Istanbul

The Day After: 4000 km, 39 ride days, 50 total days, and eight countries.

What a great way to end this trek. Last night we had a harrowing taxi ride to and from a beautiful outdoor restaurant for the final meal, a fantastic slide show, and farewell to the team. It is with mixed feelings we ended this adventure, but all agreed it was time. Eight are continuing on for an additional four months to Beijing…thankfully not me.

This morning, our Turkish guide arranged a city tour for 15 of us that showed what an amazing place this is. Istanbul is a modern city of officially 14 million and unofficially 20 million. Building a Mosque is one of the ways to get to heaven, so the city has 4000. We found it to be modern, very clean, busy, and friendly.

We got a tour of the ancient city cistern, the Blue Mosque, Sophia, and the Grand Bazaar (comprised of 4000 shops making it the largest tourist trap in the world). Interestingly, we all seemed to just take it in, but were already maxed out with 50 days of images and experiences. Istanbul is fantastic, but I am in overload. I’ll have to return with Sandra and do the city justice.

On this quest I found that America is still a great country, but Europe and the European Union are rapidly catching up. Americans are still well liked, but not so with the American government. Change is in the air everywhere. The simple things in bring happiness and contentment.

So I end this saga…4000 km along the Orient Express and I rode EFI (Every Fantastic Inch) and the second continent I’ve crossed.

July 20, Tayakadin to Istanbul, 46 km, Day 50

Finish Line! Yea!!

This was the last ride day. It was supposed to be a scenic Sunday morning country ride to the Bosporus, and then a 20 km group ride along the waterway to the hotel in downtown Istanbul. However, the road was closed for construction and we had to take the main highway through an industrial part of town. We found out that Sunday is a busy work day in a Muslim country, but the shoulders were wide and drivers courteous.

The Bosporus is a strategic 20 mile long waterway that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and separates Europe from Asia. Istanbul is built up on both sides of the one to two mile wide waterway. When I arrived it was quite dramatic, with bright blue sky, clear green water, and ships cruising past. We did an obligatory group photo shoot, and boarded a ferry for the 20 km boat ride to our hotel. After being in what seemed to be wilderness, the views from this waterway were stunning. We passed under two Golden Gate suspension bridges, and saw what is reported to be the most expensive water view property in the world - $5 million to $500 million homes.

All 40 of us thought this was a fitting end, but a bitter sweet moment. It was wonderful to check into a first class hotel in a world class city, and not be thinking about getting prepared for the next leg of the bike ride!

July 19, Saray to Tayakadin, 90 km

Bush Camp!

This was our last long ride and was over hilly back roads with 3200 feet of climbing. Most of the scenery was forrest, but along the way, three of us stopped in a farm village for a coke. The owner of the small grocery store gave us drinks and brought up chairs, insisting we sit and rest. Unfortunately, we didn’t speak Turkish and he only knew a little German. These Turks are amazingly friendly people. My ride group didn’t want me to wear any USA jerseys and even gave me a Canadian flag to fly on the back of the bike. I have not seen any hint of anti-Americanism. The word from our , Cim, is American tourist are great, Pres Bush and the American government is terrible, with the mess created in Iraq.

Our last night out is camping on a scenic hill top that looks out over a farm valley and the Black Sea. However, it doesn’t have a shower and the toilets are squatters. The staff, being quite resourceful, rigged up tarps with buckets of water for us to use with our water bottles and have an improvise shower. It was wonderful getting the sun block and salt off. Some of the riders that traveled across Africa said they got used to not showering, so this was not a big deal. The shower was essential for the rest of us.

We had quite a barbeque feast and watched a great sunset from our hilltop vantage point…a fitting final night.

Kirlclarili to Saray, July 18, 77km

What a Friendly Country!

This was a good ride day on good roads. The drivers are the best anywhere, giving bikers plenty or room, and a friendly toot when passing or approaching. The towns folks wave and cheer when we pass through. It doesn’t get any friendlier.

I stopped and took a picture of several towns’ people milling wheat on a town street. They insisted I retake the picture with them waving and posing. The country side is rolling hills with fields of sunflowers and wheat. Most farmers have modern American tractors.

Several of us went to the city park and sat with the locals and people watched for several hours as we drank tea. It was interesting to watch a Gypsy mother work her two young boys. She would send them off to stand by people ordering snacks and look hungry. The unsuspecting patrons would invariably order for them too, and the boys would bring the booty back for mom to stuff in a bag. In two hours she had quite a haul.

The hotel was worthy of mention. Just down the street was a Mosque that we could listen to prayer calls. The Saray Hotel had cable TV in each room and one of the ten channels was the Hustler Channel with continuous porn movies. This country is sure one of color and contrasts.

July 17, Kirklareli Rest Day, Day 47

Three More Ride Days to Istanbul

Today Cem offered to take us on a day trip of an ancient Turkish capital. I know it would have been informative and entertaining, but we declined. Most of us need just a relaxing rest day with minimal information or excitement.

I had a leisurely two hour breakfast with the group, where we rehashed and solved world problems. Then we explored the town, a bazaar, had Turkish coffee (exceptionally strong espresso), a lunch with locals, and a Turkish haircut (first in six weeks). Some one really appreciates the simple life.

We learned from Cem that the new conservative Muslim government has imposed a sin tax on beer and wine, which has driven up the price and frustrated many of the locals.

July 16, Malko Tarnovo to Kirklareli, TURKEY, 50 km

Goodbye Bulgaria, Welcome Turkey!

Today the ride was short, but very hilly, with some rain and cool temps. The border crossing was on a forested mountain top. This crossing was like the old days where one has to wait in lines for an hour and pay for a visa - $20 for me. It is clear we are in a different world from Eastern Europe – all the towns have mosques, the older women are covered and only kids wear shorts (young people are in jeans and T-shirts). There are lots of stores that sell everything, but the price of beer and food has doubled.

We picked up a great Turkish guide, Cim (pronounced Jim) who gave us a walking tour of the city, and showed hundred year old Greek homes that are being restored. We seem to be somewhat celebrities to the city fathers who arranged a wonderful dinner for us at a Turkish restaurant. The city is starting to promote itself as a tourist stop, and we appear to be an international group to carry the word to the outside world. Kirklarili is a fun little city with very friendly people. The mayor has promised to personally ride with us out of town and provide a police escort!

July 15, Aheloi to Malko Tarnovo, 105 km

A Night in an Old Hospital

After a long, hot, and hilly ride, we made it to our hotel – an old town hospital that has been converted to a hostel. Three of us stayed in a room with hard cots and five shared a bathroom. The bathroom was a little primitive, there was no A/C on a hot night, and all night the local dogs barked. It was a fun stay, though.

The ride was inland on a secondary road, so we felt much safer today, where we could look at the country side and visit with each other. We stopped at a small farm town for a Coke, and shared a three litre bottle that cost $1.20. During the break, we were entertained by and accordion player who thought we were French going to Istanbul, so he played French songs.

July 14, Varna to Aheloi, 107 km

A Day Full of Excitement!

This was a hot and hilly day for all of us, with 4000 feet of climbing as we rode up and down Black Sea coastal mountains. There were lots of memories today.

Leaving Varna, we were greeted by a beautiful hooker standing on the side of the road. On down the road I even came across some wild pigs rooting around a fruit tree.

About an hour out of town, I pulled ahead of the group I was riding with, only to find that they had become a part of a spectacular car accident. A car pulled off the road and without checking proceeded to do a U-turn in he highway, only to be T-boned by an approaching car. It was in-between a gap of bikers. There was a huge crash with smoke and flying glass. Both cars one car went in the ditch and the driver of one was unconscious with a propane bottle leaking. The guys were heroic in stopping traffic and extracting the hurt driver. Instead of being local news, they hit the road as soon as an ambulance arrived, with traffic was backed up over a kilometre in both directions.

I found the Romanian drivers to be on the wild side. Many of the Black Sea towns we rode through were booming with high-rise development and lots of new luxury cars on the road. These drivers had a burning desire to pass in all kinds of conditions. It was quite unnerving to be biking on the edge of the road and have someone in oncoming traffic pull out in front of me to pass, and take up my lane too. Several times I had to bail off the road and into the dirt.

We stayed in a small coastal village, that is being rapidly converted into a seaside resort, where we stayed in three small family run hotels of about a dozen rooms each. It was quite a treat, in that there was a swimming pool, and restaurant with cheap food and drink. That evening, two talented musicians came and played Romanian and old American songs until late.

July 13, Varna Rest Day

A Day at the Beach

Last night a group of us ate at a local Turkish restaurant. We had a sampling from the menu and it was excellent...cheap too. The local beer is Zagorko, which is magnificant and a dollar for half a liter. The promenade was packed with young people cursing, people watching, and hitting the restaurant/bars. As a bunch of camping bikers, we feel like we have gone to heaven.

This morning we had the hotel breakfast on the 17th story, with a magnificent panoramic view of the city and Black Sea. During breakfast, we watched a cruise ship pull into the port.

The sandy beach is not very large, but is packed with swimmers and sunbathers. The Black Sea water is relative warm and not quite as salty as the ocean. Many of the women sunbathe topless, which is quite a surprise for the Americans and Canadians. The European members say this is quite common, and around the Mediterranean, a larger proportion of the women are topless. Wow!

For my Canadian friend, Don, who had to leave the ride midway because of a fall: You had a quest to find European women with hairy legs and armpits, which we understood was a key reason for doing the ride. I am sorry to inform you that after surveying the beach, even this part of the world has progressed and these women don't appear to exist.

July 12, Shumen to Varna, 95km

A Black Sea Resort!

Today everyone was excited about riding hard and getting to the beach. It turned out to be another hot and hilly day, with everyone arriving dehydrated.

This is quite an impressive seaport and resort town on the Black Sea. In the Communist era it was developed to reward the Party members with an exotic vacation.

Our hotel is a relative modern 17 story building right on the main walking plaza to the beach. It reminds me of South Beach, Miami. The plaza and beach front are packed with young people. One really takes notice of all the tall and thin young women in their short-shorts. This has been somewhat of a surprise because we are starting to transition into the Muslim part of the world. The town has been discovered by Western Europe because there are lots of tourists and inexpensive ocean view property advertised.

July 11, Ruse to Shuman, Bulgaria, 134 km

Hilly, Hot, Hard

This was a tough ride day with 5000 feet of climbing country roads. I got a good look at Bulgarian farming and found it to be a huge change from Romania. Here, the farms are Mid-West USA size with modern US farm machinery. From horizon to horizon, we rode past large fields of wheat being harvested and sunflowers tracking the sun. The small farm villages did have some peasant farmers with donkey drawn carts, but these villages were mostly deserted. Apparently, the rural population is leaving the country side and moving into the cities. The other big change from Romania is there are fewer stray dogs, and all those have been friendly. The roads are a marked improvement over Romania too, so I can travel faster and look at the country side instead of threading around potholes.

Tonight we are in a hotel again, because the campsites are reported to be primitive. The Shuman hotel is relatively modern…especially by the old Soviet standard. I did note the bathroom had a pale of water by the toilet, so there must be a problem with water pressure.

Another big change in Bulgaria is the writing in Cyrillic, which is noticeably different from the English alphabet. Most of the riders rode right past our hotel because they couldn’t read its name, which was given to us in English and posted in Cyrillic. Many, but not all, of the road signs are in both Cyrillic and English. Most of the young people have studied English, so the country is quite English friendly. Food and drink are excellent and cheap!

July 10, Buchorest to Ruse, Bulgaria, 104 km

Goodbye Romania, Hello Bulgaria…Almost Camped in Brothel

We got our much appreciated police escort out of this bustling city during rush hour. Three hours later, we were at the Danube River, for the last time, and across into Bulgaria, where my passport was checked and stamped. Ruse is a river port city and appeared to be a dumpy place, dominated by rundown Soviet era apartment flats. However, I went into town to get money exchanged and found the city center is had a wonderful park and walking mall…another city in slow transition.

Today we were scheduled to camp on the grounds of a motel and restaurant about 8 km out of town. The staff said it was OK for us, but had us wait until the owner arrived after noon, before setting up. Well, the owner arrived and said this would not work out. The motel rooms had been rented to road construction crews and they were followed by prostitutes (some of which were already there). When the sun went down, the guys liked to get drunk and fight, so he didn’t want a bunch of camping bikers in the middle of it. Rats!

So off we went to a lake side park about 15 km down the road. This was bush camping, with no showers and a primitive hole in the floor toilet. I managed to find a spring and got a sponge bath, so it worked out. Another adventure.