Bilecik to Sogut – 13th September
Distance: 34.7 km – Elevation +660 m -500 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 26 degrees
I had a relatively long day of 28 kilometres ahead as I left the hotel after a good breakfast. Walking out of town I passed by the Milli Egemenlik Parkı and delightful floral displays cascading down high banks as they flowed from barrels. Towns are well kept in Turkey. Leaving the main road I had a short climb which took me through the Ertuğrulgazi district passing by Atatürk Ormanı Piknik Alanı. The asphalt road soon turned to an unmade road which would lead me to İstasyon. As the road descended there were spectacular views of the viaduct that carries the high-speed train that connects Ankara with Istanbul as it crosses the valley below.
I stopped briefly in İstasyon and enjoyed tea in the village tea house before starting again. After about 3 kilometres and as I approached the village of Küplü I realised I was going in the wrong direction! I never like to backtrack so I used Google maps to reroute and found what appeared to be a perfect cross-country alternative. The new route left the main road just past the village of Küplü. About 30 minutes into the new way, a picķup truck drove by and stopped and the young man said ” bad dogs, bad dogs, biting dogs” pointing in the direction I was going. I was really not in the mood to encounter a pack of wild dogs, so I returned to the village of İstasyon.
On reaching the village, after the 8 kilometre detour, I sat in a small cafe, the Ankara Lokantası, to regroup and recover my thoughts after what had been a wasted 2 hours. But from that moment on, the rest of my day was perfect. The tea house owner gave me biscuits with my tea, and wouldn’t take any payment and gave me two bottles of water to take with me. Such kindness happens here in Turkey every day.
From İstasyon I took the main Bilecik Söğüt Yolu and stayed with that road the remaining distance to Söğüt. I stopped close to the village of Yeniköy for lunch at a roadside restaurant, the Hayme Ana Otağı, which is an enterprise run by the women of Yeniköy and in addition to the restaurant, there are craft shops which sell items made in the village.I was the only customer and the two women in traditional Turkish dress and who ran the restaurant were very welcoming and set my meal of soup and bread at an outside table.
Soon after leaving Yeniköy, I met a tractor being driven towards the village and the smile of the tractor driver was wonderful as he stopped to talk and to take a selfie with me. The scenery was magnificent and the weather perfect for walking. I arrived in Söğüt at 5.30 pm after a journey of 35 kilometres that had taken10 hours to complete and booked into the Namlı Osmanlı Konagi hotel.
Later that evening I walked to the nearby Türk Sofrası restaurant, which is set in its own grounds and caters for large functions such as weddings. There was a celebration in progress when I arrived but the staff were happy to set a table for me on the terrace outside where I sat and enjoyed a mixed grill. It was a cold evening and I began to feel the chill as I watched the well-dressed guests arriving. Eager to get back to the warmth of the hotel I didn’t linger after the meal. Today had been another adventure.
