Bike-Ride To Australia 28th-November 2011

Bike-Ride To Australia 28th-November 2011 Istanbul. Bit of a sad day today, as I had to say goodbye to Julie. It’s been nice playing the tourist for the past few days. But that’s not what this trip is about! I need to get back on my bike and get on with the next leg of my journey, next stop, Iran.

After seeing Julie off at the airport, I returned to the hotel to look at the map. It was then that I realised just how much further I had to cycle! And how little I’d already cycled, I’m not even a quarter of the way!

Inside the Blue Mosque
Inside the Blue Mosque

I spent the rest of the day cleaning and servicing the bike. Before retiring to the hotel bar for a few hours! As I was leaving the bar to go out for dinner tonight, I said to Ahmet, the barman that I would be back later, he said “fine I’ll see you later, I just need to get another bottle of gin,” he only got a new one last night! I think somebody there’s somebody in this hotel that drinks a lot of gin!!

Dinner was nice. I had a traditional Turkish dish called Testi Kebabi, which contains onion, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and spices. It is made with either lamb or chicken. I had lamb. The dish gets cooked in a clay pot on an open wood fire. The clay pot is then brought to the table, and with a swift blow from a heavy knife, the pot is cracked open and poured onto a plate. It came with rice and bread.

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Bike-Ride To Australia 27th-November 2011

Bike-Ride To Australia 27th-November 2011 Istanbul. Continuing with the theme of playing the tourist! We decided to go on a cruise up the Bosporus and wished we’d never bothered! We thought it was a two-hour round trip to Kavagi, a traditional fishing village. Ideal it would leave us plenty of time to explore more of the city when we return.

Houses on water
Kavagi, it looks nice

We were gone for over six hours! Six hours! After stopping at Kavagi, the boat moored up, and that was it for three hours! It wouldn’t have been quite as bad if there was something there! All there was, was a collection of overpriced restaurants and some ruins of an old fort! After visiting the fort, the only thing to do was visit one of the restaurants! I think the restaurants were in cahoots with the boat people! And it was all a scam to get bums on seats in the restaurants! Their scam worked!

We were definitely missold this trip, and we weren’t the only ones who thought so! An American on the same boat was also under the impression that it was a two-hour trip. He likened it to being on Alcatraz! Looking on the bright side, at least we weren’t being hassled by touts asking if we wanted to buy a carpet!

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Bike-Ride To Australia Photos Europe

Bike-Ride To Australia Photos, Europe, photographs from Garry’s 2000 mile bike ride from England to Turkey. Countries covered in the pictures are; France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Garry’s currently resting in Istanbul for a few days. Before continuing his bike ride around the world, Subscribe to Garry’s blog and follow his journey. You’ll also receive news and updates on future tours.

You can view the photos in the slideshow below. Or click on any image to view it on Flickr.

Flickr World Bicycle-Tour Photos, Europe

Europe October/November 2011

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