Thursday October 31
88.55km//5hr20min//16.56km/hr
Back on the D-525 "red road" today - just over 20km before our first chance to get on to a smaller more scenic road. We thought that it would be nice (and possible) to ride the north and east side of Bafa Golu (Bafa Lake), indicated by our not so trusty 2011 European road atlas. The GPS disagreed. Turns out, reality disagrees as well. There isn't a through road. Happily, the 20 km detour (10 out, 10 back) was well worth it. We passed through very active farming villages where the animals live in close proximity to the people, and then came upon some incredibly unique rock formations. Rounded rocks piled high, like pillows, or puffy clouds. The steep slopes on this north side of Lake Bafa are covered with wild or semi-domesticated olive trees, and the area is virtually untouched. It would be a great place to go for an extended bush-wack. Bafa Lake has 5 small islands, all of which are adorned with the ruins of a monastery. We're learning that building monasteries in improbable places is the thing to do. Interestingly, Lake Bafa was once a part of the Aegean sea, but due to an earthquake, the land shifted, creating the lake. Now the pancake flat area features intensive agriculture, including cotton farming. Judging by the piles of white stuff on the side of the road, it is in harvest right now!
Alas, we couldn't delay the inevitable, we rode back to the dreadful D-525 to pass on the south west side of Bafa Lake. Ugh. We stopped for an Efes, lunch, and provisions at the bustling intersection on the NW point of the lake, and finally exited the D-525 by heading for Akkoy and Tubergazi. Here we came upon the Miletus ruins. Although impressive, we're getting ruined out, and decided not to tour the site extensively.
We continued on, riding into the sunset along what used to be the bottom of the sea floor. Eventually we decided to follow a deeply rutted dirt road towards the shores of the Aegean, and surrounded by cotton fields. After 2km, the fields ended, leaving perfectly level, flat, white-crusted flood plain. The sea seamlessly merges with the land here, no waves, no ebb and flow, no obvious shoreline. Very odd, but also very pretty, secluded, and quiet. Perfect for camping.
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| Waking up near Milas. Our campsite was on the side of a hill, well hidden by trees, shrugs, and rocks. |
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| A heavy fog sits on the bottom of valley floor. It quickly burned off it time for cycling. |
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| Riding the dead end round around Lake Bafa. Cows and parachute pants are a common site. In the background, untouched landscape looms. |
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| It appears to be fairly poor here. However, people seem content. |
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| Improbable rock formations seen around Lake Bafa. |
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| The end of the road around Lake Bafa. There were several ruins sites you could visit. We didn't have time. |
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| Sure-footed donkeys are used for gathering fire wood. |
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| The islands of Lake Bafa were once the site of monasteries. |
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| The cotton harvest is on! The prickly thorns on these plants must make it an aweful job. |
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| Madalene posing in front of a cotton field. |
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| The sun is setting on the Miletus ruins. We opted not to pay to walk around inside. The view from here was still pretty good. |
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| Jenn investigates our camping options. |
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| The sun sets, yet again. |
