The next morning, we took a walk along the harbor. The town was waking up with the smell of fresh baked bread in the air. Fishermen were busy getting their boats and nets ready for the day. Barely a ripple disturbed the surface of the water. Tiny fish swam in the crystal-clear water.
Returning to the hotel a wonderful breakfast was waiting for us in the open-air café. After enjoying a couple cups of Turkish coffee, we slowly packed up the bike to continue. We wanted to remember the past few days and the kindness we had experienced and friendships we had made.
Continuing south we followed the sea as closely as we could. It was a beautiful day with cloudless blue skies blending into the calm seas. Later In the day we stopped for a late lunch, coffee and free Wi-Fi. We made reservations on booking.com and headed south to find the homestay. The days were getting shorter and we arrived to find…nothing. The directions led us to a three-way intersection. After riding a round looking and asking anyone we could find about the hotel, we were stumped. Nobody knew of the place, but no one spoke English either. As dark was coming on we made another stop in front of a small farm to ask again. With a similar reaction of confusion from the residents, no English, I pressed the bikes start button again. Nothing! Not even a click.
I took off the seat to get to the battery, connections good. I hooked up my power pack to jump the bike, nothing. I worked on connections for about 30 minutes without anything. It was almost dark. An old woman crossed the yard and approached us. In her hands she was holding a Pomegranate. She offered it to us as they didn’t know anything else to do for us. We accepted the kindness gratefully. Such a kind gesture.
As we were riding around, Melanie had noticed a small, closed hotel a mile of so up a busy road. There was a side road that went to the hotel, mostly uphill. We started pushing. Finally, in the darkness, we quietly arrived at the side entrance to the dark hotel. The gate was slightly agar, so I entered. In the back I noticed some lights on by the pool. Two women and a man were sitting at a table eating dinner. I startled them as I approached and said hello. I was a sight. Dirty motorcycle gear and drenched in sweat. They quickly regained their composure and in perfect English, welcomed me in. Telling my story, they told me that their hotel was closed for season and they were getting ready to head back to their home in Istanbul. In the next breath the kind man said we were welcome to stay in their hotel; they would ready a room for us. He readied the room as we unloaded our gear. But next was the biggest surprise. They told us they wanted to feed us supper. “Please, take a shower and come down and relax and have a beer. We will make you something to eat”. They reopened the kitchen and made us a wonderful meal. They told us we were welcome as long as it took to fix the motorcycle. After supper the front gate was opened to bring the motorcycle into the property to be secure. Never was the topic of cost or payment brought up by them.
After a wonderful night sleep in a beautiful suite we came down to figure out the bike. A wonderful breakfast was waiting for us. There was such a variety of foods and beautifully presented. Dish after dish was brought to our table. Just amazing.
As we were miles from any city, I was stumped. Everything checked out, but the battery was just bad. I contacted Ferhat in Gulluk. He was upset that I had waited so long to contact him. We were 200 kms south, but that seemed not to be an excuse. It was Sunday, but he said he would take care of it and would call me back. As we waited our hosts brought us a pomegranate from a tree in their yard to snack on. It was amazing.
A couple hours later my phone rang, and it was my friend, Ferhat. He had found a friend, a member of the Turkish Hells Angels, that would find me a battery, deliver it and install it. He wanted detail of the battery along with dimensions. An hour later they had found a battery. They had called two motorcycle shop owners to check for a battery. Remember, its Sunday and shops are closed. They had all done this to help us. The guy was bringing the battery to me and would be there in an hour or so. You could hear his Harley pull up outside of the hotel and I went to great him with my host. With the host being an interpreter, he introduced himself and his son, that was riding with him. Within minutes he confirmed that the battery was bad and had the new one installed. I thanked him and offered to pay him for the battery and his time. He accepted the money for the battery but refused anything for his time for helping me. Such kindness.
Our host insisted on us relaxing for the rest of the day and spending another night. The beach was within walking distance, so we set off. Just so happens there was a bar right on the beach. Being on a cove with mountains surrounding us, the views were fantastic. With the beer being US$1.50, it was a perfectly relaxing afternoon. We were again served supper, had a great night sleep and an enormous breakfast. We insisted on paying for everything, and, as expected, the bill was very small. The Turkish people have been so kind.
Cheers,
2WANDRRs
2WANDRRs 
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