Inevitably, we wake up with a bit of a delay on the next day. We begin by cleaning the equipment caked in mud, witness of our epic tale of the day before.

We then get to know Mikail’s family, who runs the local tavern, and invites us to have tea with fresh hazelnuts in the covered terrace heated by a wood stove. The children charm their public, and as often, facilitating contacts.

The weather is overcast, a shame because the landscape is pretty, apart from the boardwalk in construction and plastic waste (as often unfortunately). After school, it will be direction the playground and an introduction to cutting firewood.

Then, very good news: Mikail seems to know someone who could help us to weld the gallery. Too bad for the meal we were about to start, we follow him to Orhangazi. We arrive a few kilometers further in front of the workshop of our dreams belonging to Erkan, welder of gates and other ferrous materials. No need for much discussion to explain our problem, and Arty is taken care of in the process, while we finish the meal in the back. 1h30 later, with a repaired weld and a consolidated gallery with 4 additional supports (all for 100 TRL), we go back to the lake. Super happy, it’s one less big worry!

Mikail offers to take me shopping instead of all going together with the truck. Here we go for a little surrealistic trip where we try to understand each other between gestures and Google translator, but I’m still pretty  »lost in translation ». He seems to know people in this city, and we even stop at a beach restaurant to taste a piece of meat and Erzurum bread, before returning to the truck for our second night here.

The morning is spent painting anti-rust paint on the new welds, fishing attempts from the pontoon for Edrian, and we leave the beach bar and its friendly owners in the afternoon, weighted with 5 liters of olive oil and their phone numbers, in case we have a problem.

Given the time, we are planning a night stop in the Bursa area, 50 km away.