Kirklareli
Yesterday's arrival into Turkey was a huge contrast from last year, when our tour - in its first year - was an unknown to the people of Kirklareli, our first stop in Turkey. This year, with the wonderful help of our local contact Cem Manglay, we have been treated like heroes. We were met at the border by representatives from the municipality, police, jandarma (regional police), and even an ambulance - all of which escorted us to Derekoy where many of the riders took up the offer from the municipality to be driven to some facinating nearby caves.
Then upon entering Kirklareli, police were found all over this small town pointing us in the right direction and controlling traffic. The police also set us up in a camp downtown that was guarded all day and all night and had police security barriers surrounding our tents.
And if that wasn't enough, the Governor of Kirklareli is hosting a dinner for us tonight at new restaurant in town. WOW! It has all been a little overwhelming at times, but definitely appreciated by these tired cyclists who can finally start to treat this as a vacation as we only have three more short cycling days left before Istanbul. Hopefully we can talk the governor to join us for a few kilometers tomorrow...
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Posted September 21, 2006 by Shanny Hill
Turkey |
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