Sofia to Istanbul
It was a quick hop to Sofia where I hung out with the McKinsey girls Maya and Raya and the cheeky Aussie Raff. The first night we were out I was refused entry into a nightclub because I didn't have any jeans - the bouncer wasn't very appreciative of a cyclist's need to pack light.
Myself and Raff found a climbing wall in Sofia University and tried not to look too silly in front of the students who were incredible.
I got back onto the road again and had one incredible day of tailwinds clocking up about 190km. Above is me taking a rest in the shade - it's a tough life on the road.
I made a quick, 3 hour, detour into Greece to withdraw euros from the ATM. Was pleasantly surprised by a brand new road which cut about 50km out of the journey I had expected to the Turkish border.
A view from the new bridge.
The Greek - Turkish border was, as expected given their long enmity, heavily militarised. I caused a bit of an international incident when a Greek attack dog started chasing me on the bicycle. The Greeks couldn't control it for quite a while, much to the delight of the Turks watching from across no man's land. I got a lot of thumbs up and a warm welcome to Turkey.
I was then plunged into the madness of Edirne, a Turkish border town. A huge mosque, crazy traffic, music blaring and the buzz of commerce were a stark contrast to the quiet of Bulgarian and Greek backcountry.
I cycled on past Edirne, the road is tough with countless undulating hills and valleys. At a small town I am called over for chai and am then invited to stay and fed some delicious Turkish food and copious amounts of chai.
I have an interview with the mayor who finds me a place to stay and I use the floorspace to pull out my maps and decide whether I have enough time to cycle the whole way to Bishkek and get back in time for an unexpectedly early start to work. Unfortunately I don't if I want to go through Tajikistan and decide to try for a train to Tehran.
I keep moving and am delighted to see the sea again for the first time since Italy - I waste no time in stripping down and jumping in.
And, after over a month's travelling and about 2700km I arrive in the ancient city of Istanbul.
posted by Niall at
2:02 p.m.
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