A stay at Emre's place in Zile

As I cycle from Amasya to head for Zile, I have two options. Either I take the small, short road directly to Zile but will have to face a day of steep climbs combined with very hot weather, or I head for Turhal following the big highway which is probably a lot easier to cycle, but is about double the distance (96 km) to get to Zile.
I have a lot of luck and am able to make it to Turhal in under three hours; wind in my back, not too much traffic and after the first two hours of climbing, and the last 20 kilometers are downhill with speeds of up to 50 km’s an hour.
I arrive in Turhal where a van promoting some political party comes riding next to me and the driver invites me for a cup of tea. I decline politely, it’s about 3 o’clock and I want to make it to Zile today, but after a small stop to buy some Vodafone credits he comes up to me again to ask again. I accept, and after a cup of tea he insists on taking me to Zile, together with the fully packed bicycle, in the back of his van. On the road to Zile he asks me to arrange a bride for him, but I tell him I’m sorry there are no specific women I know that come to mind.

We say goodbye in Zile and I take my bike to the city center to look for a nice cay bahcesi. I’ve spent about 5 minutes in this town, or a group of interested scholars comes up to my table to ask where I’m from. I try my best to answer in Turkish, which seems to impress all of them and the next hour we have a nice conversation about our current occupations, why the hell I cycled for four months to Turkey, and why the tea they got served was coloured pink.

I’m taken to the old fortress on the hilltop in the city center, a beautiful spot in the evening sun, and we drink some coke and entertain ourselves with the cekirdek (sunflower seeds with a bit of salt) while looking out over the big valley that surrounds Zile. The fortress is apparently from the roman ages, and even Julius himself is said to have lived here for some time. Afterward we have the car ride of my life, fitting 8 persons in a small car that was never meant to be on the road after the year of 1990. My company seems to entertain themselves very good with my presence, the same goes the other way around.
When the night falls the owner of the car takes me to his parents place and we have diner. Afterward we meet up again and I meet the rest of the big friends group, enjoying a cup of tea in the local teagarden. By 10 o’clock I already am very sleepy and Turkish is getting increasingly more difficult to understand as the evening progresses, so by the end all that seems to come out of my mouth anymore is the ‘Anlamıyorum’, and ‘Sıkınte yok!’ I learned moments earlier, indicating that I feel fine even though I can’t understand a word anymore :’).

I get to sleep at Emre Can’s place, a spacious house he shares with his aunt, grandfather and –mother. Emre is in Zile for two years to finish his high school, and then will return to Istanbul to continue his education living with his family again. A luxurious breakfast in the morning, a very welcome shower and overall a very pleasant stay being the ‘Misafir’ of the house – life in Turkey is still as good as it gets!

From 19 Zile - Hattusas

From 19 Zile - Hattusas

From 19 Zile - Hattusas