Bikepacking Turkey - Cultural Clash while cycling towards Middle East

[Music] I just realized that turkey really is a country of contrast Turkey the country of contrasts when I entered turkey by bike a couple of months ago I wouldn't have thought to have such contrasting experiences the cultural approach to some subjects or stuff is just so different but let's start at the beginning I'm giant Cheerio a bicycle Traveler exploring the world since 2021 and I'm currently on a mission to cross turkey to reach arum U what arum what's so special about the city of urum nothing actually if you ask me but I'm on a mission to pick up my Visa for Iran 800 km and we will start in one of the most touristic areas of turkey Kapa do and let's [Music] go I would say we're idiots but yeah maybe we are but that's also it's uh the adventure and we want to see the balloons tomorrow [Music] [Music] you me down me down down my actions will be forgiven when we first met we first simple [Music] [Music] Tex from capadia Teo and I decided to once more cycle together we both want to go to Iran we both have to pick up our Visa in aerum and we both can be a pretty good team so two solo Travelers were now joining forces our first mission of the day was to restock our food so we're uh going grocery shopping we need a couple of things and also we need coffee because we we uh didn't have any coffee left this morning uh and as you might know I'm a coffee junkie so we really need coffee oh yes I really don't function without coffee in the morning after grocery shopping we just wanted to make a quick stop to buy some fruits however we were unexpectedly invited for tea and in the end the guy gave us the fruits as a gift welcome to Turkey is what he said even though things like this happen every day I'm still amazed by Turkish Hospitality these invitations and extremely friendly people continue to astonish me each and every day [Music] okay uh we're having lunch break here and I still didn't check my uh petrol stop let's just uh see if this thing uh works again or not and hopefully we don't set this Camp spot on fire back in capadia I had significant problems with my stove and I spent a lot of time repairing it fancy what the star is a crucial item to have especially when you're addicted to coffee I mean cold coffee can do the job as well it's just not the same kind of thing you know finally it was time to check the effectiveness of my work uh okay uh looks like this thing works again yes that meant hot coffee in the morning as we were pretty lazy that day we just decided to call it a day and didn't cycle any further and then once again in the middle of freaking nowhere we were treated with Turkish Hospitality uh we decided to stay here at this wonderful Camp spot we just moved like uh 50 m and came to this field yeah so we spent the whole afternoon here uh 22 km we were just about to set up our camp and then uh a farmer came and he just said hey hello and welcome and he asked us if we wanted if we uh wanted to sleep here on on the field and we said yes and then he was like oh come come come over there there's a carpet so we're having a wonderful carpet but we'll uh set up the tent anyway just because uh we're uh we don't want any crawling animals or snakes or spiders inside our sleeping bags so at least the inner [Music] [Music] [Music] tent h o I'm breathing like a pig and my phys physical condition is not in best shape holy Timo is already far and further uh but yeah he's always waiting for me at some [Music] point [Music] yes perfect spot to have uh breakfast we made 30 km uh 30 or maybe 40 already and it's breakfast time now because we didn't have breakfast this morning and so it's uh porridge and bananas just the usual thing actually I didn't really talk about our mission I have a very exciting announcement to make Timo and I we are on our way to Iran it's only 1,500 km is to the the border of Iran and we have to pick up our Visa in aurum which is a city in in Northern Northeastern turkey and so we're on our way to azum now it's 700 K 700 kilm yes so 700 kilm uh we'll pick up the Visa and then we will go to Georgia and Armenia to cross the border to Iran in Armenia unfortunately we can't go straight from Turkey to Armenia because um the border is closed and you can't you can't just pass through uh so yeah now it's uh turkey Georgia Armenia and then Iran and for now the plan is just to go as far as we can get as far as we can get that was the plan 700 km to arum and 1,500 to the border of Iran this meant pedaling pedaling pedaling each and every day and sometimes you cannot plan what's going to happen sometimes you just got to take what you get we ended up on this highway like road we wanted to leave this road to search for a camp spop but there is no way to leave these uh Lanes like uh whenever we just want to leave this highway there's just another Highway like there is the next one we don't like riding in the dark uh hopefully we'll just find a spot within the next 5 kilm we didn't find a spot to pitch the tent so it was time to turn on the lights to continue cycling until we finally managed to reach a place where we set up our camp and hit the sheets this is a typical experience of waking up in Turkey in the middle of nowhere good night [Music] eight out of 10 times we wake up to the sound of cows sheep or dogs being led by their [Music] Shepherd it's quite peculiar because sometimes you cycle through mod cities and then suddenly at some point you feel like you've traveled back in time uh we just stopped at this gas station to refill our petrol bottle so the petrol station doesn't have any petrol that's not an issue like not at all we don't care we just going to search for another petrol station but like the picture over there like for us Europeans it's just uh uh it's bizarre because he was sitting there in an office chair like right next to to the the vot thing and yeah he was sitting there in this office chair shoes off smoking and just like uh chilling and living his life life and for us like this would never ever [Music] happen we uh just went grocery shopping and met a Turkish man from Germany and he just paid for all our groceries it's uh yeah super impressive we actually we don't know what to say thank you dear and then one thing led to another we wanted to sit down for breakfast and the unexpected began to unfold at first someone kindly handed us a massive plate of food 3 minutes later more people joined us engaged in Pleasant conversation then another man joined the group he was from Syria and invited us to share coffee at his home we accepted his invitation Google translate became our best friends helping us to bridge the language Gap when we mentioned our need to continue cycling to find a camp spot he offered us a place to stay for the night in his house so we stayed and in the process we encountered what some might call a culture Clash I stayed with the women sharing their stories preparing food and discussing their way from Syria to Turkey we talked and shared our thoughts but at times I found myself uncertain about the proper etiquette everything felt unfamiliar to me I didn't capture much footage as I wasn't allowed to film the woman I didn't see Teemo throughout the entire day as men and women spent their time separately honestly I didn't quite get who was permitted to interact with the women and who was not but but as a woman I had the privilege of their company we were welcomed with open arms and our conversations were filled with mutual respect timu engaged in extensive discussions about religion and politics but to be honest I was hesitant to delve too deeply into those subjects fearing I might come across as impolite it's important to meet each other on the same page it's not necessary to share the same opinion but it is necessary to respect and tolerate each other even though we might not understand each other's way of thinking and living I have to admit that when diving deeper into some subjects I found it challenging to maintain that respect but let's not dive too deep into that despite the differences we had a one wonderful time marked by respect and tolerance it was a truly eye openening day uh so we took off this morning after uh the invitation of the family of Syria and yeah actually I I still have to process uh our time there uh because yeah it's just uh the uh Lifestyles or the cultural approach to some subjects or stuff is just so different that I yeah it was the first time in my life that I experienced uh something like that and that I had the chance to dive deep into a very different culture honestly this is exhausting as well but like it's very different to a physical exhaustion uh and yeah I really have to to to make up my mind and I have to think a lot and Tim and I we have to talk a lot and yeah it was it was wonderful it it was really wonderful and it was a day to learn a day to see things just a day to to observe and and and get to know other cultures and and people as we continued our journey Eastward we couldn't help but notice the growing difference between the Modern urban areas and the rural regions it was here in these remote regions that we encountered people living lives very differently compared to our own like once more I just realized that turkey really is a country of of contrast a Shepherd came with uh a hord of sheep I don't know how many how many 200 three he I don't know he was staring at us as if he hasn't seen any people in his entire life and he was really confused when we were uh using Google Translate to have a conversation with him like he he was so confused and he was staring at the phone and he didn't want to talk to the phone um and yeah it's uh really it's it's weird and we were trying to ask if he's um out here with the Sheep each and every day but he uh yeah he didn't really answer but he asked us if we if we wanted to buy uh some sheep yeah we don't need any sheep as if we're from two different planets like our life has nothing to do with his life and the other way around it's really bizarre the the further east we go the less common it became to see women on the road and this shift left me with a strange feeling wearing my usual cycling shorts I began to feel out of place and my mindset started to change with each passing kilometer to the east the number of women we encountered decreased it was a massive contrast to what I was used to and I couldn't get rid of the feeling of being exposed as I was receiving a special attention I didn't want to go anywhere anymore I just wanted to stay in nature despite everyone being nice to us I felt out of place I felt like an outsider in a world that was once familiar I missed seeing women and men sharing cafes and I found myself wondering about where all the girls were most of the time we saw boys playing Outdoors day by day the cultural differences and the influence of religion became more apparent I was was glad to have teimo by my side even though I didn't initially want this companionship because I started to feel dependent on Teemo and that made me feel small and incapable during these weeks I really was into reflection and [Music] introspection it became clear that this trip was no longer about me it was about the people we encountered along the way it was about exploring the under familiar and trying to understand the perspectives of those in distant corners of the world it was about learning from others and offering the gift of my time because most of the time time is all I had to give in the end we successfully obtained our visas which was another Milestone of the trip so now we'll go further and further we'll go as far as we can [Music] get [Music] [Applause] [Music] for

Channel: Giant Cheerio

Views: 53,622

Keywords: bikepacking, cycling, cycling adventure, bikepacking set up, bikepacking Europe, bikepacking Deutschland, cycling motivation, cycling documentary, gravel bike bikepacking, Rundreise Europa, travel camping living, gravel cycling, Middle East travel, bikepacking turkey, travel turkey, backpacking turkey, cycling turkey, turkey travel, turkey travel tips, travel documentary, bikepacking documentary, Radreise türkei, cycling Middle East, Iran travel, cultures, cycling the world

Id: 1GparX4IAhs

Length: 18min 31sec (1111 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 16 2023