Istanbul to Eastern Turkey - Adventure travel at it's best ?? Or was that worst??

Thankfully it was a fairly quiet Sunday in Istanbul when we arrived. We found our way into the city teaming up with 4 Spanish cyclists who were on the ferry with us. We found an apartment to stay in but it was just available for 2 nights. Monday morning we visited the Iranian embassy to finish our visa application. We had sent off the initial information required and payment to an agent when we were in Serbia. They do whatever is necessary (not sure how much) and then send back an approval number. Once you have the number the rest is quite straight forward. Passport photo for me with my hair covered, more form filling, a whopping 100 euro visa fee for NZ ders payable at a specified bank. Then it was "Come back on Wednesday" Exciting. So a couple of days sightseeing and a change of hotel for the final two nights. A big busy touristy city but nice with the water and bridges, we stayed near the centre and hung about there so it didn't feel too big. We visited the big bazaar and picked up some warmer clothes and baggy shirts and pants for me to wear in Iran. Plus a dog dazzer! Could have done with it 16000 kms ago.
Lots of mosques and lovely old buildings to see.  Narrow streets. And of course tourist scams. One shoe shine guy dropped his brush right beside us.  Trevor picked it up and called out to him. Thank-you thank-you... Let me clean your shoes, (like our sandals need squirted with water and scrubbed with a grubby  toothbrush) then its the please give me money story...  he had obviously dropped the brush on purpose.
And more violence than we have seen anywhere else, guys losing the plot and starting a fight, all of a sudden there are so many men trying to pull them apart but it seems to escalate and carries on down the street for ages like a violent rolling maul.  One lot was heading my way so I ducked into the nearest shop, the guy in the shop hurried me behind the counter then picked up a huge bollard ready to defend himself if needed. Scary to watch.
Since we have visited Turkey before and winter is coming, we decided to get to Iran as quickly as possible. Oct/Nov is the best time to visit there weather wise. Not too hot.
We wanted to go direct to Van on the Dogubayazit express but the train line there had been sabotaged (PKK or kurds, who really knows)  so the only option was a sleeper train from Ankara to Erzurum, further north in Eastern Turkey leaving Ankara on the Friday night at 6pm. The travel agent told us we could take the fast train to Ankara, (with bikes) it takes just 3.5 hrs but currently it leaves from the Asia side of Istanbul and with bikes we needed to take a boat then the metro then ride 6 km. So, luckily as it turns out, we set off Thursday morning having decided we would suss it out and maybe stay over the otherside and go to Ankara the next day or all going well go to Ankara and stay overnight there. The boat trip was fine. Survived the access to the metro, the elevators were not working so we had to take the loaded bikes down 3 narrow steep escalators. We have done it before but these were particularly dodgy. A bit like water skiing, if you get the start right and balanced properly then its all good but if you don't then everything turns a bit pear shaped and the bike becomes a bucking bronco! Unfortunately the escalators are always crowded which does not help the nerves.
Two hours after we left we reached the fast train station and -   Absolutely no way were we allowed to take our bikes on the train. Fullstop... Hmm off to a bus station, No, absolutely no,  sorry don't do bikes here... Hmm
Maybe if you go to the main bus station - 40 km back where we had come from... Hmm, don't think so.
We found a travel agent and he sent us to another travel agent. No problem...
Now 3 pm.  Suddenly without much discussion we were stuffed into a minivan thinking we were off to Ankara. But no,  it was just a taxi picking people up to drop at a bus station. Then we waited and waited in the cold, we discovered 6 pm was departure time but that came and went, finally at 7.30 a bus arrived. The bus driver threw up his arms at the sight of the bikes but by that time we were 3 cups of Chai friendly with the bus company fella and he sorted it so they were loaded and off we went. 6 hrs later we arrived at Ankara bus terminal. The metro had stopped running for the night and there was no way we were cycling in the middle of the night so we dug out our sleeping bags and joined everyone else sleeping on the bench seats for a few hours... while the cleaners sloshed water and mopped the floor around us. Hmm.
We met a friendly young guy about 6.30am, he was there to meet his dad off the bus.  He decided he had enough time before school to escort us on and off the now running metro and into central Ankara. We met 'dad' as well, he was left to make his own way home and off we went. Fantastic. Then Feud showed us where the train station was and left us enjoying breakfast and coffee at a nice cafe. We organized to meet him and a friend after school.
So a day in Ankara, can't say we were feeling that chipper but we did manage to look around a bit and visited Ataturks memorial (Ataturk being the founding leader of modern Turkey)  definitely a man ahead of his time, and a place worthy of a visit (photos)
We met up with Feud and his friend later, had time for an ice cream in the park then we were off on the overnight train. Phew. Time to relax. 21 hours to relax to be precise. But it was a nice trip. We were comfortable in our own cabin.  (Scenery photos from the train) Vast expanses of nothingness, sheep and goat herders, haphazardly built,  poor villages. I am glad I didn't find out until we had nearly reached Erzurum - the train schedule had recently been changed so it crossed a particular area of Eastern Turkey in daylight, there had been a number of incidents recently on this line as well where explosives had been put on the tracks...
Erzurum is the hub of Eastern Turkey and a nice city. Loads of hotels. Not long after we arrived we learnt of the terrorist attack that happened at Ankara railway station that morning. Just a few hours after we had left there. Truly awful.
We enjoyed looking around the sights of  Erzurum the next day, noting all the flags were half mast (photos) and booked seats on a bus to Van which is the closest city to the border where we wanted to cross into Iran. Info from where we got the ticket - It leaves at 7 am, takes 7 hours and the bus terminal is 2 km from here.
We thought we would wander to the station to see for ourselves as we didn't want any surprises early in the morning. It was not 2 km, after 5 km we found out it was almost 12 km and way out of town on the main highway.
Nothing was happening at our hotel the next morning, we woke the guy sleeping on the couch to unlock the door and left in the dark intending to have a cuppa at the bus station. A fast cycle, we arrived at 6.15, were quickly escorted to a bus, bikes loaded and ready to depart at 6.23 while I'm thinking - Are we on the right bus going to the right place? Where is English / Turkish Google translate when you need it ?  Yep apparently we were on the right bus.
The driver gave new meaning to the terms Express and Direct. No toilet stops, no food stops, 5 hrs total not 7.
Hot, hungry, thirsty, bikes reassembled and bags on ready to head into the city when an old guy, with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, approaches us and asks for our passports. Initially we kind of ignored him until he produced his police badge. Then he decided to search all our panniers. No, 'let's go inside or into another room', just right where we were on the pavement surrounded by a huge number of curious Turkish males, every one of them sucking on a cigarette.
Eventually satisfied that we were not a threat he shook our hand and we were able to leave. We stopped about 5 km down the road at what we thought was a cafe but it actually sold lollies, dried fruit and cakes. The father and his daughter were delightful and so happy we had stopped.  We downed 4 glasses of tea each and a heap of food. They kept bringing more out for us to try and would not accept payment for it. They directed us to the hotel area and once we sorted that we headed off to suss out how to get the 100km to the border.
There was some kind of rally going on in the square and a huge riot police presence to go with it.  Police wagons with water cannons, police all well armed as well as many army vehicles.
This is Kurdish territory and although most of the trouble hotspots are further south Van also has its share of incidents.
We didn't hang around.
But we did find out at the tourist office that the border between Turkey and Iran was closed as was the one further south and the only one open was back up north around 400 km!
So another bus ticket booked for the next morning. Far out.
With a couple of hours to spare we took a taxi van out to visit the big fort that over looks Lake Van, it was dark by the time we finished and flagged down another van back.  The usual donor kebab for dinner.
There is definitely an uneasy feeling here. Tension among  the people and they are quick to tell us they are Kurdish, not Turkish. Hotels are doing a starve and dropping their prices as no tourists are visiting.
Public transport is vital to this country as not many people own cars. The buses are pretty cheap and very modern. Main roads are at least two lanes each side straight and buses travel kms quickly.
Except today.
Off again early. And I was not feeling at all well. Last nights dodgy kebab...This time a local bus, really slow, through a gorge, stopping everywhere and then we had to change buses halfway. The bus stopped at a police check point, there was even one of those armed vehicles where the guy pops out the top and swivels the gun around!  They came on and checked everyones ID and took one guy off. It was about then my illness peaked, I will leave it there!  
I must admit its all a tad nerve racking and unfortunately we have started to look at everyone and wonder if they are potential suicide bombers.
A night in Agri, nothing to report there as I was too sick to go anywhere and then to Dogubayazit (commonly known by tourists as Doggy biscuit) the next day just 35 km from Iran, a great hotel and a great view of Mt Ararat. Photo-Think Noahs Ark. Also very chilly. Dogubayazit - Maku in Iran - 65 km
Yay next morning we were back on the bikes and on our way to the border. Half way along Trevor stopped to find his gloves, I continued on then spotted a young boy up ahead, looked like a goat herder and had a big stick with him. I slowed down to wait on Trevor just as this kid decided to run towards me. When he reached me he started yelling and screaming and whacking the back panniers on my bike with his stick.  I would say he was about 11 or 12 and what struck me most was the look in his eyes. Such total absolute hatred toward me or more to the point what he perceived me to represent.
Astonishing how someone so young can get to be so misguided and evil.
I just yelled at him, changed down a gear and bolted just as Trevor arrived to give him a barrel. At the same time 2 army vehicles just happened to be cruising by and also saw what happened, turned on their sirens and tooted and the kid scampered off into the distance.
We had heard about the kids over this way and yesterday when the bus we were on stopped at a red light 3 really young kids came over begging. The bus driver basically told them to go away and then they proceeded to throw stones at the bus. Little urchins, not at school, wearing rags. Sad, there is not much hope of a good life for them.
On we went to the border, just one minor issue as we wheeled our bikes the final 100 metres surrounded by more Turkish urchins. One of them suddenly spotted a huge piece of wire wrapping itself around Trevors wheel. As he removed it a number of the kids indicated he should pay the guy for noticing it... We are fairly certain they deviously put it there to begin with.
We exited Turkey and then no problems at all entering Iran. Immediately we felt the different atmosphere. Here it was calm and peaceful and lots of friendly people saying - Welcome to Iran. So looking forward to the next month.
A pretty character building and frustrating week getting across Turkey but that's what 'adventure' is all about.

Anzac Cove - On a Mission

October 2015
Alexandroupolis - Kesan, Turkey 80 km
Definitely a step up in border security compared to every other country we have been in and a huge police presence checking buses and other vehicles, for refugees but finally we were on our way to Kesan. It fined up but we didn't quite dry out. Late afternoon by the time we arrived to start the hotel hunt. Immediately we noticed how many young groups of males there were. A bit like Morrocco. All smoking. Hanging about. And very aggressive impatient drivers. An almost gridlocked narrow street going uphill, we were going the same speed but the car drivers were trying to get us out of their way. And absolutely no tolerance for pedestrians. We found a hotel, after 4 previous no goes, thankfully being rescued by the man at reception, he could obviously see us trying to extract ourselves from a group of guys who had insisted on tagging along and then wanted paid for showing us the way... yeah right. We were shown the expensive, lovely, spotless  3* option and then the 1* option across the road  where we could store our bikes for the night. We decided we would rather stay there. It was more spacious, old and tired but also much cheaper, honestly the 3* was just not right for our muddy wet bags, shoes, raincoats and there was nowhere to hang up our clothesline! I did get a kind of - Are you daft  - look from the guy showing us around.
We ventured out to a restaurant for dinner almost falling asleep waiting for the food to be cooked, the last couple of big days catching up on us.
Kesan - Gelibolu (Gallipoli) 83 km
The bonus for the day was that breakkie was buffet back across the road at the 3* , We stayed quite a long while enjoying the comfort and delicious food, lots of feta cheese, olives, cucumber, tomato, eggs, fresh bread, fruit, yoghurt, jams and lots of tea,  we were not at all keen to venture out in the rain. But finally we set off. A highway ride all the way, but a good shoulder. Also heavy rain all the way. Everytime a truck hurtled by we got even more drenched. Luckily it was rolling countryside so we warmed up going up the hills and then froze going down. Gelibolu, or Gallipoli to us, is a funny little place. Spread out, touristy, kind of run down on the opposite side of the peninsula from Anzac cove. We wandered around - fair to say a little unimpressed.
Gelibolu to Hill 64 - 53 km - Over the hills and far away...
We took the cross-country option instead of the highway. All the rain had muddied things up a bit (photo 1) but an interesting ride. We came across huge kangal dogs sporting dangerous looking spiked collars, the dogs were almost as big as my bike. They usually look after the sheep and certainly don't like it if you get too close. I didn't get any photos being a little too concerned for my welfare. It's hard to describe some of the villages out here. Like going back in time. Peasant life. Just eeking out an existence while actually quite close to modern life. Finally we made it to the otherside of the peninsula. We chatted to a family from the UK who had visited their grandfathers grave and were thrilled that they saw his photo in the museum.
It was getting late so we made the decision to stay the night in front of Hill 64, a NZ and Australian memorial outside of the main cemetery and no camping areas. Very quiet and peaceful night. 
Hill 64 - Canakkale 40 km
We were packed up and away early on our mission to find the name of Trevors great uncle who died here 100 years ago.Just a few kms down the road to Anzac Cove where we lingered for a while. It was a beautiful day. Calm and sunny. Very few people about. Probably quite the opposite to 1915 and hard to imagine how so many people could be here on Anzac day.
We stopped to look at every memorial on our way up to Chunuk Bair which is at the top of a big hill. There are separate cemeteries and/or memorials for different battles. It took us a while.
At Chunuk Bair, the last place to visit,  we found the name we had been looking for-  Charles Hayward-  It was in  alphabetical order among the roll of inscribed names.  He was a part of  the Wellington infantry group. We were thrilled to find it, not sure if any other family members have been here or not so we took plenty of photos to show them back in NZ.
Mission accomplished!
A memorable day, emotionally exhausting  and all the inevitable thinking of the enormous waste of young lives and the futility of war. Never the less it is a place we have wanted to visit for a long time. We were so close to here in 1986 and later regreted not making the effort.
A short cycle back across the narrowing peninsula then an even shorter ferry crossing to Canakkale. A modern, vibrant city full of students. Nice cafes and restaurants, good food and nice hotels. We wandered along the promenade to see the wooden sculpture of the horse used in the movie Troy. Enormous!  The place Troy is not far from here but we decided not to make a detour to visit.
Canakkale - Can - 85 km
Tough riding on a boring inland highway. Just a hard slog up and down hills. Huge wide expanse of farmland for as far as we could see. Pleased to reach Can.
Can - Bandirma - 110 km
Another huge day but more enjoyable as we kept getting stopped and offered chai (tea) which we accepted and then chatted to the locals. But it made for a long day and we really had to push the last 30 km just making it to Bandirma on dark. Another nice coastal city.
Bandirma - Istanbul
We took the midday ferry which took about 3 hrs to get to Istanbul. Great to land so close to the centre. This is the stretch of water that in 1915 the allies were trying to secure in order to get to the black sea...
Next blog, character building week crossing Turkey

Bulgaria, Cycling through, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

September 19 -28 2015 - Another great week.
(Very slow getting this blog posted as we have not been able to access blogspot in Iran.)
We crossed the border from Serbia into Bulgaria at Strezimirovtsi and followed the sign for the motel in the small village a few km away. Lovely signs but no motel, it had closed some years previously... We met a guy, his wife, young daughter and his elderly father. We wandered over to his fathers place nearby, they were visiting him from Sophie over the 4 day long weekend but staying in the hotel 25 km away in Tran. They were pretty sure the hotel was full but offered for us to stay at his fathers if we could not find anywhere else.
I must admit to being quite taken back when we first met this guy (who shall remain nameless on this blog but hopefully has a laugh if he reads it!)  he was shirtless, which was not the problem BUT the pistol tucked into the waistband of his shorts was clearly visible...  Coming from NZ, where that would never happen, it was quite a shock to me. Taken back because, firstly, I wondered if it was OK/legal to carry a gun and secondly did you need one in Bulgaria? And then only 30 minutes into a new country I am asking myself, is this a safe place to travel?
Maybe he was secret police!
Anyway, to continue, we enjoyed a drink and chatted about Bulgaria and his father who was described as an 'old commie.' I think he was talking about his attitude to life and the hangover from the old bygone days, its obviously been difficult for some of the older men.  A couple of ph calls later and we had a place to stay at a kind of lodge as long as we understood there would be a disco later that night. It was late afternoon, we had already cycled a tough 80km but quickly covered the remaining 25 and were escorted just on dusk to our digs for the night. (Photo 1)  It was just a notch up from a Nepalese tea house - the notch being the hot shower. We had to plug the cylinder in and wait a while but it was worth the wait and a very cheap place to stay at 5 euro each.
There was a group of young people eating at the restaurant. They spoke English, were very excited to talk to us and to make sure we got checked in and looked after. A great bunch. They were from Sophie and visiting a nearby tourist attraction. Bulgaria has a 'See your own country'  programme which has been running for many years and they were ticking off the 100 sites. By the time they left it was about 9.30 and we were starving. The menu meant not a thing to us being totally in a foreign script and language. I asked for the only Bulgarian thing I knew - a Chopska salad - and got a number of wobbly shakes of the head back from the waiter. This continued until we remembered (we had read) that in Bulgaria a shake of the head means yes and a nod means no. So funny to see. Trevor headed out to the kitchen to play charades with the cook -  I tend to avoid such places prefering to keep the image  of a pristine environment firmly intact! But he did well and we enjoyed an omlette, Chopska salad, fries and a beer.
The music cranked up as we headed up the rickety stairs to bed and continued until 3.45 am but we were so tired it was not a problem. Funny, we didn't even consider joining them.
We were glad we had paid the night before as there was no sign of life the next morning when we left. We met up with our new friends at their hotel for coffee and chatted on the ph to his rugby mad mate who told us the All blacks were playing that night and that Japan had beaten S Africa. We were very glad to have met this couple and their daughter, they were good fun, very helpful and also exchanged some euros for us which was great as no banks were open until Wednesday. 
Tran - Pernik 50 km
A cruisy ride to the next big town of Pernik through mainly an agricultural area. Big farms with huge machinery, different from the small holdings we had seen in Serbia. 
We had been warned about the 'gypsies' and told to stay clear and avoid eye contact. Not possible. We stopped for lunch in a small town and sat outside to eat. Almost immediately this gypsy woman approached us begging for something, anything. She stood really close totally invading our space and had that - I am not going to move till I get something look. I contemplated giving her my half eaten bread roll as she looked particularly thin and hungry but remembered we had a half loaf of (stale) bread from Serbia still in our bag which I am slightly embarrassed to say was heading for the rubbish bin. I gave it to her, her face lit up with a huge smile and off she went. I'm not sure if the smile was because she had succeeded in getting something or if she was genuinely pleased to get bread. Either way it was a sobering reminder again of how little some people have. 
We stopped in Pernik at the first hotel. It actually looked a bit rich for us (3***) but was surprisingly cheap. A lovely huge suite and a zillion tv channels, one broadcasting the All blacks/Argentina game so that was a huge bonus.
Pernik - Samokov 87 km
Off early on deteriorating roads. It seems maintenance is a totally foreign concept here. There are rusted road barriers hidden by trees, shrubs and weeds growing over the roads. What originally would have been a full two lane highway with a shoulder is now about one lane wide with the trucks pruning the foliage as they whiz by. We felt like we were cycling in the middle of the rd - a bit scary. The apartments we saw today were the same, ugly, decrepit and have that old soviet bloc look and the people seem to have a let's do nothing to improve things attitude. 
We kept to the smaller roads but often the nearby motorway would run out or was under construction and all of a sudden we were ambushed with traffic until the motorway started up again. I was being particularly careful while negotiating our way through a busy town when a bike went flying past, one young guy cycling and his mate standing up on the back of the bike giving the instructions. No helmets, dark clothes, weaving in and out of the traffic without a care...
Another nice hotel at the end of the day with a good restaurant, great, we didn't need to venture out in the dark.
It's an easy country to travel in, unfortunately it is the poorest country in the EU, ( its like Croatia, in the EU but retains its own money ) again with high unemployment but everything is pretty cheap which is a bonus for us. We saw drains being dug - 15 guys with spades. But just up the road fibre optic cable being laid and all the machinery to go with it.  The villages we have seen are fairly basic, just the necessities. 
The wobbly shake gives us a laugh everyday. People are friendly and wobble shake and wave. We in turn nod and smile in greeting or nod and say hello. A nod to us is a kind of positive affirmation. As much as we tried, it is impossible to shake and smile or shake and say hi, try it!
Samokov - Vetren Dol - 71 km
A little bit of highway then off onto quieter roads winding through small villages. Lots of fire wood collecting going on as there has been in every country. It's a full time job!  There was a hotel showing on our map quite on its own and off the beaten track. We headed that way getting less optimistic as the hours went by, wondering if it would be there or abandoned like a lot we had seen and all the while hoping we didn't have to head back down to the highway and a further 30 km. But up and down a hill, over the railway to the edge of town and there it was, a Bulgarian resort with lots of hot pools. We timed it right arriving on the last day of the 4 day holiday when most people had gone home. 30 euro for a small stand alone cabin. A great way to spend the rest of the afternoon soaking in a spa pool.  Who would have thought?? 
Vetren Dol- Batak Lake 75 km
We had to do a detour to a bank to finally exchange some money, we had been paying our accommodation in euros and getting just enough local money in change but not ideal so a really busy road for 25 km then off up into the hills to Batak town where we got some supplies and then up to Batak Lake. A popular place in summer but not much happening as we rode in. The sun was going down, it was really chilly and a lot of the lodges closed up for winter. But we found one open, a lovely view across the lake (photo) and it came complete with a deep bath. Perfect.
Batak Lake - Devin 70 km, Wildlife day.
We whizzed back down to the town and wandered through the cafe street, an incredible amount of coffee places open and not many people about. We got some bakery food then wound our way up through a valley. This was a cross-country day over some rough roads but nice through remote bush. As we headed down one hill a large deer came crashing down the bank beside us, across the road, up the otherside and off again through the bush. A few minutes later we disturbed a smaller one beside the road and in its panic to get away ran right between our bikes.
Further on, again blatting downhill,
I heard Trevors wheel skid and saw him  stop in a hurry.  As I got closer I slowed right down both brakes on thinking take it easy maybe the rd is slippery... I looked down just as I was about to put my foot on the ground and right under my bike was a big fat snake slowly slithering away. Trevor had woken it up and it had raised its head and given him a fright, I somehow managed not to stand on it or run it over...  But still no bear sightings and they are here in these mountains. Quite a few signs about. We asked some locals before we took this road, they said they had only seen the beers on TV. It was raining as we arrived in town.
Devin - Smolyan 54 km
Heavy rain this morning so we didn't leave until it started to fine up around lunchtime. Easy, mainly downhill, a reward for yesterdays up. They are advertising tours to see bears. 90% chance of seeing one. I was very tempted but the weather put me off.
The towns have been getting nicer, cleaner and tidier with obvious signs of pride and the area seems more wealthy than where we started a week ago. More tourist attractions in this area. We missed a turnoff but before we realised the locals had stopped us and pointed us in the right direction. I love it when people know where we are going.
Smolyan - Zlatograd 57 km
We rode along a river through a gorge. Mountains of scrubby pine trees that get cut in half and basically thrown down the hillside and used for firewood. No forest roads. We arrived early in Zlatograd but were not sure if there were any more places to stay closer to the Greek border so decided not to risk it and stayed in a gorgeous hotel. (We did see a motel the next day about 20 km further) We had time to have a good walk around the town. Saturday night and lots of Greeks were visiting, eating at the restaurants and drinking at the hotels, apparently its much cheaper.
Zlatograd - Alexandroupolis, Greece 148 km.
45 km and time on the super highway as we got close to the Bulgaria/Greek border, a steady climb up to the top of a hill. Goodbye Bulgaria,  it's been fun.  Although we only saw one gun we are told many people carry them... Only in Bulgaria!
Greece here we come.
A quick passport check and stamp and a thrilling down hill on an even better road through six tunnels, all short, well lit, and no traffic, we flew through going 60 kph - that's how tunnels should be!
Then the super highway just petered out to a narrow country rd, 15 km from a big city, hmm I think the EU money may have run out...
Cotton fields, olive trees and a really long ride to the coast. In fact the most kms we have done in a day but there was absolutely nowhere to stay on the route we had chosen.  There was also no food places open (Sunday) so we were really tired and really hungry as we made our way into Alexandroupolis just on dark. We found a campground right on the beach. Phew.
Akexandroupolis, Greece  to Kesan, Turkey - 85 km
I enjoyed a swim first thing in the morning (Mediterranean) thinking it would probably be the final opportunity on this trip. Sea temp and air temp pretty much the same. Cool.
Not a lot of austerity evident in this city. Unbelievably expensive. A coastal, tourist spot, the start of the off season and not many tourists about but an overload of empty high rise flash hotels.But the locals tell us how bad everything is for them and they can only withdraw 250 euro per week from the Atm. Not so for us, we managed to get the rest of the euros we needed.
Then off we pedalled to Turkey. It bucketed down almost all the way to the border. A busy highway. Just 24 hrs in Greece, an easy exit and then about 5 passport checks on the Turkish side.  We got so cold standing around in queues of traffic in the wind and the rain. Then on past tense looking armed guards stationed along a bridge as we crossed an area of no-man's land and into Turkey. Just another 40 km to Kesan where we will stay the night. Hope we dry out before then.