After endless passport checks we crossed the border into Turkey. 2 more days hard cycling and then a week off! Not a bad motivation to keep going! My body was feeling the strain now though and waking up at 6 every morning to cycle all day was difficult. I needed a break. My bike was feeling the strain too. The once perfectly smooth drivetrain was loud, squeeky and needed a clean and chain replacement. The rear wheel also had a buckle from one of the potholes no doubt and needed to be straightened. I thought I could make it to Istanbul before fixing it though.
We crossed the border to a Muslim call to prayer. For some reason I expected European Turkey to be an extension of Eastern Europe with churches rather than mosques but it definately wasn't. We were in a completely different culture and so close to Asia. We managed a few more miles that evening and made it to Erdirne, a lively town with a fantastic byzantine mosque. We met the Erdirne bicycle club who were very interested in our ride. While we talked a young guy brought us tea without us asking saying "welcome to Turkey". The novelty of a heavily laden bike encourages people to approach you and they want to share their culture with you, usually in the form of food or drink!
A guy from the bike club went to fetch his bike and took us to a fantastic campsite where they let us stay for free and brought drinks and water for us. I fell asleep with Turkish singing and drumming by the nearby river in my ears and a smile on my face!
The next morning Joachim, the security guard at the campsite saw us eating yogurt and muesli for breakfast and made a disgusted face. 5 mins later he brought a bowl of bread, cheese, olives, cucumber and tomatoes and cups of coffee. A great start to the day!
Unfortunately the road from Erdirne to Istanbul isn't beautiful. A big dual carriageway but with a generous space on the side of the road so it was safe. The road surface had just been relaid so we made good progress in the morning despite the constant climbs up hills. We went through more towns and got given more tea and were interrogated by various people every time we stopped. Some school girls thought we must be famous so took our photos! By the evening we arrived in Çorlu having battled against a headwind all afternoon. We went to a lorry park to try to camp there. We couldn't but a smiling fat lorry driver with a great mustache brought us yet more tea. Next we tried a BP garage and they let us camp on some grass by the forecourt. Alan Partridge would have loved it!
In the morning we set off for Istanbul, after being bought coffee by one of the pump fillers who had worked all night. We rode along the same dual carriageway all morning and arrived on the outskirts of Istanbul by lunchtime. We had made it to the Mediterranean! 40 km of manic urban sprawl separated us from the Bosphorus and Asia. We entered Istanbul on a terrifying motorway on Easter Sunday. We thought that it might be a bit quieter than usual today but nope! After crossing lanes and negotiating junctions we arrived at a bridge into the main city. We followed the sea round a headland on a bike path and in the distance the towers of the blue mosque appeared. Asia was in sight over the Bosphorus and we were so close. Then psssssh, a nail went through my tyre! I examined back wheel and found 2 broken spokes. So close but I now had to repair a wheel and fix a puncture. It took about an hour but my newly straight wheel was fine and we set of to Sultanahmet, the area around the Blue Mosque. We found a hostel with some space and took it.
I had conquered Europe! Asia is waiting over the Bosphorus and all I have to do now is get some visas. Tonight I have to decide which ones!
We crossed the border to a Muslim call to prayer. For some reason I expected European Turkey to be an extension of Eastern Europe with churches rather than mosques but it definately wasn't. We were in a completely different culture and so close to Asia. We managed a few more miles that evening and made it to Erdirne, a lively town with a fantastic byzantine mosque. We met the Erdirne bicycle club who were very interested in our ride. While we talked a young guy brought us tea without us asking saying "welcome to Turkey". The novelty of a heavily laden bike encourages people to approach you and they want to share their culture with you, usually in the form of food or drink!
A guy from the bike club went to fetch his bike and took us to a fantastic campsite where they let us stay for free and brought drinks and water for us. I fell asleep with Turkish singing and drumming by the nearby river in my ears and a smile on my face!
The next morning Joachim, the security guard at the campsite saw us eating yogurt and muesli for breakfast and made a disgusted face. 5 mins later he brought a bowl of bread, cheese, olives, cucumber and tomatoes and cups of coffee. A great start to the day!
Unfortunately the road from Erdirne to Istanbul isn't beautiful. A big dual carriageway but with a generous space on the side of the road so it was safe. The road surface had just been relaid so we made good progress in the morning despite the constant climbs up hills. We went through more towns and got given more tea and were interrogated by various people every time we stopped. Some school girls thought we must be famous so took our photos! By the evening we arrived in Çorlu having battled against a headwind all afternoon. We went to a lorry park to try to camp there. We couldn't but a smiling fat lorry driver with a great mustache brought us yet more tea. Next we tried a BP garage and they let us camp on some grass by the forecourt. Alan Partridge would have loved it!
In the morning we set off for Istanbul, after being bought coffee by one of the pump fillers who had worked all night. We rode along the same dual carriageway all morning and arrived on the outskirts of Istanbul by lunchtime. We had made it to the Mediterranean! 40 km of manic urban sprawl separated us from the Bosphorus and Asia. We entered Istanbul on a terrifying motorway on Easter Sunday. We thought that it might be a bit quieter than usual today but nope! After crossing lanes and negotiating junctions we arrived at a bridge into the main city. We followed the sea round a headland on a bike path and in the distance the towers of the blue mosque appeared. Asia was in sight over the Bosphorus and we were so close. Then psssssh, a nail went through my tyre! I examined back wheel and found 2 broken spokes. So close but I now had to repair a wheel and fix a puncture. It took about an hour but my newly straight wheel was fine and we set of to Sultanahmet, the area around the Blue Mosque. We found a hostel with some space and took it.
I had conquered Europe! Asia is waiting over the Bosphorus and all I have to do now is get some visas. Tonight I have to decide which ones!
Congratulations for conquering the Europe. God, you guys are so fast. It seems to me that we met just couple of days ago...
ReplyDeleteIt's great you got all of the visas.
I wish you all the luck for the rest of your trip. I will follow your blog and your progress. Keep in touch.
Take care,
Dragan