It’s snowing… but just a little 🙂

Since it got a bit late again last night, I would have preferred to stay in bed longer this morning. But when I saw in the forecast that there was an increased chance of rain in Araç starting from 11 a.m., and rain was also expected later in the afternoon in Taşköprü, I immediately thought: let’s get going.

After breakfast, Shaun had to replace his brake pads, as the old ones were worn out. During that time, I talked to a man from the Öğretmenevi (our accommodation) and learned that these “teacher houses” exist all over the country. They are the cheapest type of accommodation and are not only for teachers but also available to travelers like us. Some places apparently don’t like handling all the administrative work for just one night, but in principle, they should accept us—that’s how I understood it. However, since the conversation was in Turkish, I’m not entirely sure.

However, I managed to get the man to try calling the Öğretmenevi in Taşköprü to make a reservation for us, but unfortunately, no one answered the phone.

We set off just after 10, and the weather still looked quite good. We continued climbing into what could be described as a plateau, although that’s not entirely accurate since it kept going up and down. Near the highest point—my GPS showed 1232 meters above sea level—it started to snow lightly. It was quite cold, so we dressed warmly for the small descents on the plateau as well as the big descent to Kastamonu. At 1232 meters, this was the highest point of my journey so far, surpassing the Tvarditsa Pass in Bulgaria. However, the climb here was much less steep and therefore more pleasant. It was also easier than the last pass in Turkey on the way to Yenice—which, now that I think about it, was also higher than Tvarditsa. I don’t know the names of either of these passes, though, as we didn’t see any signs, neither today nor the other day.

After a short shopping and food stop in Kastamonu, we set off to complete the final 40 km. I would have liked to ride further today, but as with the previous shorter stage, the next place with hotel options was too far away. So we arrived in Taşköprü at 16:45 and first went to the local Öğretmenevi. Unfortunately, there were no rooms available. A kind man accompanied me to a nearby hotel, but we were turned away there as well. I then chatted a bit with some men in front of the Öğretmenevi—practicing Turkish is always fun and useful—and I can feel my reaction time improving when recalling words I’ve learned before.

They recommended the Poyraz Hotel, which was just a few hundred meters away. Luckily, they still had a room for us, and after some small talk in Turkish, the very friendly man at the reception even gave us a generous discount. Relieved that finding accommodation went relatively smoothly today—even if it only worked on the third attempt—I lay down on my bed shortly after 17:30 to rest a bit.

By the way, today’s pass was also the highest planned one in Turkey. However, we will deviate slightly from my original plan, as Shaun has a friend working as an English teacher somewhere inland, and we’re going to visit him. This will extend our route by about one day. But if it were my friend, I would also want to see him, especially when I’m so close. And I’d like to keep riding with Shaun as well. After checking the new route, there doesn’t seem to be any higher pass ahead.