Translated by SFT
As we rode along the Turkey State road D750 from Ankara to Istanbul, we decided to prepare our lunch before reaching downtown.
When we were cooking lunch under the overpass, Yi cried out, ’Look!’ There were 2 cyclists from Switzerland passing by. They plan to ride from Switzerland to Thailand in 10 months.
We have been helped by so many nice people, it’s our turn now. After introductions, we invited them to join us for lunch, their eyes sparkled. They have been on the road for 2 months and we 20 months. Only four more months, we will be home. The twelve pounds we gained in USA gives us enough energy to finish the European ride, so ‘friends, eat as much as you can, you still have 8 months to go.’When Tim heard that we changed our plan to skip Egypt because of the chaos, he joked, “If East Germany had a revolution, you could change your route to Switzerland and you are welcome to stay in my place.’
In return, I also invited them to stay in our place if they ride to Taiwan. I have been inviting friends to visit us in Taiwan along our journey. If we all get together, it would be like the ‘United Nations’ and some of us may have to settle in the closet in our small apartment ( just kidding!) Friendship after all is not limited to how big the room is and how much money we have.
I have thought Taiwanese people are very hospitable; nonetheless, Turkish hospitality makes us have another perspective.
People offer us tea every day. If we had stopped whenever people greeted us with tea, we were probably still in Ankara．
Once we rode up to the mountain top, thinking there’s no way we would have hot tea here.
Surprise; Surprise! A truck driver on the road side offered us hot tea since his truck was equipped with a gas stove and he could make tea whenever he would like to. After tea, the truck driver asked where we were heading to. We told him we were leaving for Istanbul and then he suggested putting our luggage in his truck and the bikes on the top of the truck since Istanbul was also their destination. Even though we did not understand each other’s language, they burst into laughter when I jokingly waved ‘good bye’ to Yi to accept the offer.
I wanted to buy some tire patches after we arrived at a small town (Yenicaea/Bolu). A nice person showed us the way to a bicycle shop. Do you know Turkish ‘bisiklet’ is from French ‘bicyclette’, thus English ‘bicycle’?
We were overwhelmed by their enthusiasm over there. The town people approached us, telling us there’s an internet café in town.
Little kids were eager to talk to us and volunteers helping with translations from Turkish to English. They treated us just like superstars from Taiwan.
While I patched the tire, Yi got on the net.
I met her later in the café and the store owner told us it’s his honor for us to be his store, so our time on the net was free of charge. At night, we camp next to a rice field.
After we got up, an older man offered us home-made bread and boiled eggs.
We appreciated his kindness, but we turned it down because it might be his own breakfast. Then, we went to a bakery store to get the traditional Turkish bread, ekmek.
The store owner treated us some delicious desserts and of course, tea. Yi’s had a flat tire twice in a day, so we stopped under a tree in front of a factory making bottled water.
Before I took out the tools to fix the flat tire, the factory workers already asked us to have tea. We sweated after hot tea, so the boss let us in the office to cool down with air conditioning and also let Yi use the computer. By the time I finished patching the tires and checking the inner tubes, it was already passed the normal factory working hours.
Nizam was the only worker still in the factory. When he heard that we were going to camp near a lake 5km away, he said we could stay in the 2nd floor of the factory. In order not to get Nizam into trouble, we thanked him for his considerateness and camped in the empty spot near the factory. After you read all these stories, can you imagine how hospitable the Turkish people are!
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