The 200 kilometers (120 miles) before Konya, and the 200 kilometers after Konya, were pretty sparsely populated, so camping by the side of the road became my “go to” way to spend the night.
As much as I enjoy sleeping under the stars (rain clouds not so much), what I really like is a warm bed, a roof over my head, and some conversation. A hot shower is nice, too, and a washing machine, well, these days a washing machine is a gift from god.
So now that I’m on the more densely-populated Cukurova plain (the flatlands running from Silifke, through Mersin and Adana, to Osmaniye), I am going to try something new, new to me at least: Couchsurfing.
Couchsurfing.org is a website that connects travelers looking for new friends and a place to stay with hosts in the area they are traveling through. People have been recommending Couchsurfing to me for a couple years, especially now that I’m doing this walk.
And I don’t want to just dip my toe into the Couchsurfing waters and then quickly pull it out. No, I am going to try to cross the entire Cukurova plain, all of its 250 kilometers (155 miles, about three weeks of walking), doing nothing but Couchsurfing.
We’ll see how it goes. Wish me luck. Knock on wood, 41 kere masallah!