they stand to wait. A lot of the time when I've cycled past old men waiting for a lift or just standing in the middle of nowhere as they tend to do! Instead of standing upright, they crouch in their relaxed waiting state (crouching - a position I have become very accustom to also in most WC's or beaches late at night!) I ride past them and they are just squatting by the side of the road. The absolute best one was a few days ago, 2 old men waiting at a bus stop that had a regular bench in its sheltered area but they chose to both crouch on top of a 3ft high wall next to it! So bizarre!
It took me just under 2.5 hours to get to Patara, a place I would've never of stopped at if it wasn't for Jorge's recommendation as it was about 6km off the road to Antalya. Patara has its own little holiday village centre with 6/7 restaurants, a few local shops, a few bars and some hotels each end of the strip. There is a beach about 20minutes walk and a historical site on the way. The camping spot was slap bang in the middle and absolutely free! There were 5 decks on stilts with cushions on to sleep out under the stars but I had to put up at least the fly section of my tent otherwise I would get eaten alive! The guy that owns the campsite owns the "Camel Bar" opposite so that's where the money comes in but it was a great little spot and I was well happy to get there so early.
My plan was to spend the day on the beach then get back to change my tyre and then do dinner etc. I got myself some food for the beach and walked down the rocky road to what opened up to be one of the nicest and most desolate beaches I've ever been on. There was hardly anyone there and you could see sand left and right for miles!
On beaches like that you are bound to get the naturists out in force and this beach was no exception. Now I'm no stranger to the male anatomy, I've even got some of my own that I've had pretty much all my life I reckon. I don't have issues with other people's being out there for all to see either, having played football in a team all my life and going to the gym a few times, you have to get used to the old men walking around like Adam looking for Eve.
However, today whilst sat minding my own business and relaxing by the sea on a beach that I could've sunbathed on for hours without having to come into contact with anyone, I was startled slightly as I turned to see the quietest runner in the world right next to me with his junk bouncing side to side like an executive desktop toy. He was like a naked Zorro the way he seemed to just appear, as I jumped off the sand in shock (still in the seated position) I almost chucked my lunch out my hands. It was quite an awkward moment and was made worse by the fact I was eating cheesy wotsits!
At around 5pm I decided to head back to sort out Nigel's slow puncture. This ended up being an absolute mission and I wasn't finished until half 7 which i was not entirely happy about but I had a few Efes to soften the blow.
The Slime inner tubes are excellent as they excrete a green liquid so you can spot the puncture easily. Annoyingly I couldn't find any slime, odd I thought but I didn't mind as I had another tube that I swapped over. I struggled a lot with putting the tyre back on and stupidly pinched the new tube with the tyre lever which punctured the new tube! So I patched that one up and eventually got the tyre on and Nigel was back to normal again. (Just with a plaster on his back wheel) Then whilst I sat chilling on my deck with stilts, I managed to find the very slightly grazed little hole on the other tube and managed to patch that one as well. Happy that at least I didn't have to chuck yet another tube thanks to a mysterious puncture, I will still probably get a couple extra tubes when I get to Antalya.
I had dinner and a few more Efes and utilised the Internet by going ahead and not only booking a hostel for two nights from Thursday to Saturday in Antalya but booking my flight to Cairo for Saturday morning! I lay there in my tent after receiving the booking confirmation, this is it! In 4 days time I'm going to be in Africa! I had got myself geographically the closest I can be but it still seemed so far away. A ride I've planned for more than a year and a dream I've had for even longer, was now coming true and when I arrive in Egypt there will be no water in my way! Just a ride straight down! There is a little ferry ride to get to Sudan but this was the huge step that up until this moment, always seemed so distant.
I blame the Efes for my actions but then again I wasn't on the Efes when I left my house 2 months ago to start this crazy ride! Buzzing with excitement it took me a while to get to sleep as you could imagine.
A very relaxing and chilled out day ending in a bit of crazy way I suppose!
Egypt, ill see you Saturday!
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