Fort William UHI students cycle across Turkey to pass college module

A course requirement to plan and realise a journey led to 1,250 km of pure adventure upon a bike in Turkey, writes UHI West Highland student and Fort William resident Roman Perales Ruiz.

 

As the great Spanish poet José de Espronceda wrote: "Asia on one side, Europe on the other, And there in front of it Istanbul". So began my journey.

 

From the bustle of the great bazaar of Turkey to the solitude of the Tuz Gölü salt flats, passing through the enigmatic landscape of Cappadocia and ending in the paradisiacal turquoise waters of southern Turkey. A journey of 1250 km by bicycle, through the heart of Turkey, exploring its customs, culture and testing myself.

 

Firstly, however, I would like to use this medium to reciprocate the great Turkish hospitality and thank them for all they did for me during my expedition.

 

Now, to the journey:

 

As a third year UHI student studying Adventure Tourism Management, I have a module named Planning International Expedition. This subject provides the necessary knowledge to create an international expedition, and as a final project asks to create and realise an expedition from scratch.

 

"attachment_974395" "" "300"] Photo: Roman Perales Ruiz

 

The choice of Turkey as my destination was based on the fact that I wanted a place that would provide a great cultural investment as well as challenging terrain. Turkey certainly fit the bill.

 

The first part of the expedition, Istanbul to Cappadocia, was created with Alberto, an essential partner for the creation and success of the expedition. Also a student at UHI, Alberto is studying Adventure Education. Together we created and successfully realised a route that always tried to replace main roads with tracks and small secondary roads. This led us to immerse ourselves in what we call 'Deep Turkey': small villages such as Duman, Golbek, Polatli, Nallihan, Ceylanlio and Iznik where there is little or no influx of tourists. It is in these villages that the essence of Turkey can be found, where hospitable people will do everything in their power to make you feel at home. As several people repeated to us: 'it doesn't matter where you are from, your religion, sex, or age - for me you are all like brothers'.

 

In every town we passed we were like a novelty and within a couple of minutes we had everyone around us interested in our trips, from children to old people. And of course, they offered us tea all the time.  I don't think I have ever drunk so much tea in my life. In spite of the heat they drink the tea very hot, but the truth is that it goes down very well.

 

The second part of the expedition, after Alberto left for home, consisted of a solo route along the southwest Turkish coast from Antalya to Dalaman, visiting the various ruins of the ancient Lycian region which are scattered along the route.

 

"attachment_974398" "" "300"] Photo: Roman Perales Ruiz

 

The expedition was a physical and mental challenge, with an average of 70 km per day, often under scorching suns. The bike weighed over 30kg as on my hardtail I carried everything I needed to be self-sufficient: 5 litres of water, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, cooking equipment, solar panels, tools, spare parts for the bike, food, gps phone.... The choice of a hardtail was because another of our objectives was to ride enduro through the challenging terrain of Cappadocia. For this I had to adapt my bike to fit the panniers.

 

During the whole expedition I slept in different places, from private gardens, small hostels, beaches, social centres, or in the middle of the mountains. The biggest danger during the whole trip were the wild dogs. Big dogs that were mostly harmless, but from time to time they did not hesitate to bark and get aggressive. In addition, the locals also warned us to watch out for wild pigs, wolves and bears, although we did not see any of these.

 

Many people warned us about the dangers of cycling in Turkey, and even called us foolish for wanting to do this route. But after covering 1,250km in the country I can say that cycling in Turkey is quite safe. It is true that at the beginning you can feel a bit of pressure as you are constantly being honked at by cars behind you, but they only do this to warn you that they are going to overtake you, rather than to put pressure on you to move over. In fact, I've had more scares cycling in Edinburgh. What's more, the vast majority of drivers, apart from blowing their whistles, wave at you and encourage you.

 

My motivation for this expedition was to test myself to see if I can make sustainable tourism by bike my way of life, as well as, of course, to pass the module. Both goals were successfully achieved. The first part of the expedition was a success, thanks to my partner Alberto, and together we achieved an A grade. On top of that, this trip has reinforced my dedication to make cycling expeditions all over the world, so I am going to continue training to become an expert in this field.

 

Thank you very much for reading my adventure, and happy cycling.