Tekirdag to Yeniçiftlik – 27th August
Distance: 30.5 km – Elevation +270 m -260 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 31 degrees
I didn’t have much time to explore but from what I had read there is not much of its rich history left to see. Tekirdag is an ancient town and was founded by the Greeks as Bisanthe. Under Roman rule, it became the capital of Thrace and was renamed Rhaedestus. Like most ancient towns in this part of the world, it has seen multiple occupations – Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Russia, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.
Breakfast this morning was in the Hubble bubble bar – no smokers present! I left the hotel at 8.00 am and followed the flag decorated promenade out of town. There were just a few early morning walkers, either on their way to work or just exercising with a walk by the sea. So different from last evening when most of the local populace seemed to be promenading as they do in this part of the world. I had routed my walk to initially avoid the main Istanbul road, not realising that the route would take me through the campus of the Namık Kemal University which meant I had to pass through a security gate. I am not sure how I managed to persuade the security guard to let me pass through but I was so happy I did, the alternative being a very wide detour. The campus was very quiet and I only passed a few students as I walked through unchallenged.
The route eventually brought me back to the main road which I continued to mostly follow for the rest of the day. I had been walking against a headwind for the past 3 days, and today was no exception with the headwind at its strongest. Again the road was not at all busy and there were magnificent views back to the deep blue waters of the bay of Tekirdag. There were also numerous places to stop for rest and refreshment.
There were several beaches along the way and about 16 kilometres into my walk, near to Karaevli, I joined and rested on a sandy beach where it was also possible to camp. It was a chance to relax and think about my pilgrimage, where I had been and where it was leading me, as I watched and listened to the sound of the waves of the Sea of Marmara as they gently arrived on the sandy beach.
In an attempt to avoid a busy section of the road I took to a side road which unexpectedly led me to a construction site and seeing me approach the workers seemed anxious, I am not sure what was being constructed but it was clearly a sensitive location. I was stopped by, I guess, the site foreman but after an explanation from me he took me into the workers rest cabin where there were other workers taking a break, and he gave me a seat and lots of ice-cold water, Whilst there, a worker came in holding a seagull with a broken wing and they contacted an animal sanctuary for help – really caring individuals. I passed a road sign that indicated I had just 100 kilometres to reach Istanbul, a 3-day journey.
I arrived in the village of Yeniçiftlik at 5.00 pm, it is set back from the main road and the section of the village where the Marmara Life Otel is located, appears to be a newish expansion of the old village. The layout is a little like a giant crossword with many straight streets with numerous intersections where other straight streets joined. It has lots of relatively new houses and apartment blocks separated by patches of untidy scrubland, it was sort of unkempt. The hotel was fine with very attentive staff and it had a very good restaurant where I was able to dine and enjoy a glass or two of wine for the very first time since entering Turkey.
