Subasi to Pinarhisar. Northern Turkey.

Well what a day.  Our accommodation last night at the Cleopatra Hotel was pretty good.  For dinner Peter and I went for a walk up to the centre of town which consists of about 10 shops and a couple of tea houses with men sitting out the front sipping on their tea whilst contemplating what their wives were cooking them for dinner.I can't see a problem with that. Our dinner consisted of a bowl of homemade bake beans with some meat.  When you’re hungry, you don’t care how your meal is dished up.  For 2 bowls of food and a cup of tea, came to the princely sum of about 5 dollars.  I was going to bargain to try and get a reduction but I know what Len would have thought and decided against it.  I did manage to bargain on the price of the hotel and got it down from 90 Turkish Lira to 80 for our room.  That was a saving of about $2.50 each for Peter and I.  Now I know some people are going to say, ‘you tight arse’, but its part of the fun in travelling.  I’m honing my bargaining skills.

We ended up crashing at around 9pm and waking around 7am.  We only had 60kms to ride but we knew it was going to be tough with a blistering headwind and rolling hills all the way.  Breakfast was a nice cheese, tomato and olive salad with a couple of slices of bread.  A cup of tea, and the 4 of us were ready to hit the road.

As soon as we left the hotel the wind hit us straight in the face.  This was going to be a long 60kms. We rolled along with Maurice and Mary from Brisbane Australia. Both lovely people and very caring.  They both do a lot of cycling around the world and put our little adventure to shame. 

The traffic was not a problem and everyone would toot their horn and wave at us.  Usually in Australia when someone toots their horn you here, ‘get out the road you f…wit’.  I love Australian drivers.

After riding along with the occasional drink break, it was time for lunch.  We pulled into this small roadside food stand, which had the family house attached and were treated to a really nice lunch.  We had some meat patties, and some salami and an awesome salad.  Washed down with my favorite drink, Coke.After a ½ hour break it was time to get this day over with.  It was now getting close to 2pm and we still had only reached ½ way.  No sooner had we got back on the bike when Peter spotted a little market going on in the town of Binkilic.  We put our bikes up against the wall and were immediately set upon by all the young teenagers, and asked our names, where we come from and where were we going.  I took some nice photos of the kids and had such a rewarding time interacting with some of the most friendly people I’ve met thus far on tour.

I walked into the area where all the ladies were selling food and clothing.  I managed to buy some nice sweet cakes and rice wrapped in grape leaves.  My next door neighbour Stella is a champion at making that stuff.  I paid the lady 2 Turkish lira as that’s all I had on me at the time and with that she just filled up 2 plastic containers full of food.  At the end I had to tell her to stop piling the food in.  I felt bad I only gave her about $1 Australian for all that food.  But she insisted.    We spent about 30 minutes at the local fair, shaking hands, meeting the men, photographing everyone and being overwhelmed with generosity.

Back on the bikes we rolled along for another 1 & ½ hours over rolling hills until we came to the town of Saray.  60kms might seem little, but today we felt every bit of it.  We went to the service station and worked out that we could pitch our tents down at the local football field. The 4 of us set up our tents, organised what food we needed for dinner, and went up to town to stock up.  Maurice was our cook and he made a fantastic dish of noodles, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese. We had a great dinner and free camping to add to our great day on the road in Turkey. 

The sun has now set, the tea is over, and it’s now 10pm and time to hit the sack.

Due to no internet access in the grass paddock last night I finally got wifi in the hotel Onder at Pinarhisar.  We're staying here tonight because Peter has some food poisoning.

Now for today's ride.

My sleep last night was terrible.  No sooner had I put my head on the pillow when a mongrel dog started to bark and bark and bark for the next hour.  I was pissed off.  And the mongrel did it again around 4am.  Then it was call to prayer time.  Talk about a shit sleep.  But our campsite in the paddock was free.

When we got up Peter said he wasn't feeling well in the stomach.  This is not good.  We had a long way to ride to day and with a sick stomach you can't afford to push yourself so early on in the tour.  Today was a slow ride with Peter stopping every now and then to recover.  I went through the same situation in Cambodia earlier this year and it's not good.

Instead of riding all the way today, we decided it would be better to stop in the town of Pinarhisar, which was a 48km ride for the day.  Once again long rolling hills all the way.  At one stage earlier on in the day we had to take shelter in a small hut to avoid a downpour.  

We didn't really have a lunch break today as we were more concerned with getting to the next town and finding a hotel for Peter to have a sleep and recover.  We found the hotel onder which the only hotel in town and it's not that bad.  I have Wifi in the room and air con.  The TV in all turkish which is not very helpful.

Whilst Peter was having a sleep, I went for a walk up town with Maurice and Mary. We called into a nice tea house and once again got the chance to speak to the locals over a cup of tea.  I thing I found interesting in this country is that everyone says hello to the tourists on bicycles and the car drivers wave as they pass.

I think tonight will be an early night tonight.  Tomorrow we're hoping to reach the Bulgarian border, but there's more hills on the horizon.  If not, no problem.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

 

 This photo was taken as we were getting ready to leave the hotel in Subasi.

 Peter climbing one of the many hills.  Absolutely no flat roads in the north of Turkey.

 I took this photo yesterday whilst walking around the local markets.  These are the 2 lovely ladies that wouldn't stop piling sweets into my tray.

 One of the children who had to have her photo taken.

 A Turkish market is not a market without the kebab man.

 I think this is one of the best photos on tour.  Peter gave the kids We love the Gong stickers.  Priceless.

 At the end of yesterday, we stopped for a cool drink.  Like usual they had beer and I had coke. Mary is Maurice's partner.

And this the paddock we set up tent last night.  That's Peter playing with his tent. 

We've had 3 great days on the road, today was tought for Peter, but tomorrow can only get better.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

First day out of Istanbul.

Today was the first day on the road.  We got up around 4.45am, which is ridiculous for this person who loves his sleep.  We packed our bikes and headed up to the Blue Mosque where we'll end our ride in 3 & 1/2 months time.  We made our way out of Istanbul around 5.15am and headed for Galata Bridge.  Now I'm not the best person for directions and 9 times out of 10 I'll get you lost.  On this occasion the trusty google maps led us to the D010 and we were off. 

The photo above is on Peter my cycling buddy for this tour.  We stopped at a small town to have a banana roll washed down by water.  Now that's living.

I took the photo of the Blue Mosque last night when we went for a walk of the old city.  It's quite spectacular the changing colours of the Mosque as the sun sets.

Back to the ride.  The traffic along the D010 which led to the D020 was pretty good.  We had a good shoulder to ride on and never felt threatened at all.  I was amazed at the number of stray dogs in this part of the world.  I must have seen over 100 stray dogs today.  Luckily they never attacked as I brought my dog dazer with me.  I was prepared to nuke the little bastards if they came close.

During the ride we rode off the main road and accidentally came across the town of Boyalik.   We were riding up and down cobbled roads and through villages to find the place.  As we got to the bottom of the hill we found this little tea house with about 15 guys all sitting around drinking tea.  I think all the women were at home cooking and cleaning.  Peter and I sat down and enjoyed a couple of cups of tea and communicated with them the best we could.  I have learnt how to say thank you and hello.  This does go along way.

The old men of Boyalik gave us some instructions on the road ahead and we were off. 

At around 1.30pm we decided to take our long break for the day.  We had ridden into a strong headwind with rolling hills all morning I was getting tired.  We found this little roadside guesthouse with some benches that looked perfect for lunch.  I thought I should buy some cokes as we weren't eating any of their food.  After making a nice tune and onion roll, the man of the roadhouse came down with 2 bowls of rice and vegetable soup.  It was beautiful.  Now we were having a great lunch.

Whilst having lunch we saw 2 cyclist riding by. We called out 'Hello' and they turned around and came over for a look.  They had the touring gear, with panniers and tents and were Australians from Brisbane.  Morris and Mary.  Lovely couple.  We rode with them for a couple of kilometres and came across the town of Subasi.  Again we had to get more directions to finally find our final destination for the day.  Although we could have gone on further, we didn't know how far it was to Saray.  We decided to go back to the Cleopatra hotel in Subasi and get a room.  Nice room and we get breakfast.

After a nice shower and wash the gear it's time for food. 

The photo above is of the people who run the small roadside eatery.  No matter where I go on bike tours, I keep meeting some amazing people. 

Tomorrow we hope to reach Pinarhisar which will leave us about 90kms to the Bulgarian border.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Cruising the Bosphorus Strait. Turkey.

 Now if you think that was the ship we cruised the Bosphorus Straits, you're wrong.  We took something that was about 50 years old and just managed to stay above the water line.  The ship in the above photo is one of the many cruise lines that stop off at Istanbul.  This is the option for those who like to sun their ass on a ship while cruising the Mediterranean.  I do know that MSC do a cruise from Sydney to Venice which stops off at Istanbul.  Now that would be a good cruise.

Our cruise was 1 & 1/2 hours up the Bosphorus, and back again.  Stopping off at a couple of ports and finally stopping at the port of Anadolu Kavagi.  As we cruised along the straits we passed the Dolmabahce Palace which we went to yesterday, followed by the Ortakoy Mosque, Beylerbeyi Palace, Goksu Pavilion, finally arriving at Anadolu Kavagi.

Anadalu Kavagi is a nice little seaside port which caters 100% for the tourists who wish to come here and climb to the ruins on top of the surrounding hills.  The place is surrounded by steep walled mountains and over 100 fish restaurants.

 The photo above is looking at the Mosque that overlooks the Galata Bridge and the port where we left from for the cruise up the Bosphorus.

 As we travelled up the straits we got our first glimpse of the Yoros castle which sits above the seaside port  we were heading too. 

 Peter took this photo with the Black Sea in the distance atop of the Yoros Castle.  The climb to the top took about 20minutes.  It was a hot day to be climbing up to the Castle. The view was quite spectacular with the many ships making their way up and down the Bosphorus Strait and heading for ports as far a field as Odessa in the Ukraine.

 Yoros Castle sits on a hill surrounded by steep bluffs overlooking the Bosporus. It is just north of a small fishing village called Anadolu Kavağı, on Macar Bay, and the entire area is referred to as Anadolu Kavağı. This section is one of the narrowest stretches of the Bosporus, and on the opposite shore sits an area called Rumeli Kavağı, which formerly held a fortification similar to Yoros Castle. (Anadolu and Rumeli were Ottoman terms for the Anatolian and European parts of the empire).

Strategically set near the confluence of the Bosporus and the Black Sea, the future site of Yoros Castle was settled by the Phoenicians and Greeks prior to the Byzantine period for trading and military purposes. The Greeks called the area Hieron (Sacred Place). The remains of temples, including Dios, Altar of the Twelve Gods, and Zeus Ourios (Zeus, granter of fair winds) were discovered in the area, dating to centuries BCE.

Yoros Castle was intermittently occupied throughout the course of the Byzantine Empire. Under the Palaiologos dynasty during the decline of the empire, Yoros Castle was well fortified, as was the Rumeli Kavağı on the opposite side of the Bosporus. A massive chain could be extended across the Bosporus between these two points, cutting off the straits to attacking warships, similar to the chain across the Golden Horn which was used to defend Constantinople during the last Ottoman siege by Sultan Mehmed II.
Byzantines, Genoese, and Ottomans fought over this strategic fortification for years.

It was first conquered by Ottoman forces in 1305, but retaken by the Byzantines shortly thereafter. Bayezid I took the castle again in 1391 while preparing for his siege of Constantinople. It was used as his field headquarters during the construction of Anadoluhisarı, one of the more important castles for the siege. In 1399 the Byzantines attempted to take back Yoros Castle. The attack failed, but the village of Anadolu Kavağı was burned to the ground. The Ottomans held the fortress from 1391–1414, losing it to the Genoese in 1414. The forty-year Genoese occupation lent the castle its moniker of Genoese Castle.

Upon Fatih Sultan Mehmed’s conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the presence of the Genoese at such a strategic location posed a threat to the new Ottoman capital. Within a few years, Sultan Mehmed drove the Genoese out. He then fortified the walls, and constructed a customs office, quarantine, and check point, as well as placing a garrison of troops there. Bayezid II (1481–1512) later added a mosque within the castle walls.
Cossack raids had plagued the Ottoman Empire throughout its long history. In 1624 a fleet of 150 Cossack caiques sailed across the Black Sea to attack towns and villages near Istanbul. They struck villages inside the Bosphorus, and Murad IV (1623–1640) refortified Anadolu Kavağı to defend against the fleet. It would prove instrumental in securing the region from seaborne Cossack raids.
Under Osman III (1754–1757), Yoros Castle was once again refortified. Later, in 1783 Abdülhamid I added more watchtowers. After this period, it gradually fell into disrepair. By the time of the Turkish Republic, the castle was no longer used.

 That's Len in the distance walking back down the trail to the port.

 Len waiting for the boat to leave and head back to Istanbul.

The photo above shows one of the many historical sites that litter the shoreline of the Bosphorus Straits. It's really amazing how many Mosque's and religious sites of other denominations are located in this part of the world.

Tomorrow is the day when we start our ride out of Istanbul and head north to Bulgaria.  I think I've got the route planned OK, and we shouldn't have a problem in the world.  Like a walk in the park.  The only bad thing about tomorrow is that I have to get up by 4.45am to leave nice and early and beat the mayhem of city traffic.

If you ever get the chance to come and see Istanbul, you won't be disappointed.  I'm not sure where we'll end up tomorrow or access to the net over the next couple of days.  No need to worry, our weekly update will be posted next Monday.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Video diary.

On this trip we'll be posting video updates along the way.  This way you'll get to see how's we're progressing.  I'm going more hi tech this tour.  Don't expect a grammy performance in video skills, but I'm sure you'll get a laugh.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Sightseeing in Istanbul.

 Today's story is back to front.  After visiting the Haga Sofia we caught the tram out to visit the Dolmabahce Palace.  The photo above is of the front of the Palace.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside.

The Palace's history which I know my good friend David Powell loves to read about as he's a real history buff goes like this.  In the late 1800's a series of lazy and incompetent Sultans had started to push the Ottoman Empire into decline os Sultan Abdulmecid I, the empire's 31st Sultan decided to build Dolmabahce Palace in an effort to get the empire's mojo back.  The Sultan thought the poor Palace was too oriental and felt they needed one more in the image of the Rocco palaces of Austria and France.  It took the Sultan from 1843 to 1853 to complete, but when he was finished the result was a Palace any royal monarch would be happy to call home.  In all the Palace covers 11.2 acres, has 285 rooms, 467 halls, 6 baths and 28 toilets.

This Palace is completely over the top and an enormous amount of money must have been spent on this palace.  Although some of the Palace rooms were quite grand indeed, one does have to wander how the Sultan can justify the Palace with 28 toilets and the rest.

After the Palace we caught the tram back to the Blue Mosque and walked back to the Marmara Guesthouse to complete putting the bikes together.

 The first thing we did today was head on up to see Hagia Sofia.  Now this is one place that really takes your breath away.  It's situated about 100 metres from the Blue Mosque.  The Mosque has an interesting history and this is dedicated to one of other history buffs, Mr Ashley Lester.

The photo above is inside the Mosque.  The Mosque has 2 levels and you need a good hour to check it out.  The bright pink exterior is definitely misleading as you step into the black and gold interior of the 1,500 year old Hagia Sofia with its dim medieval lighting.  Words almost can't describe how your senses are thrown back in time and confused by mixed elements of Orthodox, Islamic, and Catholic origins.  Built in 537 AD by the Byzantines on the same spot as two previous churches. 

Hagia Sophia is considered one of the greatest religious buildings in the world.  This is the first time I've entered any religious site and found inscriptions of the Islamic faith, and paintings of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.  There was also Orthodox symbols around the Mosque.  Even had graffiti on some of the walls which was thought be made by the Vikings who passed through this part of the world a couple of hundred years ago. The inside of the Mosque is full of marble and must have taken a couple of thousand men to construct.

To give you an idea of how big this Mosque is, it is 182 feet tall, 104 feet wide and when it was completed was the largest Cathedral in the World until the Cathedral in Florence was built some 900 years later.  It's so big the Nortre Dame Cathedral in Paris could fit inside it.

 

The photo above shows the enormity of Hagia Sofia. The photo below is inside the Mosque.

The photo above is the area in which inaugurations occurred for the Sultans or extremely important people in the country.  It's also located inside Hagia Sofia.  The photo of the 2 gentlemen are my cycling buddies.  The chap on the left is Peter who will be riding with me through Eastern Europe and the other chap is Len who I rode with in Asia earlier this year.  Len will be meeting up with us the the last 3 weeks of the ride. 

Tomorrow is another day of sightseeing which will take us up the Bosphorus Strait up to the Black Sea. On Friday we start the long ride. 

Until tomorrow, safe riding. 

Sydney to Istanbul. Time for another tour.

 Our first encounter on the trip was meeting Peter and his wife Emma at Kingsford Smith International Airport Sydney. After checking in with far too much cycling gear, it was time to have a coffe and speak to the family before we head off.

No sooner had we arrived at the airport and it was time to go inside and get through customs.  I had no problem  but Peter had to pull some gear out as I think the pedals in his carry on luggage looked a little suspicious.  No problems and we were no onboard and making our way to our fist destination, Singapore.  The flight was nice and smooth which is good for a person who never really handles flying at the best of times. 

A quick 1 & 1/2 hour transit, which requires 2 trams and a long walk and we were now waiting for the 2nd leg of the trip to Istanbul, Turkey.  The 10 hours went pretty quick and I got at least 6 hours sleep.  I hope I snored and pissed everyone off.  I didn't sit next to Peter on the plane because of our bookings.  It wasn't a problem as he'll get enough of me by the time we get back to Australia on the 16 October 2013.

Touchdown Istanbul was at 7.30am today.  We were met by our driver and taken to the Marmara Guesthouse in the centre of town.  Nice little guesthouse with extremely hospitable owners.  Nothing was a problem to them.

We had to wait to get our room, so during this time we went for a walk to see the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern and the Grand Bazaar. I've put some photos above and below of the Blue Mosque which is out of this world.  When I was young I wasn't interested in history, and perhaps one could say I wasn't interested in school at all.

 The photo above was taken inside the Blue Mosque.  Inside the mosque are millions of blue tiles covering nearly every inch of the Monument.

 The photo above is the roof of the Blue Mosque.

 I'm trying play around with the settings of my new Nikon D3200 SLR camera and this photo is my effort inside the underground water system of the Basilica Cistern.

 Another attempt at taking photos without the flash.

 It was really amazing walking under the city to visit the Cistern.  We went down a couple of flights of stairs and came across this labyrinth of columns dimly lit with enough light to add some mystery to the site.

This photo was taken from the terrace area of our guesthouse.

During the afternoon we put our bike together and thankfully they never suffered any damage in the trip.  Tiredness was setting in late in the day and I think an early dinner and a good night's sleep is what I need.  Len has just arrived and is now putting his bike together.  I hope we get the chance to meet up later on in the ride.

Tomorrow will be another sightseeing day and putting the front racks on the bike.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Singapore Airlines, the company that supports vision impaired cyclists.

 It's now 7 days before Peter and I head off to Istanbul to commence our bicycle trip through Turkey and eastern Europe.  I should first thank Singapore Airlines for coming on board and providing assistance with our flights.  During the 4 month trip it is our goal to raise funds for eXsight Tandems and vision impaired cyclists. The money we raise goes directly to eXsight Tandems and not one cent is spent on our tour.

Like last time, I ask that followers of my journey to hit the donate (via Paypal button) on the right of the screen and make a small donation.   Your donation helps vision impaired people and others with disabilities to take a seat on the back of a tandem and go for a ride.  I'm not sure who gets more satisfaction out of riding the tandems, myself or my riding partner.  Please help make a difference and make that donation.

This is a photo of Peter my riding partner on the tour and Michelle during last weekends' Sutherland to Wollongong bike ride.  Michelle represented Australia at the last Paralympics and is a regular rider with eXsight.

The photo above was taken during our ride from Sutherland to Wollongong last Saturday.  We get to see some amazing sights on our tandems and this has to be one of the best in the world.  If you look hard enough you can see my house in the distance.

Well, all the packing is done, and it's time to go for a ride with my son over the next couple of days.

As I always say,  until tomorrow,  safe riding.

Istanbul is around the corner.

It's now 2 weeks before we fly out to Istanbul for our 15 week cycling tour of Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia, Greece and Croatia.  Basically we're going for a ride with no real plan.  Once we leave Istanbul we've got a fair idea where we want to head, but if we don't get there, that's life.

The chap in the photo above is one of my cycling buddies, David Powell. This photo is taken looking down on where we live.  Yep, the mighty Gong.  It was one hell of a walk climbing up the mountain, but the view from the top makes it all worthwhile.

 This photo depicts what is usually going on in my head most days.

Now,  I'm still involved with eXsight Tandems of the Illawarra.  Some of the nicest people you could ever meet.  This weekend will be my last ride with them for over 4 months.  We're riding from Sutherland to the Gong through the National Park.  Should be a great ride.

There is a website that you can also follow my trip on;  Peter is one of the guys I'll be riding with.  I'm not sure at this stage if Len will be travelling with us.
http://peterfelvus.wordpress.com/

So stay tuned for another story from the saddle.