Homeward bound

Most days in Yalova we spent at the beach , hiring a pair of seats and an umbrella. Its been 32 degrees so it was lovely here.Beach wear for the modest Moslem 

But even that was too revealing for the Saudi ladies

But the Turkish girls couldn't care less

This is Farnoush, the lovely receptionist at our hotel. She's a Christian from Iran who can't go back because of the terrible conditions for women, especially Christians. Turkey's gain for sure ! (She said to mention she's 30 and unattached )

Tobacco, $3 a bag !

My favourite meal . Lentil soup with a basket of bread, a bottle of water and a cup of chai to finish .$2.50 !!

After 10 days here we head for Istanbul. (Would you believe we left our passports at the last hotel ) 

   One last night at the Same hotel, then picked our bikes up from the bus depot the next morning. Our taxi driver was determined to fit our bikes in, he would have tied them onto the roof otherwise he said

4 hrs to Dubai where we stayed the night, then on to Perth to catch up with Peter and Elisia , Jacob and Eli ,with a good old Aussie barbecue to celebrate the end of a great trip.

We even had Susan fly in from Sydney . What a lovely surprise

Not just to see us though. Her best friend Sam lives here too

It's been an amazing adventure , but it's good to be back . (Especially to see the All Blacks / Aussie game on Saturday night. )

  Thanks for following our blog , we're already planning next years trip so see you then !

Yalova

Now before you judge the old Burka, as I used to, consider this.   No bad hair days, savings on hairdressers, no make up expenses, no acne problems , no gazing into the wardrobe wondering what to wear today? Yes I think this could catch on in Katikati 

First stop in the morning was the underground cystern . Made famous in the movie 'from Russia with love ' it used to hold over a million tons of water in case of siege. 

These icecream vendors were a scream. Made a show out of every icecream sale

We enjoyed the palace gardens mostly and a Turkish tea over looking the channel (through to the Black Sea)

We're in Europe still, and that's Asia over the bridge 

   3 days is a long time in any city for us and certainly long enough in Istanbul so next morning we caught the ferry south east for Yalova

This is a lovely town, a bit like Mt Maunganui and I booked this hotel for a week. The views from our 5th story room are fantastic. I can watch shipping and yachts all day !

My impressions of Turkey have changed considerably . The people are so nice, there are a couple of bars in town but  

nearly everyone drinks tea. NO drunken teenagers or abusive louts. 

  These little pink buses are the public transport system

There's an election coming up and buses were going round and round blaring out messages. The prime minister, Erdogan ,is getting bad press in the papers as being corrupt and wanting to make himself President for life. Who knows ?

That's our hotel behind the bus

  

Now we all know it's the 100 year anniversary of WW1, and this mobile caravan is visiting towns all over Turkey

It was so interesting seeing it from the other side. They suffered terribly also and considering we were the invaders ? Still that's water under the bridge

   

Istanbul

We checked out of our hotel just before noon and went to fill in the rest of the day around Burgas. Not hard, came across this sand sculpture display near the beach

After a meal and another concert in the square , we packed the bikes into their bags and waited for the midnight bus to Istanbul. ( only one available )

Huge climb to the border on top of a mountain range ,where the Turkish border police made us unpack all the baggage and run it through a scanner. 

  Bastards !

One and a half hours later we were on the way and arrived at the bus station at 8 in the morning

Turkish drivers believe things will happen faster of you hold your hand on the horn. There were at least 150 buses around this depot. They're mad !

A porter grabbed our bags and took off with them. I gave him the last of my change but he chased me for more.

  First taste of Istanbul.

   I booked us in to the hotel at the depot and we slept most of the day. 

  Next morning we cleaned and bagged 
up the bikes again. I'm sure the hotel would have loved the thought of our bikes in their shower

Then put them into storage at the depot. 

  This city has a great transport system and we took the underground and then a tram into the old part of the city

Oh boy what an eye opener, after finding a hotel we went to the grand bizarre where Christine splashed out on earrings 

And would you believe, a sewing machine. Yes , just what every cyclist needs

 Prayer time and most of the men put their mats down in the bizarre alleys for a pray . How Bizarre !

It works !

  We changed hotels again today for one just down the street. It's worth mentioning here what a rip off some of these online booking agencies are. This one , the Marmaris , I got for 100tl (about $50 ) he had it advertised for 150. Some hotels can run into $600 plus

Clean and comfortable and the Blue Mosque just up the road. 

150 metres from us is the restaurants of the fishing basin, and in between---

--The city jail, --

  4 story's high and at least 6 prisoners to each window

"WHEN WILL YOU BE HOME DAD"

   Everyone's on the hustle here, our ' guide' only wanted to get us back to look at carpets. We drank their tea and then told them we came by bike !  That worked.

"Yes , yes , any more apple tea ?"

   At least the view of the blue mosque was lovely from the roof of their shop

Charcoal chestnut roaster . Delicious, but the corn was past it

The cigarette vendor was bundling them up in lots of 25 for 3 tl. ( $1.50 )

We've just come back from the harbour where we had an orange juice and a meal. The juice was good but the food was crap and they ALWAYS add extra to every bill.

Each restaurant seemed to have its own band , trying to drown out those around them. What a din !

   There's a few more things we want to see in the old city then we'll hop on a ferry and get out of it. There's some nice islands just south of here.