Good morning Turkey!
At the Ceyhan municipality building we grouped together with local runners and sportsmen.
Together we ran across the city.
On the way meeting people, already busy.
And arriving at the local school where big crowds were already waiting.
We ran around the playfield with the torch.
And took a big, big picture of everybody.
Pranava from Iceland raced the kids and ended up on the 3rd place.
Before running off we have taken another picture with athletes helping us to go through the city.
There are still remnants of ancient fortresses on the hills around.
And sometimes it's difficult to get through the goats, sheep and other local citizens.
Even though it's easy to find peanuts in the fields around.
While entering Yakapınar we encountered a Syrian family living in crude conditions. Some of the Syrians manage to get well in Turkey while others have serious troubles. They were happy to see us nevertheless!
Yakapınar used to be a capital of south Armenian kingdom housing around 100 000 citizens! Now only few signs of its former glory are visible around the small village.
The mayor invited us to the museum of mosaics. It contains many, many pieces from the ancient city.
On the way out we stopped by in the school as the kids were just having a break.
Yakapınar has also received the Certificate of Appreciation for taking part in the run.
While drinking çay in local teahouse we found out one of the guys sitting there was a local marathon runner.
He quickly joined us for few kilometers on our way to Adana.
In Adana we picked up our new Turkish runner, Ali, and after a quick lunch we set out towards Yenice.
We met with locals at the municipality.
And arrived to the school.
Peace Run, Peace Run, Peace Run, tra la lala.
Yenice has a very strong peaceful atmosphere.
Thank you for a nice welcome!
As a reminder to the time we spend together locals have planted Peace Tree in the garden.
We also visited local cemevi. It is a place where Alevi muslims meet and pray together.
It has a truly peaceful atmosphere!
Soon we set out to finish the last kilometers to Tarsus.
And said goodbye (until Sunday) to our amazing local coordinator and runner Sayra!
For dinner Nadir Bey, who organized our events in Tarsus, invited us for excellent food to one of the municipality-run restaurants in Tarsus.
