track and it had been an eventful morning . Stopping for a quick break outside the local dairy coop , we had soon found ourselves sharing cigarettes and ayran with the workers . The quintessentially Turkish salty yoghurt drink was followed by an invitation into the back kitchens for a fragrant homecooked vegetable stew and fresh tomatoes with onions and soft cheese . Over the meal the workers had discussed the difficult road ahead but had declared that our bikes should make it .
The deeply rutted track of dried mud was challenging with our limited off-road experience and soon Aidan ’ s bike had overheated . His battery had been dead since yesterday and so we had left his bike running , even during breaks , as each new start meant jumping it off my bike ’ s battery . We had climbed down to the river for a quick dip in the refreshing water and brought more to pour over the hot engine .
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