Date: March 16th, 2016
Distance: 83 km
Song of the Day: Dirty Old Town - The Pogues

As I left Batumi this morning I was thinking, "Why, oh why, am I leaving?" The weather was miserable, just a few degrees above freezing and raining hard. The road condition wasn't very good either. Turkish roads had been very nice. Well paved, not too many cracks or potholes. Plus, the busy roads at least tended to have a nice wide shoulder. Here in Georgia, not so much. Lots of potholes in the road and no shoulder to ride on. With all the rain, this meant there were lots of large puddles to dodge along with the traffic. Considering that Batumi is a port city near a border, it also meant a lot of heavy trucks. Just unpleasant. Getting out of town also required going over a couple of hills. Normally it wouldn't have been that big a deal, but with everything else going on it sucked. I would have been really upset about everything, but at least this was my view from the top.

After that first set of hills, everything flattened out. I think the center part of Georgia is a large wedge shaped valley bounded on the north and south by mountains. This area by the Black see is more like a series of river deltas and marshes, not the rocky coast that I have been used to up until now. After hitting the flat roads the weather also began to change, at first for the worse. There was a good 20 minutes of hail. I kept thinking of advertising slogans for hail; "It's like rain, but painful!" Or "The world's least popular form of precipitation." It didn't last, though, and soon just went back to being cold and wet. After an hour or so, it stopped raining all together and then things were much better all around.

My next stop was Kholkheti National Park. I'd heard that it was a beautiful park and wanted to bike through what parts I could but it turns out that the park doesn't really have any roads to it. I guess it is more of a wetland preserve? The best way to see it is from the rivers and marshes. I could have rented a kayak to go see it, but with the weather the way it was I decided that wasn't a good idea. The last thing I wanted to do was hang out in a river when it is cold and windy. This was a good decision because just after I left it began to rain again.

I went a couple of miles down the road and into Poti. I wasn't sure what would be there, but I figured it would be a cool place. I was wrong. I mean no offense to the people of Poti, but the city was awful. The main orthodox church in town was being rebuilt and a few other places were under construction, but many more buildings were abandoned and derelict. Houses without windows, schools without roofs. Kind of depressing, really. I stopped to eat and wait out the rainstorm, then I left town. I headed out through the gritty industrial section of town, which didn't improve my outlook of the city.

The road inland from there was also flat. Since it was sandwiched between a railroad line and a canal, how could it not be? This was much more pleasant. The rain had stopped again and I was riding along some more natural areas, wetlands on one side and farm fields on the other. There were a few little towns stretched out along the highway. One dam on the way as well. I ended up finding a good place to camp just on the other side of the railway and got my tent up just as it started to rain again.



-Dravis

Date: March 15th, 2016
Distance: Rest Day
Song of the Day: Hangin' Around - Counting Crows

I should have left today, but as I was getting ready to leave I realized that I didn't know where I was going. The direction wasn't hard to figure out, but I literally didn't know anything about the rest of the area. I wanted to head north along the coast and then inland to Tbilisi. But where was I going to stop? What was I going to see? How many days would it take? I didn't have a plan at all.

Of course I could have still headed out, but it was raining hard all day, so I took another day off to do some research on Georgia and what to see.



-Dravis

Date: March 14th, 2016
Distance: Rest Day
Song of the Day: Georgia on my Mind - Ray Charles

This was my first full day in Georgia. I think while I am here I should point out the good work Doctors Without Borders is doing in this country. Since I am now getting to places where they are improving public health, I will be posting a link to their blog for each country that I reach. Here is the website for Georgia. As always, you can donate on the Giving page too.

For me, the good weather I had the last few days in Turkey is gone. The warm sun has been replaced with cold clouds and occasional rain. It's funny how much that change in light and temperature can affect your opinion of a place. A bright day makes it easy to forget the dirt and the grime and only see the budding green leaves. Clouds and cold make everything seem dirty and bleak. The first flowers of spring look pale and drab. That is the way I felt about Batumi. I took a walk around in the afternoon with Mohamed, an Egyptian guy from the hostel. He kept saying, "It is a summer city." Batumi seems like a nice place but the weather is cold and everything is looking stark and ugly. The lack of people walking around seems to just emphasize how empty the place is. The beach was pebbly and empty, just a couple of fishermen for company. Well, also a flock of sea birds and even a number of dolphins swimming near the shore. I assume they were all after the same fish.

The city center was a bit more lively. There were more people, but not many, just a few locals going to work or picking up a quick lunch. No tourists. Around town there are several big hotels. I can't help but think how empty they must be as well.

I thought of going out of town to visit yet another castle. Well, a Roman fort to be precise. But before I could leave it began to rain. I thought I could wait it out, but that didn't quite end up happening. The Georgians working at the hostel were having a bit of a party. Eating good food, drinking beer. I spent the afternoon talking with them about life in Georgia, what to see in the area, what to eat. Language. Relations with other countries. We were joined by Mohamed, a woman from America, and a couple from the Ukraine. Our hosts cooked dinner for people as the discussion turned to music. We spent the rest of the evening playing a strange mix of songs, from rock, to soul, to Russian music. Four new guests arrived from Turkey and were swept up into the party as well. It was a really good time. This is what I was thinking of when I heard about Georgian hospitality.



-Dravis

Date: March 13th, 2016
Distance: 173 km
Song of the Day: Long Time Coming - Sloan

Today was a little bit different from the previous days, both in weather and agriculture. I have been a little spoiled the last couple of days. It has been just the perfect temperature: sunny enough for sun screen, but cool enough not to get all sweaty. The weather today just never got sunny. The sun kept threatening to break through the clouds, but never did. At least I didn't need any greasy sunscreen today. The plants are also different in this area. Gone are the groves of Hazelnut trees, they have been replaced by tea plantations. The little towns along the way all seem to have an old factory for making tea as well. If you ever wondered where all the tea that Turkish people drink comes from, this is it. Or at least, this is one place it comes from.

The road I was on turned north to follow along the cost. As it did, white-capped mountains came into view. I could see why this was the Eastern edge of the Black Sea. Very pretty, but I was also glad that I wasn't going East here.

I was hoping to cross the border before dark, but that didn't happen. I knew it was going to be a long day, and it was. This last stretch into Georgia was another series of tunnels. I said this coast was rugged. I wondered, when they were put in? Was there a border crossing here when Georgia was part of the Soviet Union?

Leaving Turkey was pretty easy, though I did have to wait in line for a bit. Since I was already waiting, I figured it was time for a snack. Not only is it a good way to kill the time, but you can also fuel up for the road ahead. Getting into Georgia was even easier. No customs, just a stamp in my passport and a friendly "Welcome to Georgia". Thanks.

Leaving the border, I was glad I ate something. It was another 20 kilometers into Batumi. The area just beyond the border was also very strange. Most things in Turkey had been restrained, almost quiet. Often the most brightly lit and painted thing in a town in Turkey would be the local mosque. Here in Georgia, however, everything was bright signs and flashing lights. Well lit display windows full of beer and liquor sat under huge billboards for casinos. It felt like leaving a small town in Utah and heading straight for Las Vegas. Having no need or desire for beer or casinos I made a beeline for Batumi.



-Dravis

Date: March 12th, 2016
Distance: 183 km
Song of the Day: Down by the Seaside - Led Zeppelin

I got back on the road today. I left the "Hazelnut House" and said goodbye to Kadir. He was heading the other way with a couple of friends to do his own bike camping trip. It reminded me a bit of my bike club back home. Thanks again Kadir, if you make it to Seattle let me know. I will introduce you to my crew.

The weather continued to be awesome as I headed down the road. The highway was squeezed between the high bluffs and the sea. Looking up into the hills, I could see bright green groves of Hazelnut trees all the way along. I came to think of this as the hazelnut coast, or "Findik" in Turkish. I saw the remnants of a few forts as well. I can understand why they would have been so important in this area. Before the Hazelnuts, I am told there were vineyards and olive orchards. Shipping from these little ports must have been the most efficient way to transport goods and people until the invention of modern explosives. Before that, carving a highway through the rocky and rugged coastline would have been virtually impossible. The highway itself was only opened in 2007. Each tunnel I went through was a reminder what a task that must have been.

I got to Trabzon just at sunset and had a bite to eat. I thought of calling it a day there, but decided to press on. Getting into Georgia will be a long day so I wanted to cover as much ground as possible. I ran out of energy in Of. Yep, that is the name of the town, "Of".



-Dravis

Date: March 11th, 2016
Distance: Rest day

Well, my slow start turned into a late lunch, and then a rest day. It was probably a good idea anyway, since I have been pushing pretty hard the last few days. It was nice to take a breather. I was lucky that Kadir had the day off, so he was able to show me a little bit more of Giresun. There is a castle on the hill overlooking the harbor. I thought it might have been built by the Ottomans, but Kadir said it was built by Genoa. The first thing that I could think of was that Genoa is on the other side of Italy. The fortress was around before the Ottomans when the Black Sea coast was being fought over by the Byzantines, Genoese, and Venetians. There are a supposed to be a number of fortresses and strong points to control the harbors in the area. The more I travel, the more I find that history is so much more complex and muddled than I ever thought.

I also wanted to mention an interesting discussion I had with Kadir in praise of Turkish driving. After being in the country for a few weeks I have finally gotten used to things - cars driving on sidewalks, or the wrong way down the narrow streets. At first it seems erratic and dangerous, but after talking to Kadir it makes much more sense to me. There are all sorts of rules for driving, of course, but to the Turkish they don't always make sense on that day or in those specific circumstances. Road construction or a vehicle breakdown might close off a road unexpectedly. In this event, Turkish drivers just move around the problem regardless of the legal particularities. Of course, in America this would be a lot more dangerous because there is a second side to this coin. You see, drivers here in Turkey actually seem to be paying attention, and not just for legal driving. To drive successfully here you must be ready for just about anything. Turkish drivers operate knowing that they can't expect the letter of the law to be followed, so they are much more vigilant than American drivers. It is this second part that I appreciate.



-Dravis

Date: March 10th, 2016
Distance: 158 km
Song of the Day: Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who

It has been just another glorious day out here, sunny with a bit of a tail wind. For a little bit the road along the coast here has been very flat, which has also meant somewhat boring. I was actually happy when I started heading up into the hills. It was a nice change of pace, plus it provided some fantastic views. I followed the main road as it took a shortcut over a small peninsula, which lead up a small valley. Spring is almost upon us and everything was bright green in the warm sun. There were a few good opportunities for shade, though. The path cut through five different tunnels along the way. The last one was almost four kilometers long. That is one heck of a tunnel.

My good day continued when I stopped in Ordu to take this picture. There were two guys hanging out enjoying the view there as well. They gave me a couple of drinks and the biggest apple I have ever seen. We ended up chatting for about half an hour. I don't speak Turkish, and they only knew a little bit of English, but it's funny how much you can understand based on a couple of words and a lot of hand gestures. I thought of just calling it a day there but I wanted to put in a few more miles if I am going to get to Trabzon tomorrow, so I headed off just before sunset. Racing through Ordu at rush hour was awesome. My music was blasting and I was singing along to The Who at the top of my lungs. So much fun.

It was dark by the time I made it to Giresun. I stopped for a bite to eat, then went looking for somewhere to stay. In the process I saw another guy on a touring bike. It wasn't loaded down with gear, but you can tell. The bike had front and rear racks, butterfly bars, and lots of custom additions. I like to think that bikes are as unique as the people who ride them; each person will want their bike set up just a little bit differently. This is even more true for touring bikes. If you are going to spend 6 to 12 hours on a bike each day you have a lot of time to think of ways to make it better. This was one of those bikes. When I see another touring cyclist I always try to talk with them, so I stopped to say hello.

I am so glad I did, since I met a new friend, Kadir. I had called the bike right, but Kadir wasn't on tour. He lives in Giresun and works as a teacher. It turns out he likes to tour around when school is on break. He was telling me about his tours of the Balkans and the Caucasus. I never thought of it before but Turkey is at the center of a lot of very different and interesting cultures. You don't have to go very far to find something new. I also told him about my plans and where I had been.

In the end Kadir took me up to his family's "country house" where he grows hazelnuts. He said it wasn't far away, but I couldn't imagine how it could be so close and still be part of the countryside. Then I saw the road. The main part of Giresun is in the flat land just next to the sea while the house is on top of a huge bluff. It really is peaceful and quiet, but you can still look down and see everything going on in the city below.
















-Dravis

Date: March 9th, 2016
Distance: 148 km
Song of the Day: Dark Matter - Andrew Bird

My plan for today was to get to the shores of the Black Sea. I thought it would be an easy day. Merzifon is up in the mountains 2,500 feet and at some point I was going to have to lose that elevation. I forgot that didn't mean it was going to be downhill all day. It was mostly downhill, but there were still a few more mountain passes before I hit the coast. I have nothing to complain about, though. It was another bright sunny day and hills at least make an interesting landscape to look at.

I did arrive at Samsun along the coast just before sunset. This is the first time I have been to the Black Sea. Not too bad right?

I kept going a little while longer. I ran out of steam in Carsamba, had some food, and went to bed.



-Dravis

Date: March 8th, 2016
Distance: 156 km
Song of the Day: Keep It Safe - Wild Ones

After taking yesterday off and having such a good time I thought it was going to be hard to get back on the road. The funny thing is that I was excited about getting back on the bike. Plus, it was another sunny day. That doesn't hurt.

First I had one last stop to make just outside of town. I had spent so much time at Hattusa yesterday I didn't have a chance to see Yazilikaya. It is an ancient Hittite temple a few kilometers away from the main city. In the bronze age there were a few buildings, but now there are just the foundation stones like most of Hattusa. Behind those, however, are two clefts in an outcrop of rocks. Both of them have ancient reliefs cut into the stone. In the main area most of the carvings are worn down. It is amazing what thirty centuries of rain and snow can do to rocks. The other side is much better preserved and the rock carvings look almost like they were just made.

From there I spent the morning riding through what I felt was like a Windows XP background. Green rolling hills, blue sky, a few white clouds. As the afternoon came on things dried out a little bit. The land became more arid and the palette became more brown than green. It was still very pretty.

Outside of Corum I met another cyclist, Gökay. He's a local university student and rode along with me for a little bit. It was nice to have a bit of company. He had to turn around eventually and go back to his house, while I continued on to Merzifon. The last few miles were awful. I had run out of energy and was hitting a big headwind. I was happy to finally get to a place where I could get some food and a place to sleep.



-Dravis

Date: March 7th, 2016
Distance: Rest day

Today was a rest day in that I didn't ride my bike. Well, I didn't ride it more than a kilometer. Coming here was one of my big goals for this trip, though.

My older brother has this habit of telling me about amazing sites from the ancient world that I then go and visit. He may be jealous, but it makes more sense for me to go. My brother has a wife and child while I am a homeless, jobless vagabond. Anyway, recently my brother has been reading about the bronze age and the ancient empires at that time. Because of that, last year I went and visited the ancient city of Mycenae in Greece. It's the legendary city of Agamemnon, the king who lead the Greeks in battle against the city of Troy. That guy. At the time it was the oldest historical site I had ever visited.

Talking with my brother about Mycenae, he brought up the Hittites. I had never really thought much about them, although I am sure they were listed in one of my middle school history textbooks. It turns out they were a lost civilization. Seriously, they had disappeared from the pages of history for a few thousand years, until their capital was discovered in the mountains of central Turkey. It was located somewhere no one thought it could be, nowhere near an ocean or on a major river. Yet, it was once a power base for a civilization that rivaled the Pharaohs of Egypt. After hearing about it, that was somewhere I wanted to see for myself.

I am very happy that I did. The first thing that I really noticed was the scale of the place. I know, everything you read about Hattusa (if you've read about it at all) mentions how big it is. But it really never struck me what it actually meant until I was walking around the site. The complex is monstrous. It very literally goes on for miles. The walls were once over six kilometers (about four miles) around and the city was accessible by probably a dozen different gates. Mycenae only had three gates. In fact the entire city of Mycenae could probably fit into just the palace complex of Hattusa. The gates themselves were quite large, too. You can still see the stones where the doors would pivot on. I can't think that the founders of the city would add a gate for no reason, so Hattusa must have been a major hive of activity to need so many access points.

Most of the construction was done with mud bricks and timber frames over a stone foundation. All that is left these days are the stone foundations of major buildings, which includes the walls, many temples, and the main palace of the king. I could be wrong, but I imagine during the bronze age there would have been many more buildings besides, like the homes of workers and craftsman who couldn't afford a stone foundation, so all trace of them is gone. I am guessing that what is now visible is only a fraction of a fraction of what once was there. I can't help but think that the entire mountain was once covered in dwellings and workshops.

There may be one other thing that reading about Hattusa didn't prepare me for. Sure, the site is noted for being placed on the steep slopes of a mountain but it really just never meant that much to me. Even looking at a map, it is hard to grasp the elevation of the city. Once you are walking around the place, though, it is easy to see and feel. There is hardly any flat ground to be found within the walls. Many of the stone foundations seem to be in place just to provide a level area to construct a building on. The massive defensive walls also followed the contours, going up over rocks and over streams. It seems incredible that this site was chosen for not just an ancient town, but the capital of a major empire. If that wasn't enough, at the south end of the city on the highest point a giant earth and stone hill was constructed. It is covered in cut stone and looks a little bit like a pyramid. As if the city weren't steep enough, the Hittites went and made it even steeper. They then went and built the city wall right over top of it. Then at the highest point they installed a gate which I can only imagine was mostly ceremonial. To top it off the gate was made with four stone sphinxes. I don't understand why it was built this way, but I will say the Hittites knew how to impress people.

The last thing I will say about Hattusa is how open it is. There are a few paths and signs to follow, but mostly you are allowed to walk anywhere you want. Really, just tromp around wherever you desire. If you aren't supposed to go there a barbed wire fence will warn you, but they're mostly to keep you from falling into active excavations. Other than that, climb on those rocks. Walk along those walls. Don't feel bad about it. If you weren't walking there, then the goats would be. There are goat tracks all over the site. I was concerned for a bit, then I figured that goats are probably the best way to keep the grass down. Rampant growth of weeds and shrubs would probably do more damage to the site than just having a few goats walking around. Since they get to walk all over everything, the visitors can as well. Plus it allows you to get up close with the ruins. There are even bits of pottery that I can't help but think are 3,000 years old, just lying around. Fragments that look just like other pieces that I saw in the museum that very morning. For an American, this laissez faire attitude seemed a bit strange. I can't really complain about it, but I did think it was odd. Really, the only truly troubling part of the open attitude were the ticks. After a couple of hours I looked down to find my legs crawling with the little buggers. After that when I would walk through any tall grass I would spend a moment checking myself for parasites.

That was my day. I spent basically the whole time looking at this remnant of the ancient world. I guess I must have walked at least ten kilometers around the place and I don't think I even got to see it all. For a rest day it was actually pretty tiring.



-Dravis