Day 62 Leaving Istanbul - Tuesday April 2nd.

Ready to load up outside the hostel

I think I was first up in the hostel. The night duty person was asleep on the sofa. I let myself out of the hostel to start loading the bike which is on the pavement. There is a note attached to it from Max which I really appreciated. I'm sure he won't mind you reading it.

He is a biology student from Austria, on an Easter get away break. He is about a generation and a half younger than me and had done some wild camping in the Austrian forests. I've met and talked to a lot of young people in the hostels and apart from being very friendly they seem genuinely interested in what I am doing.

Changing guard....but I'm not sure what they are guarding

Istanbul is famous for it's tulips - there are tulip festivals everywhere in April

Stopping for a breather on the way out - the scent from this hyacinth bed was gorgeous

Ther's my bridge - I'm in Europe now, that's Asia on the far side........lots of traffic on it!

I get stopped on the bridge by this policeman - he phones for advice.........

I take pictures of the view and make a banana butty while I wait.....and wait.

Bertie and I are unceremoniously chucked on a bus to complete the bridge crossing. 

Bertie gets pressure washed - no charge

It's a nice ride in the afternoon, interesting to see the cargo being loaded - scrap metal out, steel reinforcing rod in......bound for China I think.

Faraz turns up to video me leaving. It's a perfect day and I am soon stripped down to a T-shirt to squeeze my way through the morning rush hour. I make it to the bridge across the Bosphoros which separates Europe and Asia and pedal across the first third on the narrow hard shoulder. At this point a policeman flags me down and indicates that it is a NO BIKES bridge but doesn't give me any clue as to how we are going to resolve this. He makes a phone call but nothing happens. I think he is waiting for a bribe to allow me to proceed. I decide to tough it out and get out my picnic hamper and make myself a banana sandwich. Eventually a very smart policeman on a motorbike arrives (he shouts at me when I try to photograph it). He has the solution. He flags down a bus and orders me and the bike on board. This is achieved relatively easily as it has an entrance in the middle designed for wheel chair access. I get off in Asia and am on my way.

To celebrate being on a different continent I stop in a carwash and ask the guy how much to jet wash the bike. I don't expect to see any more salt being put on the roads now. He does it for free. Cool. (This is a hostel word I've picked up). I pop in a garage loo and change into my shorts for the first time. I need to think about sunburn protection.

I'm back on the D100, a motorway which varies between 2 or 3 lanes with fast moving traffic. I have a tailwind boost and clock 110 km before looking for somewhere to pitch the tent. I'm not optimistic because it's been one long conurbation since leaving Istanbul but it suddenly got better after just after Izmit and I found a good spot near the airport.