Day 20, 21 and 22 : Kayseri

After 1.000 kilometers and an elevation gain of 10.000 meters I arrived in Kayseri. First mission accomplished!

What hasn't been on the blog so far...

A lot of things are not mentioned or visible on the blog. Of course, I mainly posted attractive (and edited) photos and wrote about great encouters. But besides that, there is a lot more to Turkey and to this trip.

First of all and most importantly, I didn't have any uncomfortable encounters here. They were all positive and I always felt safe.

There where moments when I struggled. Not knowing where to sleep, whether there would be a tiny shop in a village, whether I'd manage the ascent or just having a bad day... Sometimes I asked myself why am I doing this? A few hours later I knew again why ;-). 

And I had supporters in these situations: a lorry driver stopping and offering a lift, some farmer waving with a loaf of bread or someone at home whatsapping with me.

Besides what can be seen on the images, there's a lot of poverty and environmental pollution here. In certain areas people live in circumstances that are unthinkable for us. They live in houses we would not consider a 'house' according to our standard: almost collapsing, not insulated, toilet outside etc. The gap between the rich and the poor is huge here.

The other very present issue is pollution. The use of plastics in all manners is vast. Plastics and other garbage can be found almost everywhere.

The usage of water and energy is problematic. For example the extensive irrigation of crops is already leading to water shortage and soil salination. The Turks love to wash their cars, their carpets etc... all with drinking water.

Energy mainly comes from fossil fuels and measures to reduce energy consumption are minor. There seems to be little awareness about climate change.

Tourism is another aspect which is barely visible on the images. Millions of tourists visit Cappadocia and Antalya - and I am one of them. Tourism is money. The impact can be seen: wild grow of touristic facilities, the locals can't afford these areas anymore, unsustainable luxury for the rich, etc. We are all aware of the balancing act between economy and ecology. And we know what will win...

Enough of these serious remarks, but it is also part of a culture.

My personal conclusion after three weeks in Anatolia 

What I enjoyed most was the hospitality of the people, the small chats with locals where I got a glimpse of life here in Turkey.

The readiness to help others is self-evident. Once I had experienced that, I knew everything would work out. Always. Sometimes in a different way than expected. 

Seeing the Yufka-ladies laughing or the ones from the dormitories  enjoying helping me was lovely. 

Witnessing a Turkish wedding was fantastic and much more relaxed than Belgian ones ;-)

Personally I get more fulfillment from these experiences than having seen Cappadocia. 

I'm going to miss the 'Turkish beer'...

I'm not going to miss being stared at ...

...because a woman is riding a bike, 

...because they've never seen a woman with short hair, 

...because I'm travelling on my own, 

...because ... (I can't read what else is on their minds).

Now it's time to take the bus to the Black Sea and discover Georgia!

P.S.: These are my personal  impressions and they are pure subjective :-)