Leaving Europe, reunited with Eef

Eef giving the thumbs up to the fishermen

We left Sarajevo in the morning. I was joined on the road by Tobia, who I met in the hostel. The ride out of Sarajevo was much easier than entering it through the west of the city. We started climbing immediately at a slow gradient, which made it very nice to chat in the meantime. We got on very well together and had the same way of travelling. But still, Tobia taught me how to take a real midday break, the benefits of having a hammock and cooking without wasting water. On our way to the Serbian border we encountered a minor road difficulty. It seemed that the bridge that should go over the river collapsed a few years ago but in Bosnia they didn’t find the time to make any signs for it. After discussing whether we should try to cross we decided to unload the bikes and try to descend the bridge. It took us an hour but it was an adventure to remember.

In total we cycled together for 3 days, from Sarajevo to Kraljevo. We had 2 great wild camp spots, lots of good talks, and it is always more fun with 2.

Not bad for a morning view

After Kraljevo I started towards Bulgaria. Somehow I ended up back in my racing speed mentality and made it to Sofia in 2 days, which meant riding 300km in 2 days… Arriving in Sofia in the evening at another Warmshower place. This time it was in a basement, the bunker of Sofia Bike shop, the perfect place for a few nights’ break from camping and the perfect base for visiting Sofia. I really enjoyed discovering Sofia. It’s a great city with a lot of history going back to the Roman Empire. After wandering around it for 2 days, enjoying the amazing breakfasts in Bulgaria, I left the bike shop to start the final leg towards Istanbul.

With still some distance to cover I decided to take the R8. It is the old main road leading from Sofia to Edirne just next to the new highway. The beginning was a very nice quiet road, not the best I’ve had, full of holes and a bad surface along the way. Riding this old main road shows you the impact for the locals with the building of the new highway. Lot of deserted towns, petrol stations, motels… Probably once very busy places for travellers but now just completely empty and rotting away. Luckily there were just enough open petrol stations to dodge the thunderstorms that were chasing me. With a quick visit to Plovdiv, the European cultural city of 2019, I went further east. This was going to be my last night in the European Union.

The next day I was chased by some thunderstorms

I woke up very early the next day because of the camping neighbour’s booster, so I took my time for my breakfast and left for the Turkish border in the morning. It was only a short ride from the campsite to Edirne. I crossed the Turkish border, got the first stamp in my passport before midday, and arrived at the hostel in Edirne in the early afternoon. Stopping at midday I took my time to arrange my Turkish sim card and try to find a good map of the country. In the end both things took more time than I imagined - this must be Turkey… There are only 3 distributors for sim cards. All 3 of them have different prices and different packages but it seems that within the same company the different stores also have different prices… Try to understand it. At the end I got a good offer from Turkcell (I think) and was back online in Turkey. As for the maps, I couldn’t find a decent one anywhere.

Final leg to Istanbul. It was a part of the trip that I’d been thinking about a lot. Reading lot of stories of how horrible it is to ride into Istanbul, I was doubting between cycling it or taking a ferry boat. After a message of a warmshower host who contacted me and offered me a night in Sarray, the decision was made. I would ride into Istanbul, taking the D20 from Edirne until Arnavütkoy, 40 km from Istanbul. It was a good road going up and down all the way. After a head wind for 3 days and my first motorway experience I arrived in Arnavütkoy on Sunday evening. Hosted by another great warmshower host and his family, I took off after the morning commute to ride the last 40km towards the Blue Mosque. In the end it wasn’t that bad after all. Yes it was busy but there was a wide hard safety shoulder to keep me safe. Once you are in the city, I could just slalom my way between the cars until I arrived at the Blue Mosque. And believe it or not, I got my first flat tire when I arrived…

Yes, I'm in Turkey now

That evening Eef arrived. After 7 weeks we were back together!! If you understand Dutch, you can read her story about leaving Belgium for our world trip by bike. Our time in Istanbul was spent walking around, escaping the tourists in coffee bars and trying to get some things arranged for the upcoming days. For me it was a much welcomed 5 days rest. Sleeping more than 2 nights at the same place and not having to pack my panniers again every morning felt really great, but after 5 days it was time to start packing again and begin the adventure together.

We left Saturday morning, taking the ferry boat to Bursa to avoid cycling in heavy traffic on Eef’s first day on the trip. After a 2 hour boat trip we arrived for the first time on Asian soil. We took a road leading Northeast following the coast of Marmara for a few kms. It was hot, steep and a bit of a shock for Eef. We took our time and had lunch on the beach. That evening we camped near a lake, which meant having an evening swim after a hot day of cycling. It was a much appreciated evening activity. The next days we took it easy. Both of us needed to adapt to the new situation. For me the new pace was something to get used to. For Eef it was the whole concept of bike touring. We slept next to a motorway restaurant and the next day we found a much better place away from everything.

Lunch spot at the sea

After 4 days of cycling we’re taking a day off in Eskisehir before heading more east towards Cappadocia and to meet with my brother Jo. From here we will have 7 days of cycling until we reach Cappadocia.

Some refreshment during the hot days in Turkey

Roads in Turkey - 2 lane motorway but big shoulders

And the road was gone