24 June-1 July 2008

The generosity of the Turkish people has been overwhelming. We’ve been given countless cups of çay, coffee, a bag of tomatoes, dinner, grapes, a plate of sliced watermelon with two sets of Domino pizza cutlery sets to eat it with… Ask for directions and we are surrounded by up to 15 helpers with wild arm movements and rapid debate amongst themselves. Sit on the ground and a table with two chairs will appear. It’s inspiring.

Plovdiv-Istanbul (overnight train)
Another romantic night on a sleeper, only this time we had to share our cabin with our bikes. It was ok to have our trusty wheels with us but it was difficult to get the big guys down the narrow train corridor and they did fall on the Stick when the train came to an abrupt stop at 5.30am.

The train was delayed its departure from Plovdiv by four hours, so by the time we and our bikes were cosy in our cabin it was about 3.30am. We met a dot com millionaire from Napa Valley on holiday in eastern Europe and the time passed quickly listening to his life story.

We parked up in Istanbul for four nights at Paris Hotel and Hostel (cheap, surprisingly fine, breakfast = tomatoes, cucumber, yesterday’s loaf). We did most of the main sights in Istanbul including the Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, The Bosphourus and walking around eating kebabs (which is the hardest kebab to come by?) although a lot of our time was spent planning the next leg of our travels.

After much deliberation we came to the decision to introduce a flight into our overland adventure… we concede defeat to the length of time, cost and red tape required to get into Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and we need to make it to the high ground in Tajikistan and Kyrgistan before the chill sets in.

Unfortunately the Solar Charger (a leaving present to the Roller from his colleagues at SEPA) did not arrive – however, if it does turn up arrangements have been made to see that it is forwarded on to a new location (which is currently secret). Fingers crossed.

Istanbul-Karacabey (82km)
After all the planning carried out in Istanbul, the team had forgotten to book the desired ferry to start their cycling in Turkey, so with a quick change of plan we boarded the ferry which crosses the Sea of Marmara to Bursa. We then headed west along the coast and after receiving some roadside advice in Turkish/German/English we found a beach to rest at during the peak heat of the day.

The Roller thought this an excellent opportunity to tan his chest and set about doing so. In the meantime, while the focus was on the chest, the back got badly burnt. The Stick (who also suffered in this incident and was burnt badly) subsequently referred to him as the Red Roller. After the heat died down and our first experience of a free cup of Turkish tea (çay) and chat with some locals we set off to Karcabey to find a cheap hotel and a cold shower to ease the burn.

Karacabey-Biga (123km)
The team wised up to the fact that it heats up to 30C very quickly and decided to get an early start and were on the road by 6am. The Red Roller (following the map) ended up leading the Stick to a promised road that no longer exists, resulting in a 30km detour through the countryside. Needless to say the Stick was very forgiving for this as it was not actually the Red one’s fault. As we could not trust our map we relied on asking the village locals who were always very helpful and offered us tea and even a meal at one point.

As we rolled through the countryside our escort of flies returned (last experienced in Bulgaria). This was much to the annoyance of our Stick and the Red one just muttered something about prefering a Ford Escort instead. Eventually the road reappeared (not quite as printed on the map) and we continued towrds our destination. A slight detour down to the coast in search of a campsite was unsuccessful, but did bring about a free cup of tea and a prolonged chat with a local who especially parked up his tractor and shouted us çay. We then pushed on to the town of Biga where we were completely spent and found a room for the night.

Biga-Lapseki (71km)
The Stick awoke with a huge lower lip and took this as a sign that we had been overdoing things on our Turkish travels so far. We soldiered on with plenty of chapstick and fortunately left the industrial and arid countryside for a much more pleasant area by the Aegean Sea.

We were contemplating our accommodation options over a beverage at a cafe in Lapseki when a voice piped up in English asking if we needed any help. Ilkai and her husband Paz turned out to be a Turkish couple who live in Manchester but have a holiday home near Lapseki.

The cafe we were sitting in was actually a state-run teacher’s organisation. Most towns have them and they seem to be in great locations and always have cheap drinks – and we’ve discovered they do mean tost (paninis) too. Paz arranged accommodation for us at the teacher’s organisation – it’s usually just for teachers but some swift talking from Paz got us a cheap room and overcame the rule for non-married couples not being allowed to share.

We were invited over to Paz and Ilkai’s for dinner that evening and treated to a freshly prepared meal of delectable local dishes and drinks. Our first social engagement since leaving the UK! It was a true feast and brilliant to chat to like-minded souls in English. We hope we can repay you two one day (but we seem to have lost your email address – we blame the raki - so if you’re reading this please get in touch!).

Lapseki-Kabatepe (51km)
We took the ferry from Lapseki to Gallibolu town. Gallibolu is how Gallipoli is written and pronounced in Turkish. We considered camping there for the night but the campsite we were directed to was deserted yet full of tents and had an eerie atmosphere. We decided to wait out the heat of the day and then cycle down the peninsula to Kabatepe, on the west coast. The wind blows in a south south west direction so it pushed us down most of the way. Heaven.