Biga, Turkey > Bandirma, Turkey 75km and Bandirma > Istanbul

[Originally posted Oct 12, 2014]

We made it.  We arrived.  Our nineteen country, cross Europe bike ride from London to Edinburgh, Chamonix, Geneva, Lake Como, Venice, Ljubljana, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Dubrovnik, Tirana, Thessaloniki and then Istanbul.

The end of the European road. Next stop - Byzantium > Constantinople > Istanbul. And from a geographic standpoint - Asia.

Done. Complete. Finished.  When we pulled out of the London Heathrow Airport 101 days ago, I wasn’t sure this would actually work.  But here we are, Istanbul (Istanbul translates literally: to the city).  And "to the city" we have come.

It is a rather bittersweet moment, as many of life’s journeys are.  The sweetness comes from the sense of accomplishment that such a feat brings.  The great memories, delicious food and wonderful people we’ve met will last in our life forever.  A quick chronological summary: bike assembly in the London Heathrow Airport, navigating the crazy (but beautiful) roads in England, the perfect weather in Scotland, the hills of Dartmoor National Park, the castles and cuisine of the Loire River Valley, three solid days of rain, majestic Mont Blanc and the Simplon Pass, Gelato at Lake Como (and then more rain), the heat and mosquitoes through the Po River valley, beautiful Slovenia and the Vrsic pass, the gorgeously sunny hills of eastern Austria and the beginning of a rear wheel problem, a couple days off in Prague, a late night ride along the Danube to Bratislava, Hungarian hospitality, a rainy entrance into Belgrade, Bosnia— its history, mountains and honey, the Adriatic Coast of Dubrovnik and Kotor with Jessica, Charles and Elizabeth, crystal clear hiking in northern Albania and an afternoon of potholes, the gyros and greek salads of Thessaloniki and then head/cross-winds all the way to Istanbul.  I would happily return to any one of those days and start the journey again.

And it is often the sweetness that causes the bitterness.  The final kilometers into Bandirma (where we would catch a ferry to Istanbul - we were told that we would be crazy trying to ride through the 40 or 50 kilometers of sprawling bumper to bumper traffic to reach the heart of Istanbul - the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace) were no different than the thousands that we had previously ridden.  It was a realization that at some point in the future (now feeling much closer than before) we would ride our last kilometer and this trip would come to a screaming halt.  When we started off on our trip I told Katy - enjoy every view, you only get to see it once.  But with a seemingly endless number of days we can easily assume their will be more good views to be had.  Arriving in Istanbul was the reality that this is not the case.  Time doesn’t stand still, each day only happens once.  Every kilometer and each turn of the pedals is unique.  My often recurring dream/nightmare of being late and unprepared for school will become a reality, and only then will I start to dream about new cities, new food, new people and a bike to take me there.  Better enjoy each moment while it lasts.

So what’s next?  We are stuck here in Istanbul for a couple days (customs has held onto our bike part, so instead of getting it on Friday as we had hoped, we have to go and pay some taxes for it on Monday morning, which means we should get it on Wednesday at the earliest and then go to a bike shop Thursday, probably be back on the road Friday).  Not too happy about the customs ordeal, but there are worse places to be stuck for a week.  Then, a couple weeks in Turkey - Izmir, Fethiye, the Lycian Way and Cappadocia are all at the top of our list.  In early November we will fly to 1 of 2 places: either Dubai or Nepal.  Dubai would consist of another 2 weeks of bike touring through the UAE and Oman (Oh Man! - still in search of that ever elusive picture of Katy on the back of the tandem in a burqa), Nepal would include a couple weeks of walking in the Himalayas (if you haven’t been, add the Annapurnas, Everest or Langtang to the: most important thing to do before I die bucket list).  Then around six weeks in India (not on the bike).  Around the first week of January, fly to Hanoi, Vietnam and ride west and south through Laos, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Malaysia.  (Katy wants me to add that we are accepting visitors anywhere along our tentative route).

Our trip is one-third over.  But at the same time it feels like it is just getting started.

Well, that’s that.  Better get back out into the city that is Istanbul.  Katy and I have only one goal today: we’re only allowed to eat food that we have not previously tried - or heard of.  Now that’s my kind of day.  

Things we ate yesterday:

Turkish Delight

Corn. Roasted Chestnuts.

Fish sandwiches.

Cheap carbs.

Fish, lots of fish.

Shake Shack Concrete - with Baklava.

The Kebab comes in many names: doner kebab, shish kebab, gyro, shawarma. I prefer to call it Meatstick. Time for the Meatstick. Its Meatstick Time. Meatstick Time.