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.