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While Ethan, Anthony, and Padraic are visiting Antakya and cycling to Mersin, Corinne and andrEa are traveling along Turkey's Aegean coast:

Rider Notes: February 13–14, 1998

topics: pine honey (food), St. Peter's Castle & Museum, potholes on the uphill; jump to dispatch

Food of the Day: Pine honey

The Mugla region is notorious for its pine honey. We were delighted to sample some because it was beyond delicious and made a special treat out of our next few stops to munch bread before tackling the next hill(s).

Pine honey is sold literally everywhere, and often from the roadside. We were grateful that the people selling it (in addition to huge jars of olives, and other unidentified delicacies) were not pushy. Unlike in Morocco, they didn't so much as call out to us on our bikes — making the honey taste all the better.

Word of the Day: S(h)erefe — "cheers"

When toasting with water or wine to new friends or a bon voyage, the Turks say s(h)erefe!

Tech Fact of the Day: Stereotypes and cliches

St. Peter's Castle in Bodrum —built at the beginning of the 15th century by the Crusaders of Rhodes (their coat of arms is carved into the wall ), the latter also known as the Knights of the Order of St. John or the Knights Hospitaller — is a wonderful "living" museum, complete with live animals.

Built from green marble, column pieces, and other items found at the Mausoleum across the bay, the castle contains displays and exhibits covering topics such as life on the ancient port and cargo transport by sea during Phoenician times, as well as the lives of the Crusaders who lived here. (The museum designers similarly chose to exhibit pretty much whatever was lying around, including this mind-boggling sphinx. ) Updated and thematic pieces of detailed history bring you closer to the reality of the subjects, so exploring all the towers and rooms , the church, and the dungeon of the castle was informative and a lot of fun.

As a lookout toward the sea , both harbors , and the city , the ramparts here can't be beat. Just be careful!

This overcast morning, the clear blue of the Aegean shone in the morning light and the castle glowed in all its patchwork splendor.

Bodrum was defended as a holding of the Ottoman Empire until the end of WWI, after which it became part of Turkey. After the 1960s, the municipality decided to renovate the castle by adding new decorations, rebuilding parts of the walls, and attaching some modern structures as well.

Today, each tower of the castle is marked by a theme (German, French, English, and Snake), completing the strange but enjoyable overall picture.

Group Dispatch, February 13–14

Before leaving, from their pension room window , they got their first glance of community life on Turkey's interior , noticing the triangle-shaped brick chimneys and painted walls.

Once on the road, they were glad to encounter no more mountains on their journey to Milas, but there were PLENTY of steep and treacherous hills. They were also again surprised by the green vegetation and delighted by the scent of the pine forests through which they biked. As their second day on the road in Turkey , they were still trying to figure out the road signs, which can be pretty curious things.

As they made their way through an industrial area called Yatagan, they tried to decide whether they would stop at the ruins of Stratonikea and the ghost village (a former mining town from last century) of Eskihisar. Pulling into Yatagan, they realized it was such a big deal for them to be drinking tea out on the sidewalk with the men from the local coffee shop that they decided to continue onward and simply gaze at the ghost village from the road.

Biking through the forests, a few bees raced and chased after them, no doubt curious about them. While the bees eventually lost interest and moved on, Corrine and andrEa learned that the bees in the Mugla region are notorious for their pine honey (see the Food of the Day). A lot of dogs chased the ladies as well today, probably because of their rattling trailers.

The poor roads only got poorer, and potholes brought the cyclists to a halt more than once, particularly on the uphills. The trailers carry so much weight at the rear of the bike (which, with the trailer, could just as easily be called a "vehicle") that on an uphill, going slowly as the ladies sometimes do, it's a struggle just to stay upright. Add to that the potholes. The dip into a pothole feels like it creates a hill within the hill, and even the reserve power in one's thighs and calves can't always get over the extra 1 cm high ridge in the road! Navigating around the potholes on the uphill at such a slow speed is also rough. And then, of course, there was the headwind. With the headwind in the valleys, the very gradual and slightly uphill climb into Milas was a strenuous battle. Overall, today was quite a serious workout.

After their somewhat sunburned arrival in Milas , they had to hunt around for a hotel. Everything seemed to be closed since they are here during the "off" season. But they succeeded in finding a place and, after lots of bargaining (by Corinne, of course), by the end of sunset they had a warm room with a HOT shower, beds enough for four people, and a balcony — which is great for when you have as much laundry to do as they did! Later, venturing into town for dinner, they realized that Milas was somehow not as cold as Mugla, and kept their fingers crossed.

Thanks to its port , Bodrum (NOT Boredom), like many Mediterranean coastal towns, has a rich and complex history. Sporting a Crusader castle (see the Place of the Day) and an ancient Mausoleum (actually the remains of the one of the Seven Wonders of the World), Bodrum was also rumored to have an Internet Café! With oodles of enthusiasm , Corinne and andrEa began a very full day.

The Castle of Saint Peter, perched between Bodrum's two bays is an excellent museum, and today's Place of the Day. After investigating nearly every inch of the castle, Corinne and andrEa went out to explore the town.

They leisurely wandered past the docks and the fishermen selling their catches , through the tourist shops where Corinne finally picked up another pair of sunglasses after losing hers in the crash in Cyprus. They ate lunch and, again, andrEa napped in a field.

After leaving the ruins of the mausoleum and searching for over an hour, they even eventually found the best hidden Internet café in town. Unfortunately, the computers didn't WORK, so they decided to head back to Milas proper to catch some of its ruins before sundown. When they returned to the mountainous area of Milas, they fortuitously met on the street an English teacher named Osman and instantly deciding he should be Person of the Day. Osman couldn't bear to watch them struggle with their map, and took it upon himself to guide them to all the ruins for which they were looking, as well as answer their many questions about Turkey and the Mugla region. Although they had their handy Lonely Planet guidebook, they always enjoy getting the latest scoop from locals and then comparing them with what is written.

Strolling through town, they noticed its beauty in simplicity , especially in the older district where some homes are over 200 years old. Another interesting architectural facet to this town in particular are the homes built on stilts over a dried river chasm , thus allowing for drainage should the water ever flow there again.

Even Osman couldn't say just how old Milas is, but the proof was in the ruins themselves — as this ancient Doric capital shows. The Gate with an Axe (the axe was stolen, so it isn't pictured) is from the Roman era, and, as in many towns, the local inhabitants have built and now live around it. Ruin or not, life goes on.

While the many pieces of ruins on display in the park show that the town was certainly a happening place way back when great attention was paid to its architecture , other ruins in town are less strategically placed and have become prime stork nesting real estate. One particular ruin atop a steep hill is another mausoleum-type tomb thought to have been modeled after the one in Bodrum.

After walking throughout the town and visiting these historical sites, Osman invited Corinne and andrEa to dinner and, with a toast to new friends, taught them their Word of the Day: s(h)erefe , the Turkish word for "cheers"!

Meanwhile, the guys have visited Antakya, and cycled from Adana to Mersin. You can read about their journey in their February 13 and February 14-15 dispatches.

Questions? Ask Corinne or andrEa !

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Internet access while in Turkey was provided by Raksnet.

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