At one point in my walk into Mersin this morning I was standing on the side of the road, struggling to open a particularly reluctant roll of sandwich cream cookies. Up rode five Turkish cyclists, all decked out in lycra and helmets. They pulled up next to me and stopped. I had not met them before, but they greeted me by name in English.
They were on their way to Kizkalesi, where I began yesterday’s walk, to meet some Germans who are cycling to China.
That’s another thing I love about this area. All kinds of people have been passing through here for thousands of years, headed in one direction or another. This morning I was honored to have joined that group.