Eskişehir to Akpinar – 18th September
Distance: 15.6 km – Elevation +370 m -190 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 31 degrees
After my three days of rest, my plan for today was to walk around 20 kilometres following the Sufi Trail route to Supuren and then catch a bus back to Eskisehir, returning to Supuren tomorrow by bus and continuing my journey from there.
It was a lovely walk out of the city through the historic district of Odunpzarı. Odunpzarı, built on a hillside, was one of the first settlements of Eskisehir, and its narrow streets lined with colourful single and two-storeyed Ottoman era houses are beautifully conserved as a result of being declared a “conservation area” in 1978. I continued on past the cemetery and through pine forests. It was a substantial climb to reach the highest point of the day but the views back to Eskisehir were magnificent. It was here that I lost the track, the path didn’t exist and even if it had there was a 6 foot deep ditch preventing access.
So I decided to drop down to the road and continue from there. One of the features of the main routes in Turkey are permanent traffic control points manned by armed local police (Gendarmerie), and as I approached Akpinar I met one of these checkpoints. I have passed through quite a few of these without incident. But on this occasion, I was stopped and asked politely “where are you going?” and when I explained he asked to see my passport and then beckoned me to follow him. He took me to a picnic table, located in shade at the rear of the main control room and gestured for me to sit down. He was joined by two other policemen and after a brief discussion with his colleagues, he said “we would like to feed you” and went off into the control room and came back with a plate of meat, rice and salad plus water and milk. Tasty plums followed and copious amounts of tea as they quizzed me about my journey and life in England, which football team I supported and they all wanted a photo taken with me. Later their commander arrived and joined the group which resulted in more tea and this time also chocolate eclairs! One of the group had a better understanding of English and gave me his mobile number and said if I needed help at any time during the remainder of my time in Turkey to call him.
It was around 4.00 pm when I looked at my watch, by which time I had given up on reaching Supuren. I explained I needed to catch a bus to Eskisehir, and the English speaking Gendarme said “Okay, please wait” as he went off to take his turn at the control point. A short while after he called me to the checkpoint where a driver of a small truck stopped for checks had agreed to run me into Eskisehir. An extraordinary afternoon.
The driver of the truck was not going the whole distance to the city centre and dropped me off just before Odunpzarı leaving me with a gentle 5 kilometre stroll back to the hotel.
