As the title of this blog suggests, I’ve started writing this post from the home of arrivals and departures, an airport (note that I say started writing, not posting, as dodgy internet and a very delayed flight has meant that the posting is happening from our next destination).
To be specific – we are at ISTANBUL Airport.
Which means lots of things:
(1) OMG – somehow we made it!
(2) Stage 1 of the trip has come to an end
(3) Stage 2 of the trip is just beginning as we are soon to board a flight for Bangkok, Thailand – where we will be cycling for a couple of weeks ahead of (Matt) attending a stag do and (both of us) a wedding at the end of July. Operation tan-line removal needs to commence, stat.
It’s definitely feeling like a time of transition and overall weirdness as we swap the bikes for a slightly faster (albeit much less environmentally friendly) form of transport. It’s also bittersweet – we are elated to have made it all the way to Istanbul but by boarding this flight shortly we are soon to be leaving Europe properly behind.
First things first – we left you all on our last night in Bulgaria, fully clothed, eagerly awaiting a double border crossing day!
All went smoothly with cycling into Greece and across the whole country (OK – just that sticky-up bit in the North-Eastern corner) and then into Turkey. The most notable things being how flat and fast the day of riding was and the slightly bizarre experience of leaving Greece via a small road (we might even call it a country lane in the UK) and entering Turkey on the other side of some barbed wire no-man’s land, onto a perfectly tarmaced three lane (both ways) highway (with no one else but us and the very odd car making use of it). Weird but made for a straightforward roll most of the way into Edirne, our first town in Turkey – exciting (and scary, new country vibes after all…!)
We had a whole afternoon in Edirne but quickly realised that we had timed our first day in Turkey for the first day of Eid al-Adha which meant that a lot of eateries/shops were closed. After much sweaty marching about we eventually found a family run Döner house (also serving Lahmacun – which it turns out is another, less famous in the UK, Turkish speciality).
We wolfed a meal down realising that we hadn’t had anything since some jam and bread at breakfast (I ordered a kebap, Matt a Lahmacun – he got food envy and so then ordered a kebap as well!) We did some more traipsing and generally acclimatised to what felt like a surge in heat and general very noticeable ‘change’ from Bulgaria. We even had several occasions of being mistaken for Bulgarians in Edirne, we guess due to the proximity to the border and therefore the assumption that foreigners must be Bulgarian. Or maybe our Bulgarian has just got really really good…
Onwards the next morning with four days of cycling expected to get us to Istanbul (at this point we could almost smell the finish line!) We had spent a fair amount of time researching the route and after much googling, reading of blogs and groups and interrogating maps we decided to go for an indirect route going slightly further North than theoretically needed to ultimately take us into the city along the Bosphorus, the narrow channel of sea separating Europe from Asia (sounds alright doesn’t it?)
After all of the crazy traffic in Croatia, and a general aversion to enormous and busy roads whilst travelling by bike we really wanted to get this right – there are some real horror stories of cycling into the city (which it turns out has a population of 15.5million!) – horror was not how we wanted to end this part of our adventure.
Overall we think we succeeded with the route plotting. The first day to Kirklareli was generally very good, either on a quiet single lane road, or switching it up onto very new dual carriageway with a huge hard shoulder (and again very little traffic). Rolling countryside kept it interesting and Kirklareli was a surprisingly lovely place made even better by a few more eateries being open and a bit of a holiday atmosphere in the air.
We also lucked out with another cheap but very lovely hotel in an old Ottoman house which despite the lack of air conditioning (uh oh) was a real treat.
Day 2 was similar, until about two thirds of the way to our destination when the road became much less quiet and we were battling with being overtaken a lot, a bit too close for our tastes. All good though as we rolled into Saray early afternoon to our accommodation – Elit Hotel (perfect for us ‘elit’ cyclists).
Alas, it wasn’t only the missing ‘e’ that made the name slightly inaccurate. It was probably the worst place we’ve ever stayed in but we won’t dwell on it as we had a fab doner and treated ourselves to probably too many pieces of baklava that evening (probably one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten). The thought of camping at a motorway service station suddenly seemed more tempting (our back up plan if we couldn’t find anywhere else, due to lack of campsites).
Day 3 we beat the traffic by getting up super early and despite a doggo chase scare we made good time, made even better by a Turkish coffee + baklava stop (a winning combo), as well as picking up some fruit and veg at a roadside stall (thought we had better top up our vitamins and minerals after all…)
And suddenly, somehow it was Istanbul-eve!! The excitement was palpable now (as well as the disbelief – how have we cycled all this way?!)
We spent the night at another cheap hotel right near the main road which meant we were able to roll off super early for what we knew might be an interesting day. It went like this:
(1) Super speedy and somehow pretty safe 30km on a three lane highway with big hard shoulder past the airport. Not the sort of road we tend to cycle on but needs must and it was the fastest 30km we’ve done the whole trip, easily.
(2) Super pretty and hilly forest section with picnic spots filling up with local families and lots of shade (20km)
(3) Cruising along the Bosphorus along with Istanbul’s road cyclists, out for their Sunday morning rides (15km)
(4) Madcap 5km to end it, of taxis zooming everywhere, trams, pedestrians, mounting pavements etc etc
And then… all of a sudden… we had MADE IT (to the Galata Bridge, right in the middle of Istanbul)! I say all of a sudden, I’m not sure if over 5,000km and goodness knows how many hours in the saddle counts as ‘sudden’ but until that moment I wasn’t really sure we would or could actually get there, to this mystical destination which we had kept talking about with each other, and using as the answer to the question we had been asked literally hundreds of times (‘where are you going?)
I burst into tears (obvs), Matt beamed from ear to ear, we hugged, stopped a passerby for many photos, took many photos and then plonked ourselves down at the nearest establishment selling beer (somehow very easy on this occasion, less so elsewhere we would soon find out) and purchased two big ones and some chips, thanks to Hannah and Jody’s generous gift of lira before we left.
I am being serious when I say that many many times, I had doubted if those lira were going to get spent. But, despite the fact that they have been the victim of some extreme inflation recently, the beers they purchased were cold and delicious, tasting of elation, relief and adventure. We started the de-brief over them which mainly involved some mutual appreciation, and lots of thanks on my part.
I wouldn’t have made it without Matt. He’s helped me to overcome some fears (just riding through them I guess) as well as believing that I could do it – which is sometimes all you need to do something. Someone you love believing in you.
On reflection this was really important to us, to get to Istanbul (despite agreeing that in the scheme of things it didn’t really matter what we ended up doing, or where we ended up).
For those who have read some of the earlier posts on this blog, or talked to us about our fertility journey – we both struggled with the feelings of failure that this brought. After all, however hard we tried (and we really did try) we couldn’t succeed in becoming parents. This of course doesn’t replace that – nothing will. But feeling that we have taken that deep sadness, and battled through, turning it into getting somewhere far away, with only each other and our own bodies (which didn’t fail us this time), felt good.
After a second beer (one was never going to be enough) we did a winning combination of cycling/scooting/pushing to get to our hotel on the other side of the bridge. There is no doubt that attempting to cycle in the middle of Istanbul is…challenging to say the least! Attested to by the look of horror and bewilderment at reception at our hotel when we appeared with our bikes. No, we’re not going to park them in a multi storey car park – they can come in our room thankyouverymuch!
And so began four days in this gigantic, beautiful, complicated, energetic, historic and exhausting city. Despite being pretty tired, we’ve managed to fit in a lot – I’ll let Matt’s pictures fill you in:
Some personal highlights:
Something that has followed us through Turkey and reached its peak here in Istanbul has been Matt’s popularity with Turkish men of a certain age (not like that). Mainly in eating establishments, they like giving him a back slap or a shoulder squeeze, we think mainly because they are pleased, with how pleased Matt is, with what he has eaten/how much he has eaten and (a bit like a dog) want to give him a congratulatory pat.
Milling around the epic Grand Bazaar we (unsurprisingly) were hassled a lot by carpet salesmen. This is how one exchange went:
Salesman – ‘Hello sir, you want to buy a carpet?’
Matt – ‘Er, no thank you – we’re not really looking to buy’
Salesman – ‘Yes but you want a carpet’
Matt – ‘I’m afraid I don’t as I’ve cycled here so I don’t really have space’
Salesman – ‘Aha, but look how small it folds! (Demonstrating)’
Matt – ‘That’s interesting, but we really are travelling light. Guess how many pairs of pants I have with me? Just the one!’
Salesman – ‘Oh. But it would look good in your house. We can post it’
Matt – ‘We don’t have a house, we live in a tent’
Salesman walks off
Lots about Istanbul has changed from when I was last here (in c.2008 with my sister Katie) but the busy-ness and hassle levels definitely haven’t. So after a few days of the above, plus being offered more döner kebaps than even Matt can consume and even ‘you want to buy a leather jacket’ at one point (in the sweltering heat) we just went for the no eye contact, completely ignoring all of them approach. As I type I know this sounds rude but somehow it felt like the right approach here, a survival tactic in a place where the energy can sweep you along but also drown you if you don’t look out for yourself.
Good practice for South-East Asia? Maybe – or our hearts will melt and we’ll find ourselves smiling at everyone again as we get back on our bikes.
So what’s next?
At this point, the main thing is getting on the plane and then getting off in Bangkok. Most importantly WITH OUR BIKES. Which we waved goodbye to in their cardboard boxes at oversize luggage.
Then the main thing is getting to our hotel in Bangkok for some sleep as the timing of our flight means we will be ready for some!
And then… I guess it’s back on the bikes for a bit – more turning of the pedals, more looking, seeing and smelling. And inevitably, more eating – we can’t wait!
Postscript
As mentioned, after writing the above we were subjected to an epic six hour delay to our flight which meant we had a night with no sleep at all, and arrived into Bangkok very late. All is good now though and we are loving being back in Thailand already! More updates to come soon. And yes, the bikes made it too so there’s no excuse to not get back on them imminently. We’re all delighted 😉
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