This one is short and sweet, unlike the actual situation which was short and fierce.
I was cycling towards Lake Tuz, the Salt Lake, and then on to Ankara, the capital city, where I would make my departure out of Turkey, to India.
The roads were beautiful, rural with very little around besides lots of agriculture and a few hills. I was really in the middle of nowhere with the nearest large town around 70 km away from me.
I’m following a nice road, surrounded by fields, and in the distance, I see a small hill to climb, only around 70 meters high or something like that, and a flock of sheep beside the foot of the hill. A very common sight in these areas. Turkey has a rich culture of Shepards, with sheep being one of the main cattle. These Shepards are normally a little older, quite haggard looking, and normally poor, but are quite nice. They also have a dog with them. Protecting the herd.
We’ve all seen dogs in our local areas. And they’re normal-sized. And occasionally, when your out and about, you’ll see a really big dog, and it blows your mind. How can a dog actually get that big? Well, I reckon they might have some Turkish blood in them. Never had I seen in my life, the size of these dogs! They’re massive. These aren’t the normal street dogs you see, which in Turkey are also abnormally large, but these are the Shepard dogs. Sometimes bigger than the animals they’re trying to protect. Sometimes they’re as big as a donkey. It absolutely blew my mind!