Orhangazi to Keramet – 8th September
Distance: 19.4 km – Elevation +60 m -90 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 28 degrees
A straight flat 20 kilometre walk today dictated by available accommodation. I stayed last night on the outskirts of Orhangazi so it was not long before I was walking through quiet country roads. Early into the day’s walk I passed through a small farming community and encountered a large gang of dogs who were persistent and aggressive, with the locals looking on with interest, I kept them at bay with my walking stick. A young boy tried to assist by clapping his hands at the dogs. The dogs were clearly part of the community but didn’t like me as I passed through. After a couple of kilometres, the tracks joined with the quiet main route to Iznik.
This is olive growing country and the route was lined with olive groves on both sides. Some of the trees with their gnarled trunks are very old. Around mid-morning I called into a roadside filling station and bought a few snacks which I enjoyed later with a few freshly picked wild figs in the shade of one of the olive groves. It was Sunday morning and the roads were very quiet and around noon I arrived at the Rasim Restoran, a roadside restaurant. The lady of the house came to greet me and to explain the restaurant was closed. I was able to sit and rest at one of the tables beneath the shaded canopy and to drink a cold glass of beer.
It was another very warm day and a little ahead of me after leaving the restaurant, I saw a car stop by the side of the road and a large man got out, he quickly stripped to his underpants and showered beneath the ice cold waters of a mountain stream that had created a cascade and natural shower by the side of the road. I must say it was difficult to resist the urge to join him.
The route ran close to Lake Iznik, a beautiful lake which sits in the basin between the Samanlı and Katırlı mountains, and from where I was viewing the lake the Katırlı mountains provided a spectacular backdrop as I looked out across the lake. I stopped at another restaurant situated on the shore of the lake which was also closed and the owners kindly provided me with two bottles of water without cost and I sat and rested for a while by the lake.
I arrived at my destination, the complex which is the Iznik Askania Otel at 2.00 pm. In addition to the hotel there is a lakeside restaurant open to all and being Sunday it was busy with families enjoying a lakeside lunch. I was ravenous and before checking in I ordered lunch and sat at a table with views out across the lake. The young staff spoke good English and showed great interest in my journey, and after lunch were very helpful in taking me to the complex offices where I was able to check in to my accommodation.
I was not sure what I was expecting but the accommodation was very unusual and is best described as a box on stilts. The only room accessed via a flight of wooden stairs was clean and comfortable but had no ensuite facilities, with showers and toilets external to the property, a bit like a campsite.
It was a beautiful location and later in the evening, I was able to enjoy supper in the restaurant watching a glorious sunset as the sun dropped behind the Katırlı mountains.
