Sultandagi to Akşehir – 25th September
Distance: 27.6 km – Elevation +180 m -140 m
Weather: Overcast. Temperature: High 21 degrees
Another comfortable, clean and affordable hotel last night. The hotel restaurant was closed but I had eaten well during the day so I purchased a few snacks and drinks from the filling station shop adjacent to the hotel and returned to my room for a relaxing evening. Breakfast this morning was at 7.00 am.
It should have been raining according to the forecast as I set out for Akşehir, and looking up at the rain-laden clouds I was reminded of that great Barbara Streisand classic, “Don’t Rain on my Parade” :
“Don’t tell me not to live
Just sit and putter
Life’s candy and the sun’s
A ball of butter
Don’t bring around a cloud
To rain on my parade”
Three times I was offered a lift today, once in a car, once on the back of a motorbike, and finally in a tractor! and each and every time I had to politely refuse. I stopped for lunch at a roadside service area, Şapçı Dinlenme Tesisleriand, and sampled a chicken casserole surrounded by the neighbourhood cats. I think in the end the cats had more of the chicken than I did. The rain continued to hold off as I set out again and it stayed dry until Aksehir. The landscape was similar to yesterday with many cherry orchards and throughout the day’s walk, I had the company of the Sultan mountains, a reminder of what was to come.
I arrived at my hotel around 3.00 pm and was immediately presented with a glass of Turkish tea and whilst I was relaxing, a member of the staff came to join me, speaking almost perfect English he introduced himself as Haci. He was interested to know about my reasons for being in Akşehir, and whilst talking he noticed the significant scratches on the lens of my glasses and after explaining about my fall in Eskişehir, he said come I have a friend who is an optician. I am long-sighted so my lenses are a special prescription, the optician checked the lenses without an eye test and made a few phone calls, the consequence of which is I will have a new pair of glasses in the morning! On returning to the hotel, he insisted that he take me to the local hospital There were a couple of medics staying at the hotel and they drove us to the hospital and somehow I found myself in the treatment room having bypassed the normal procedures. The stitches were removed from the wound over my eye and the wound on my arm was treated and a new dressing was applied. So in the space of two hours, I had new glasses on the way and my injuries from the fall in Eskişehir had been medically checked and redressed, which would have been impossible without the help of Haci which was another extraordinary example of the kindness of the Turkish people.
The Grand Hotel was an excellent choice with its clean and comfortable rooms, kind and helpful staff and a very good restaurant. After an enjoyable supper I was feeling tired and returned to my room. I realised that I had not yet fully recovered from the shock of the fall eleven days ago, especially after walking 240 kilometres since leaving Eskişehir on the 19th of September, and decided to take a few days to rest here in Akşehir.
