Continent Forums

As cliche as it sounds, I found Tilley to have some great gear.
For a two month working-trip in Asia I brought one single pair of pants.

Something like this (although they have a few similar options):
http://www.tilley.com/canada_en/men/pants-shorts/pants/cotton-chino-pants-1.html

You can wash it in the sink and it's dry by the morning, and then you can re-pack it.
I know you'll be in bike-shorts while riding, but for meandering around towns and cities it's nice to look human

I'll second this - even though we stayed pretty close to the Coast (by far the most popular area), we still ended up in ruins that outstrip their Greek counterparts by way of being almost wholly undisturbed, and we would be alone!! Wild. The Greek/Roman Empire may be named for the area that centres on Athens, but it's heritage and legacy goes far beyond that. For a long time The West of Turkey was as integral to the Empire as the Islands themselves. These towns are definitely bikable.
Start in Ephesus and see the old seats of the Greek Empire!

Hi Ira!

Isaac and I recently returned home from a trip to Turkey. We began in Istanbul and then made our way to Izmir where we quickly rented a car and sought to explore the "countryside" areas (i.e. not sprawling metropoli) of the country.

The number one question I got prior to going, from friends and family alike, was "why?" -- why on earth would we choose Turkey when there were so many "beautiful" places to visit. It seems like a very stigmatized place and when tourists do go, they tend to stick to the urban centres.

Isaac and I found the less popular towns and cities in the country to be amazing. Every city, it seems, has some sort of greco-roman-jewish history and it was fascinating to explore. Many places outside of the cities had sights were Isaac and I were the only observers.

It's definitely a place I would recommend exploring.

Christie

I tried to make it small and attach it... Maybe this will work.

I think there's a "standard route" for people travelling the 3000km across North America near the 49th parallel. Actually, I think there are two routes.
1) take the Trans-Canada Highway
2) Drop down to the US at some point (some people say the whole way just below the border, some say just to get under the Great Lakes) and hug the border.

I think it would be cool to see some Canadian cities and towns that AREN'T on this well travelled road. Stay off the Highway 1, or at least veer off often and see places that aren't kept alive by a gas station and 4 fast-food joints.

Unfortunately, I think the most exciting cities are probably far north. Talk about Stigmatized, ignored, etc...