Day 166 Sept 22 Sat- A Full Rest Day In Edirne

Street of Edirne
Coloured fountains at night

Selimiye mosque
Rock garden
Real goose playing at the rock garden

This statue tells the story of a craftsman making a broom with mirror on it and all the unmarried ladies will carry in their trousers . Broom with a mirror has become a symbolic of Edirne



Architect Sinan who designed most of the mosques and complexes during his time ,his statue very prominently seen

Drying camping stuffs and serviced my bike
Come try my cooking.... but regret later
This man almost finished all my foods and wanted to pay... No! I refuse but next time I must hide my cooking
Street of Edirne
Bazaar in Edirne on bar with the grand bazaar in Istanbul

Today's Temp: 15 - 19c
Today's spending: 54.2 ytl
Total Distance to date: 10654km
Total spending to date:752.66 ytl

Today's weather turned out to be good unlike yesterday,bright and sunny . But I still preferred to have a full rest day rather than on the wheels.Took a morning 9.30am walk around town, Edirne situated 24km northwest to Bulgaria border and westward 13km to Greece border, is a very beautifully decorated town with many gardens,flowers,rocks,fountains,statues and the majestic mosque of Selimiye ,proudly stands on top of a hill with 4 circular pillars on each corners. Anil hotel 20 ytl per night operates like a backpacker style, with shared bathroom, toilets, kitchen and a garden with chairs & tables. Good space for me to dry my camping stuffs and serviced my bike.Tomorrow should be my last day in Turkey since August 26th . Overall,I like cycling here,peoples are friendly,warm and helpful. I felt safe most of the time during camping and not a single day of disappointment encountered. Next is Bulgaria - Another country,peoples,culture and language to experience...explore....& understand!!!!

Day 165 Sept 21 Fri - Farm Land Camp After Babaeski to Edirne

Farm land become buddy after midnight 3.30am rain the next morning
Edirne roundabout - 2 men on wrestling
Anil hotel 20ytl per night
Singlebed room with shared bathroom,toilets and kitchen
At the reception preparing to walk around

Today's Distance: 53km
Today's Temp: 11 - 15c
Average Speed: 13.7 max: 57.5
Time on Bike: 3 hr 48 min
Average climb: 2% max: 14%
Trip Altitude: 494m max: 159m
Today's spending: 27.8 ytl
Total Distance to date: 10654km
Total spending to date:698.46 ytl

Today's short ride of 53km under very bad weather,strong head /side winds adds misery to the cold drizzling rain started from early morning 3.30am . The sudden change of weather and temp gave signal of winter is around the corner, and I expect the coming days ahead will be tough ,but as usual I'm not one who easily give up - When the going gets tough....the tough get going !!! The original plan to cross Bulgaria today has to push backward as I decided to take 1 or 2 days rest in Edirne so as to acclimatise to the cold weather,physically and mentally as well. I badly needed a warm shower and bed tonight,certainly not wild camping under such "trying"weather!!

Day 164 Sept 20 Thu - Abandon Petrol Station Camp in Silivri - Farm Land Camp in Babaeski

Bus stand rest
Water runs slow
Farm land camp under hidden trees
farm land getting ready for planting

Earlier plan is to go Kirklareli,then follow the Black Sea coastal road in Bulgaria. but changed to a more direct road to Paris in view of the coming winter.
Excellent well maintained road D-100
vast Farm land not yet ready for planting
Turkish school kids
Road signs in Turkey very clear and easy to read- no problem so far

Today's Distance: 106km
Today's Temp: 18 - 27c
Average Speed: 16.2 max:54.5
Time on Bike: 6hr 33 min
Average climb: 2% max:9%
Trip Altitude: 806m max: 279m
Today's spending: 5 ytl
Total Distance to date: 10601km
Total spending to date:670.66 ytl

Say goodbye to Marmara Sea! Silivri was the last coastal town as I rode northwest in land to Corlu and Babaeski,still on D-100,tomorrow expected to cross border to Bulgaria in Edirne.Ride today under cooling weather,vast farm land can be seen on both sides,less populated,less traffics on a wide excellent road,maybe most of the traffics prefered to use the express way. Campsite tonight on a piece of farm land but was quite hidden under the trees about 100m from the road.Hard to find campsite with water here unlike in the mountainous coastal road. So I had to carry 3 litres of water ready ,usually about 4-4.30pm.

Day 163 Sept 19 Wed - Istanbul to Abandon Petrol Station Camp in Silivri

Sunset at camp
Abandon mosque and petrol truck at the station
Abandon petrol station
The facilities still looked quite new- what a waste!
I was quite tempted to sleep on this bed but decided to camp at the side

Fishing boats of Buyuk Cekmece


Roadside water tap
Abandon petrol Station camp - noticed the cupboard used as my kitchen table

A turkish plane preparing landing in Istanbul International Airport -Havalimani
Buyuk Cekmece seaside
Buyuk Cekmece seaside
Scrapped plane as decoration near the beach side
Buyuk Cekmece seaside

Today's Distance: 98 km
Today's Temp: 20 - 27c
Average Speed: 16.1 max:64
Time on Bike: 6 hr 06 min
Average climb: 2% max: 17%
Trip Altitude: 878m max: 308m
Today's spending: 15.7 ytl
Total Distance to date: 10495km
Total spending to date:665.66 ytl

So much talks about the bad terrible traffic jam of Istanbul especially for cyclists were advised not to ride into the city. But as I found out on this morning, no problem if you have a city map and follow the coast. Don't attempt to do a city ride, the many crowded lanes inter crossing each others were full of shops and peoples. You can take the LRT or just by foot as what I did, most tourist attractions are within walking distance. I am still on D-100 road along the coast,passing by the Havalimani International Airport and major seaside towns like Kucuk Cekmece,Buyuk Cekmece and Silivri, there are all located in the valley between two hills. So you climbed hill when you leaves the town and downhill approaching the town. Campsite tonight at the abandon petrol station that included a mosque and a petrol truck.It seemed business in Turkey not that good after all!

Day 162 Sept 18 Tue - Discovery on the Beauty of Istanbul (2)

Besitas Square


Amisos Hotel
On board the ferry (free during Ramadan )

Hotel Hurriyet where I stayed for 3 days total cost 90 ytl
Entrance gate to the Dolma...... Palace
Besitas pier

Bike shop with Shimano parts

Not only in London....
Who want to try...
Very old tree right in the middle of road

Long Q of visitors to Hagia Sophia Museum
Grand Bazaar built in 1461, a must see
Dome ceiling of a Mosque
Stalls inside the Grand Bazaar

Istanbul Archaeology Musuem

Funny tree in Tophane Park

Won't you pls play a song..a sentimental song for a sentimental fren.....

Blue Mosque
Hagia Sophia Museum

Smoke on the water
Sultanamet Yerebatan tourist area

Today's Temp: 20 - 27 C
Today's spending: 46.32 ytl
Total spending to date:649.96 ytl

Have to leave Istanbul tomorrow morning to continue the journey to Paris. Two days of walking tour around Istanbul definitely not enough to see all the interesting places. But I am quite happy to at least seen some of the tourist attractions eg: Grand Bazaar , Spice Market , Blue Mosque, Sultanatmet ,Palace , experience ride in the LRT and the ferry cruise.