The last border to cross

4 or 5 days ago we stayed at a hotel where the water to the whole town was out, because of a broken water line.  it was fixed in a few hours, but when the water came back on it was pretty awful.  I thought that it might be a bad idea to drink it, but there wasn't much else available.

I was right.  A number of us - me included - have been sicker than dogs in the last 24 hours.  Nepal quality sick - headache, muscle aches, fever, and the GI's - not sure which end of my body to point at the toilet.

Pretty grim, but getting better.

Yesterday crossed into Turkey - now the letters are familiar latin style letters, but the words are completely different - no relationship to the other European Languages.  So, no idea whatsoever about what a sign is about, let alone what it says.  And, a bit challenging to find anyone who speaks any English.

Yesterday was a tough ride - fast with tailwinds in the morning, but desperately hard riding into cross headwinds all afternoon.  I think the hardest day of riding this trip.

Turkey's per capita income is 1/3 that of the US, but is 50% higher than that of Romania and Bulgaria - it's noticeably more prosperous once we cross the border.  Rural agricultural area with new roads (either to help open up EU markets, or for military defense purposes - lots of military installations along the way).

Every little town has a mosque and a minaret, and larger towns have many, many mosques and minarets.

The call to prayer is no longer done by the guy who climbs up in the minaret - it's all done remotely over loudspeakers that seem to function at about 150 decibels.  After being sick all night, then finally getting to sleep, the 5 am prayer call from the mosque across the street made me jump about 10 feet. I'm not sure if the calls are pre-recorded, or are each individualized, but they are funny in that at the end of the call, you can hear the "click" of a telephone hanging up.  It'd make a good ring tone, or better yet, a ringtone for my iPad alarm clock - I'm pretty sure that I'd always wake up before it went off so that I could turn it off before the ring.

I'm going to see if I can get up and walk a little without fainting.

Later, folks.