17th September 2014     18-23℃       405km
Istanbul – Gallipoli Peninsula – Eceabat

After a very enjoyable 4 days in Istanbul, exploring the sights and occasionally being ripped off by taxi drivers, I headed back to BMW to pick-up the fully serviced bike.

The taxi driver who was supposed to take me to the BMW service centre, thought he might try and take me on a tour of Istanbul, in the hope of earning a hefty fare. What should have been a 20 minute drive, ended up being a 1.5hr trip, right across town, into the very centre and around.   About half way, I told him he could drive around all day if he wanted to, but there was no way I was paying what the meter displayed.   He continued to fluff about, so in the end I told him exactly where to turn to reach the correct destination.   When we reached BMW, the meter read 100 Lira.   I knew that from the previous trip it should have been more like 40 lira.   I gave him 60, and told him he should be grateful for that.  He wasn’t happy, but where he had stopped was right in-front of a large group of other guys picking up their bikes from BMW.  They were all laughing as I gave him a complete dressing down, and I guess he figured that he would have a whole group up against him if he decided he wanted to argue any further.   And with that, he left.

I collected my fully serviced bike, with a new rear tyre, new fork seals, oils changed, new filters. It feels like a new bike again, fully restored after the trip across Asia.

I made my way out of Istanbul and through the crazy traffic for one last time, and headed towards Gallipoli.

I reached the Gallipoli peninsular in the afternoon, and spent some time exploring the area and trying to understand the craziness of the war here.  Sheer cliffs that run down into the sea, all the years of learning in school of the ANZACs efforts here, I can now appreciate to a much greater degree.  The absolute futility and wasted lives lost here in battle made an impact on me.

11th September 2014       28℃       112km
Şile – Istanbul (Europe!)

It was an easy ride from Şile to the outskirts of Istanbul, sweeping corners on a fast road.
Reaching the Bosphorus bridge and riding across from Asia to Europe was a huge milestone for me, and I laughed loudly into my helmet as I rode, ecstatic at reaching the continent of Europe.

I made my way to the factory of Globescout panniers, where I met the guys who made my aluminium panniers, and they had some of the team fix a seal for me, while we had lunch.

With that task complete, I said goodbye and rode towards BMW Istanbul, although in the complex maze of Istanbul on-ramps, I missed a turn and ended up back on the Bosphorus bridge and over in Asia again. After a u-turn on the Asian side, I looped back across the bridge again, and back to Europe.
Eventually I found my way, reached BMW, and dropped off the bike for a major service.
I should be able to pick it back up in a couple of days, and in the meantime have time to explore Istanbul and all its sights.

10th September 2014       28℃       0km
Şile

I spent the day today relaxing by the Black Sea, completing administrative tasks, a few checks on the bike and enjoying the seaside town.  Şile has a great selection of little restaurants, almost all serving fresh seafood, and I moved between three cafes just for the sake of changing scenery.  The last place was brilliant, right on the edge of the cliff, looking out to sea, with Wi-Fi and a great tuna lunch with a selection of mezze and beer to wash it all down.

With lunch done, I headed down the cliff to swim in the sea water, enjoying the sun on my back and floating around.  A very enjoyable day in a fabulous little seaside town.