A week off in Istanbul sounded like it would be relaxing and a chance to rest to get ready for the next leg. It wasn't! I had to get 3 visas, which took up the majority of the first 5 days. I had to go to each embassy three times and I was delayed by disorganisation at the embassies and them being closed at random times. After much frustration, 190 dollars, and a lot of patience I managed to get visas for Uzbekistan, Krygyzstan and Kazakhstan in 9 days. I've put some advice about the Istanbul embassies on my website if anyone reading this needs to get any of these visas.
The rest of the first 5 days were spent fixing the bike, ordering parts to be brought from home and planning the next leg to Baku, Azerbaijan. I improved the bike with an air horn which is a lot louder than the bell I had. People should hear me coming now!
After 1 night in a hostel which was run by a drunk guy we moved to a much better one recommended by a cyclist, Paul, we'd met at the Uzbekistan embassy. At this hostel, Sinbad, we met 2 more cyclists, Gordon and Theo. Paul is Dutch and cycling to South East Asia, Gordon is English, from the Isle of Wight, and is off to India having cycled through Europe and Theo is French and has cycled through Turkey. Was good to have a group to hang around with and we went to some bars and watched man u beat Schalke in the Champions League.
By the weekend I was getting frustrated that I hadn't had much time to look around Istanbul. Nino's family arrived on Friday night to spend the weekend with him and very kindly put me up in a posh hotel and bought me some very nice meals! I visited all the sights with them: the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, the Grand Bazaar, Topkafi Palace and others. It was a lovely weekend and I was overwhelmed by their generosity. I would never have been able to afford to see all the sights, the hotel was a huge luxury (particularly the breakfast buffet which I made the most of) and the company was great.
On Tuesday I finally had my visas and was ready to go. I left the others and Nino, who I'd cycled with since Austria. He's become a good friend and I'm sure we'll stay in touch. Laura is coming to turkey in two weeks to Trabzon so I've got a long way to go to make sure I'm there on time. I'm anticipating a hard couple of weeks. The Black Sea road is very hilly!
Istanbul is a fantastic city and I definately recommend visiting it.
The rest of the first 5 days were spent fixing the bike, ordering parts to be brought from home and planning the next leg to Baku, Azerbaijan. I improved the bike with an air horn which is a lot louder than the bell I had. People should hear me coming now!
After 1 night in a hostel which was run by a drunk guy we moved to a much better one recommended by a cyclist, Paul, we'd met at the Uzbekistan embassy. At this hostel, Sinbad, we met 2 more cyclists, Gordon and Theo. Paul is Dutch and cycling to South East Asia, Gordon is English, from the Isle of Wight, and is off to India having cycled through Europe and Theo is French and has cycled through Turkey. Was good to have a group to hang around with and we went to some bars and watched man u beat Schalke in the Champions League.
By the weekend I was getting frustrated that I hadn't had much time to look around Istanbul. Nino's family arrived on Friday night to spend the weekend with him and very kindly put me up in a posh hotel and bought me some very nice meals! I visited all the sights with them: the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, the Grand Bazaar, Topkafi Palace and others. It was a lovely weekend and I was overwhelmed by their generosity. I would never have been able to afford to see all the sights, the hotel was a huge luxury (particularly the breakfast buffet which I made the most of) and the company was great.
On Tuesday I finally had my visas and was ready to go. I left the others and Nino, who I'd cycled with since Austria. He's become a good friend and I'm sure we'll stay in touch. Laura is coming to turkey in two weeks to Trabzon so I've got a long way to go to make sure I'm there on time. I'm anticipating a hard couple of weeks. The Black Sea road is very hilly!
Istanbul is a fantastic city and I definately recommend visiting it.
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