Day 129: Friday 25 July – Kabatepe to Ayralik, by Ken

The day started with a long phone conversation with Harry. The primary reason was to talk about the process for getting the Honda Jazz repaired after someone hit it while parked outside the house yesterday. It developed into an hour long chat which was very good. We both felt Harry is very level headed and good at getting on to things like sorting out the Jazz. He had already taken it down to Honda for them to have a look at the damage. I emailed John Boyd who looks after the house at the top of the road on behalf of a church in Wadestown. The house was bought as a manse but never used as such and is let as a student flat. I asked if the church or Quinovic could have a quiet word with the tenants about their driving. As Harry pointed out, apart from the risk of damage to parked cars, there are young children living at the bottom of the road.

Our departure from the camping ground was delayed by the need to hose down the mat and some of our outdoor furniture and let them dry. The mat in particular was a mess after yesterday’s storm, caked in mud, grass and leaves.

We had become so used to paying for everything with cash in Greece that I was about to do the same when we checked out. Then I noticed six eftpos machines on the counter. I paid by credit card for the first time in ages. Jane asked about the ferry across the Dardanelles to Çannakkale that would avoid a three-day drive via Istanbul to get there. There were two ferries, the man recommended taking the one from Kilitbahir, the crossing was shorter and cheaper than that from Eceabat.

We set off with Jane driving the first leg as she usually does. We took the road we had used on Wednesday this time crossing the Gallipoli peninsula from west to east. We passed some wetlands in which there were seagulls and a number of storks. Just outside Eceabat we turned south along the Dardanelles coast. A lot of big ships were travelling up and down the narrow strip of water at speed.

At Eceabat satnav wanted us to leave the main road and drive to the ferry terminal. Jane was nervous about ignoring the directions, but I persuaded her to ignore the satnav and stay on the road through the town and onwards to Kilitbahir. Satnav soon reprogrammed itself to take the ferry from Kilitbahir which was just 5km from Aceabat. There Jane ignored the satnav instruction to turn off the road to the ferry ramp because she couldn’t see anywhere to park. We carried on through the town’s very narrow main street before having to stop at an archway where I thought a sign showed the width to be 2.1 metres, much too narrow for Mabel. We decided we would have to unhitch Smarty and turn Mabel around. Just as we were about to do that two tourist mini-buses came through the arch. A closer look showed the small figure on the sign next to the 2 was a 7, not a 1. Jane thought that perhaps the busses had come off a ferry on the on the other side of the arch. A man appeared from a nearby café and asked where were trying to get to. He consulted with two men sitting in the shade by the archway, the ferry was back the way we had come.

2.1 metres or 2.7 metres?

Jane decided to walk and take a look at what lay through the archway anyway. She returned saying there was a lot more room on the other side to turn Mabel around and hitch up Smarty. I drove Mabel through the arch which was set in the wall  of a 15^th century castle built to strengthen the siege on Constantinople.

Mabel and Smarty Outside Kilibahir Castle

I drove us back to the ferry ramp (Jane likes me to get us on and off ferries) and pulled up on the road outside. One of the staff spotted us, I pointed to the ramp, he waved us in. He was very friendly asking us where we were from and pointed to the ticket booth where I paid 50 lira for Mabel and 24 for Smarty. A ferry arrived soon after and backed on to the quay. Foot passengers started pouring off as soon as the ship's ramp touched down, quite a while before the ship stopped moving. Then cars and trucks emerged, we were amazed at how many at what appeared to be a small ship could carry. A few cars waiting to one side on a jetty were waved on and then it was our turn. The friendly man wished us a good day. We were directed down the centre of the deck and parked close to the front. We hadn’t been there long when I felt Mabel give a slight lurch. Looking in the mirror I could see a big man trying to push Smarty sideways. I got out to see what was going on, the big man was one of the crew, another crew member was leaning on the back of Mabel with one of his feet resting on Smarty’s A-frame. I asked him to take it off. I asked the big man who was peering through Smarty’s window if he spoke English. “No English” was his reply, “No Turkish” mine. The man who had been leaning on Mabel said “No Turkish, Finish!” and walked off in a huff.

Passengers Disembark A Soon As The Ramp Is Down - Just Before Even

By the time the ferry left the vehicle deck was full and foot passengers lined its sides and an upper deck. The ferry was fast and the crossing took about 10 minutes. Bravely, Jane had decided against taking her seasick pills. We docked in the centre of a bustling Çannakkale and drove through its main shopping streets packed with throngs of people. This was our first experience of a Turkish town. While having crossed the Dardanelles we were now in Asia, it all felt very western both in terms of people's dress and the look of the shops.

Goodbye to Europe For A Month

Cannakale - Our First Taste Of Driving In A Turkish Town

From Çannakkale I drove south on a rough dual carriageway which became a single carriageway for a lot of its length as much needed reconstruction of the road was in progress. Now and again we passed tractors on the road and saw men and women working in fields. We found a spot to pull over and eat lunch of Greek salad and bread.

Jane took over as driver in command and we continued southwards to he Gulf of Edremit. We passed lots of roadside stalls selling fruit and vegetables. At one spot the road was lined with stalls stretching for over a hundred metres. We pulled off the road and visited a stall where we bought a large jar containing what we thought was cheese and some interesting looking nibbles and fruit. We have found half the fun in countries like Greece and Turkey is buying stuff while not being quite sure what you are going to get.

Seen By The Roadside

Roadside Stalls

Reaching the Gulf of Edremit we followed the coast eastwards passing through lots of towns with hardly any countryside in between. The towns were holiday resorts with hotels, restaurants and shops. There were only a few narrow beaches but some entrepreneurs had compensated for this by constructing short jetties at the end of which were astro-turf covered decks with a couple of dozen loungers and umbrellas.

A Dolmus - A stop on demand bus service that links Turkish towns

One Of The Many Busy Towns We Drove Through AlongThe Gulf of Edremit

Beach Alternative

At Edremit we turned south west still following the gulf as far as Avralik where we drove across a causeway to the island of Alebey. A steep climb up a narrow, winding road through pine forests followed by an equally steep descent brought us to Camping Ada. There a man with good English welcomed me but said unfortunately there was no room for us. A conversation in Turkish with a colleague ensued, They could move an empty caravan to make room for us. I had a look at the pitch, it wasn’t ideal, but would do. Back at reception they were on Plan B, there was room next to the empty caravan for us and we set up camp there. It was very hot, Mabel’s gauge had showed 35° during the afternoon, the highest temperature yet of our trip.

The camping ground looked good with a nice beach and an open air restaurant by the water’s edge. Strangely, the only showers we could find were in the open by the beach, presumably intended to wash after a swim.

Over a Camperdoodle and a G & T we heard the sound of aircraft engines revving up for take off. Shortly after a large float plane flew overhead. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for it.

We were going to eat at the camping ground’s restaurant, but Jane cancelled that plan after I had fallen asleep twice before dinner. So nothing to report in terms of food for the evening.

As we sat and read, three camper vans arrived. The empty caravan was moved to make way for one camper van and the others were squeezed in. A camping ground that was apparently full when we arrived had manged to fit in four additional camper vans.

Today's Trip (207km)