Day: March 11, 2006

Just to let you know the number of kilometers run in Turkey: 2119 km.  

For the moment it is the biggest country we have crossed.  Turkey was a haven of peace and serenity.  If you don’t know where to go for your next vacation don’t hesitate to go there.  The Turks will know how to welcome you.

Back to the 6000 km.  Serge ran this thousand kilometers (between 5000 and 6000) in record time:

At 20H30 yesterday we were in bed (that was 18H00 in France)

This morning we left the Alipour family, who so kindly provided us a place to stay.  They refused our offer to pay them, even when we insisted.  So, we were their guests as would have been their friends or members of their family.  It embarrassed us.  Muslim hospitality is without doubt the best in the world.  Our hosts finally accepted a few of our souvenir T-shirts.  We must remember to have small gifts to offer in the absence of coins.

Serge left the house at 7H45, in the sunshine.  Our direction: Tabriz.  The road was beautiful and in good condition and we were surrounded by small, bald mountains.  There was no vegetation on these mounds which were of a gray green color turning to ochre and brown.  Here and there large, plowed fields indicated considerable agricultural activity in the region.

Serge is happy and his head turns constantly to admire the scenery, especially since the traffic is light.
 
We are at a lower altitude every day.  Serge went up a long hill of 16 km to reach 1338 meters, before descending progressively at the end of the stage.  That didn’t keep him from going slack at the 69th kilometer.  It’s what we call hypoglycemia.  Serge sat down for three minutes, ate some sugar and slowly, very slowly he started again.  We thought the day would stop there but no, he persevered for another 6 km.

Serge is surely tired after two bad nights and the time change which, even if we continue to live on sun time, has upset us a bit.

Tonight we will sleep near a service station, in the middle of nowhere, in a mosque built for travelers and truck drivers.  Since it has no water, it is not used much, which is good for us.