Cycle trip day 101: Istanbul
Written by Kat
Getting to Athens was one of our longest and most gruelling days of cycling, but our stay in the city was fantastic. The Acropolis and museum were incredible and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit, not to mention several days' rest. It also gave us the chance to buy more clothes to replace our rapidly disintegrating cycle gear.
We departed on an overnight ferry to the island of Chios; happily we had a 4 bed cabin all to ourselves but unhappily, we arrived at 4am and had to wait for 8 hours before we could get access to our apartment. To kill time we cycled up the coast to see some of the sights and were very grateful to check in early so we could collapse.
We had several more days relaxing in Chios, visiting the UNESCO church of Nea Moni and exploring more of the island (from the comfort of a coach rather than by bike - it's incredibly hilly). Mat spent a morning Scuba diving in crystal clear waters. Then it was time to get on another ferry for the 30-minute crossing to Çesme in Turkey.
After the Montenegro disaster we were prepared for non-EU phone charges and made sure we had data roaming turned off for our Spanish mobiles. We had bought Turkish SIMs and made sure we had our cycle route available offline before we set off. We followed the EV8 (Euro Velo 8) which has been our rough guide since Valencia for two final days, arriving in Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey.
Turkey is very much a country of cats - they are everywhere, sleeping on benches and pavements, in restaurants and outside shops, and they all seem to be looked after communally with many people putting out food and water as well as building little cat houses.
The bike route was mostly quiet and scenic but there were some stretches along busy highways and we knew that the cycle-friendly part ended in Izmir. After much research into buses and trains, the only solution was a private transfer to Bandirma and the ferry to Istanbul so we hired a minivan and driver. The journey through extremely mountainous and sparsely populated areas took 3 hours by car and would have been extremely difficult; it was the right call for us.
After a night in Bandirma we caught the ferry and in 3 hours we were in Istanbul - our final destination! It was under 2km from the ferry port to our hotel, but Kat managed to get a puncture (in her "indestructible" tyres bought at the start of the trip in Spain). We started to replace the inner tube and a worker immediately joined us and tried to take over, although it was clear he didn't know exactly what he was doing. We were happy to let him pump the new inner tube up, however!
We've spent a week in Istanbul so far and seen many of the sights - the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cistern, the Blue Mosque and many others - including Turkey's largest mosque - plus crossing the Bosphorus countless times and going on a sunset cruise. Our last major sightseeing will be the Hagia Sophia later today, which is my 50th birthday. I've always wanted to go to Istanbul, so being here for a milestone birthday and at the end of such an incredible trip is very special.
On Thursday we fly back with our bicycles to Valencia and normal life (whatever that is!) This has been the trip of a lifetime; we're so grateful to everyone who has supported, encouraged and celebrated with us along the way. We won't be getting back on our bikes straight away but we are inspired to make other cycle trips, so watch this space!