Day 1,432

Poorly in paradise

You might notice that these words aren’t up to the usual standard, as it’s Tom writing - Debs is in bed sleeping off a rather nasty food poisoning episode. We’re not sure where she caught it but it’s knocked her out for a couple of days. Fortunately we are in a rather pleasant seaside area with lots of sunshine and beaches to relax and recuperate with.

We crossed the Dardanelles Strait on boat number 31 and set foot in Asia for the first time on this tour. We waved goodbye to Europe as we turned south and lost sight of the Gallipoli peninsula. Nothing much changed, still wall-to-wall sunshine, a few hills, and mosques in every community. We had a great view of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, currently the longest suspension bridge in the world, and linking two continents.

We had just found a lovely wild camp in some woods near the top of our last big climb for a while, when Debs started feeling unwell. We retired into the tent for the night but soon afterwards the zips were opened and Debs rushed out. Lots of other things came rushing out of either end of her too! After a horrible night we packed up, finished the hill, and made our way down to the Aegean Sea.

The campsite shortly before the poorly time

Debs collapsed under some olive trees on an idyllic beach, oblivious to the paradise around her. After an hour of sleep we found a small hotel, and did the same the next day, hobbling a few miles between, but always moving forward, south towards Ismir. We hadn’t planned to come this way through Turkey, but Tom had a package of bike spare parts that a friend kindly brought out there, so we need to go and collect that. As is often the case, we are pleased with the turn in which fate has taken us because, despite the illness, this area is beautiful. And Debs is starting to feel better, as you can tell from some of the pictures of food below!