from steel

This post is about a 22km walk from Eregli to Kovukkavla. Finding a place to sleep is difficult at first, but then good things happen.

Walking into Eregli the night before had been difficult, and when I left in the morning it didn’t get much easier. The place was swarming with cars. There were sidewalks, but they were often blocked, torn up, or missing altogether. It seemed like Eregli didn’t really care about pedestrians.

the triumph of steel

And why would it? Eregli was a steel town. One look at the map revealed that there was a giant steel factory occupying the waterfront and the port. The rest of the town was huddled around it, and while I was walking, I could see it trying to hide the chimneys and the pipes behind its car dealerships and shopping centers.

I usually didn’t mind walking through industrial zones, but this time I just wanted to get out.

drivers and trash

There was no way but the highway. I hated it. The road hugged the coastline, which meant that it went in curves, which meant that a lot of drivers tried to cut corners, which meant that I cursed and shook my fist a bunch of times.

I walked until I arrived at a parking lot next to the open sea where I felt that I could breathe again.

A familiar scene unfolded: men were standing around their cars in groups of two or three, drinking beer out of cans and liquor out of plastic cups. I wondered if I, too, should take a sip from my vodka flask, but then I decided against it and ate a banana.

What surprised me was that some of them tossed their trash right onto the shore. When I tried to ask them about it, they just shrugged and drove off.

about that hospitality

I met some more cyclists, and they told me about a few more tunnels on my way. Luckily, there was a way around the tunnels by staying on the right side of the highway. I generally didn’t fancy that idea, but in this case it seemed like the less shitty option.

One problem was that it was getting dark, and I had nowhere to sleep.

When I studied the map, I noticed that there was a large wedding salon in a village just behind the first tunnel. So I left the highway, walked down a quiet road and past a bunch of dogs. The wedding salon was there, and there was no wedding going on, but when I asked if I could pitch my tent anywhere, the caretaker told me to go away.

It reminded me of my experience a week earlier in Filyos, and my inner monologue was a bit cynical.

But then, just as I was pulling the Caboose back towards the highway, a guy on a balcony hollered at me. Who was I, he wanted to know, and what was I doing down there?

I ended up staying the night with his relatives. They gave me the best beans ever.

pictures

The traffic in Eregli:

Steel factory chimney:

Eregli steel factory:

Rubber boots:

Eregli shipyard:

Place to sit on my walk from Eregli to Kovukkavla:

Nightclub near Eregli:

Boat in pollution between Eregli and Kovukkavla:

Cyclists on the highway:

Roadside tea garden:

Alapli at dusk:

No place to sleep:

The beans: