180 Cycle Touring Turkey (3)
A Passage into Turkey
853 kilometres – 18 DaysChapter 1 - Crossing Borders and Finding
KindnessBatumi lingered behind me as I pedalled south, the Georgian sun
already high. My departure was unhurried, almost reluctant, as if the
road needed coaxing. Fifteen kilometres on, the Gonio Fortress rose
like a sentinel of time. Built by the Romans as a military outpost
between the 1st and 3rd centuries, its bones whispered tales of
Apsaros, of emperors and apostles. I wandered its perimeter,
absorbing the layered history: Roman theatres, Byzantine
reinforcements, Ottoman trade, and the hushed possibility that Saint
Matthias might rest within its walls.
The Byzantines further fortified the site during the 6th and 7th
centuries. Still, it was captured by the Ottomans in 1547 and
remained under Ottoman control until 1878, when it was ceded to the
Russian Empire.
The stones whispered all of it. I lingered longer than planned, then
crossed the border into Turkey. The transition was smooth, almost
anticlimactic. A few stamps, a few questions, and I was through. Just
beyond the checkpoint, I spotted a campsite beside the water. I
hadn’t tested my gear in a while, and the spot felt right—quiet,
shaded, with a small restaurant nearby.