Day 060 Istanbul

Istanbul sightseeing part 1: the Blue Mosque - was not very blue - I hope I picked the right one - nevertheless very beautiful. Hagia Sofia opposite to it was still closed, so I strolled around a bit and later relaxed with a guitar and seaview at the hostel before I started to evaluate the options for onward travel after Iran. Problems for getting to India are: Visa for Pakistan is pretty much impossible when entering on a bicycle from Iran, for a detour via Central Asia I would have to wait until spring, finding a boat from Iran or Arabia to India is next to impossible, too. So, if you have any good idea (except "take a plane"): tell me tell me!
In the late afternoon I took a ferryboat to the Asian side of Istanbul and watched the sunset before meeting my couchsurfing host Burcu. Incredible person - she seems to know and is eager to talk about everything, so it was quite late when I found some sleep.

Oh yeah, solution to yesterdays win-a-postcard-game: Obviously there is no generally accepted definition for the term most populated city, because there is no definition of the area of a city. According to wikipedia Istanbul is the 4th biggest city, however even German and English wikipedia disagree on who is no. 1-3. Sooo, if I can choose my favourite 1-3 I go for the German variation Mexico D.F., Shanghai, Beijing as I've been to all 3 already :o)

Day 059 Bandirma - Istanbul

This morning I said goodbye to Arthur for a couple of days and took the ferry to Istanbul.
I just arrived in time to enter the Iranian consulate. I had doubts if it would be open as the whole week the end of Ramadan will be celebrated. However it was open, but I just got the information that I would have to apply for a registration number via a registered travel agency before I could apply for the visa - this process will take more days than I planned to spend in Istanbul, so I guess I have to plan my route in a way that I can pick up the visa in Ankara, Erzurum or Trabzon.
Next mission: finding a place to sleep - I ended up in a hostel close to Hagia Sofia with a roof terrace overlooking the entrance to the Bosporus. After relaxing for an hour or so I ventured out to the city. All museums were closed because it is, so I just strolled around and did not come back until the evening. What I found out is that Istanbul has a lot of the following:
- people (4th most populated city in the world - Attention! Attention! Your chance to win a Postcard [or optional for people with divine musical taste a Telephon Call] from Istanbul! Be the first to write me the names of no. 1-3 and it will be yours!)
- tourists
- hills
- mosques (obviously)
- churches (to me: surprisingly)
- cats (feels to me like it could be 1st in cat population)

Day 058 Kepekli - Bandirma

Yep, today the wind was all but fun again, but the relatively short distance and the outlook of several rest days kept me going. Sooooo this day the biggest drawback on motivation was not the wind but a melon loss. I had bought a wonderful juicy and tasty looking melon directly from the farmer and after fighting up a hill against the wind I had found a perfect picnic spot - in the shadow, sheltered from the wind, wonderful seaview... Alone: the melon was gone, somehow fallen out of the back panniers - sounds pretty irrelevant from a distance, but at this time it gave me reason for some serious swearing. Swearing I reached Bandirma.
I found a hotel which would take care of Arthur for some days while I am going to Istanbul. Everything was just fine, the price was ok, the room was very nice, I was happy - until I had a look out of the window: the loudspeaker of a minaret directly aiming at my hotel room, uuuuuuuh, that gonna be a unquiet night...

Windy day 057 Güreci - Kepekli

Wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind. Sorry, too tired to write more, spent all day fighting against the wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind wind...

Transcontinental day 056 Koruköy - Güreci

The rest of yesterdays evening was rather surrealistic.
Act 1: Because the owner of the Motel did not appear I eventually ensconced myself on one of the deck chairs on the beach. 5 minutes later, me laying in the sleeping bag watching the beautiful stars, some visitors: a Turkish guy who had plans to enter into a business relationship with a Russian harlot. The guy seemed to be in dire need - he was devastated when he learned that the owner was not there, so they would not have a place for doing their business. The Russian girl in turn was pretty relaxed and kept on joking about the guy in Turkish (me did not understand) and Russian (me understood half) while the three of us had a beer - I am not sure if this exactly stimulated customer satisfaction. At some point the guy realized that there probably won't be someone coming here today so they left, him not very happy. I went down to my deck chair again.
Act 2: After about an hour, I was actually sleeping on my deck chair, more visitors: finally the owner showed up, escorted by an older couple, all three seriously canned. The owner was all "no problem, stay here, no money *silly giggle*...", so I thought everything is fine, I can keep on sleeping - but no: they were in party mood! So soon I found myself playing guitalele to three drunk Turks and a dog, yeah! Eventually they brought some more booze - I figured that I would have a hard time keeping up with them considering their lead over me, so I tried my best to leave the party for my deck chair. After some discussion I succeeded and all I still noticed was some policemen joining and starting a dispute I did not understand. All I know: it was not about me and noone got arrested, so I finally could relax under the wonderful starry sky, puh!
When I got up the place was deserted again, so I prepared some breakfast and packed my stuff - only shortly before I left the older guy of yesterdays canned party appeared to wish me farewell with his hangover-headache-voice.
I crossed Gallipoli peninsula and reached the town of Gelibolu at noon sharp. I did not have much time for sentimentality as just when I arrived the ferry started which would bring me from Gelibolu (Europe) to Lapseki (Asia) !
Once in Asia I immediately started to cycle towards the Sea of Marmara, which turned out to be more difficult than expected. It seems that the main wind direction coincides with the main surface water flow: from the Black Sea through the Sea of Marmara to the Mediterranean Sea - exactly the opposite way I was going, grmpf. Furthermore it was more up& down... The only bright spot: there is a lot of road construction going on, here on the Asian side as well as yesterday in Europe - so a good portion of yesterday and today I could cycle on the not-yet-opened lanes of a soon-to-be-4-lane-highway, thus avoiding unfair battles with trucks and buses. This gave me a chance to enjoy the great views of the Marmara Sea. Now I ended up in Güreci at a Motel directly at the beach. The sea is pretty rough here, so I was alone when I jumped into the high waves, yippieh! My window is facing the sea so now I will go to sleep with the roaring of the waves in my ear, good night!