When I left the hotel in Büyükkarıştıran this morning, I discovered that there was at least one other option to the ridiculously overpriced and incredibly shabby place I’d stayed in. If I had walked an extra 30 seconds last evening I’d have seen it, and in another two minutes I’d have been there. (sigh) Lesson learned, move on.
It had snowed very briefly around dawn, just enough to get the roads wet and turn the dirt on the shoulder of the road into mud. However, I noticed that several westbound vehicles had several centimetres of snow covering their hoods and roofs. As I kept walking, the snow on the ground gradually increased, but apparently some regions in İstanbul got hit hard, by their standards at least. (Everybody in North America, stop sniggering!)
One constant was the crosswind. It was even stronger than yesterday, and the air temperature was just a little lower. I stopped more frequently today, just to allow the left side of my face to warm up. That also meant several conversations and cups of tea. Tomorrow the temperature is forecast to remain below freezing, so even if the path hasn’t dried out by then, it should at least be solid. Following the advice given me by Oğuz the other day, I’ll be leaving my scarf in my backpack while I’m in Turkey. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll use the t-shirt I’m not wearing to wrap my face and protect it from the wind.
And that just about does it. Tomorrow’s walk will bring me to the coast, but it’s about six kilometres farther than I walked today, so I’d best finish here and get settled for the night.
I empathise. I huddled under an eave to have a dry moment from the cracking storm around me as I walked through Cisa Pass in Italy only to discover if I had walked 30 seconds further there was a cafe where I could have been warm and drinking a great cappuccino. Oops. I don't envy you walking in that freezing weather. Why are you leaving the scarf in your backpack? Did I miss something?
I have very fond memories of that café! They invited me to sit beside the small wood-burning stove to warm up and dry off.
As for the scarf, there is an unfortunate association between a black and white patterned piece of cloth with certain forms of extremism. My young Turkish advisor said that I'd likely be stopped by the police for questioning if they saw me wearing it. Here's a selfie I took in Italy to illustrate:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/phool4xc/15991845635/in/set-72157648279384411?rb=1
This morning when I looked at the weather and saw that the -5 temperature feels like -14 with the wind, I realised I could reverse the scarf so the pattern is on the inside. And if I do get stopped, at least the back seat of a patrol car should be warm!
Ah okay. Now I understand. I really don't envy that weather.