Turkey: from Asia to Europe

After the cold wave in Iran, we are rushing through Turkey from East to West in an extremely hilly relief. In the land of the omnipresent Atatürk, warmhearted Turks have many surprises for us, including being guests of honor in a local school. We finally cross the Bosphorus in Istanbul, where Asia meets Europe among churches and mosques.

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Once we pass the customs, we set off for a journey of almost 2'000 km through Turkey.

Fortunately, we are going in the opposite direction

Mount Ararat, where according to the legend Noah's Ark got stranded

Roads are brand new and desert which is a striking contrast with Iran

We have been warned by fellow bike travelers about some nasty kids in the region close to the border. And indeed, when they spot us, they first try to stop us before throwing stones and shouting an extremely welcoming "FUCK YOU!". Fortunately, this only happened once...

On our second day, we ride into Angela and Frank, a Dutch couple riding in the opposite direction. They introduce us by phone to Necmettin, an English teacher who hosted them in Ağri. Luckily, he is also ready to host us and we arrange a rendezvous at the entrance of a Migros (Swiss supermarkets chain)! Thanks to him, we spend a nice evening with his friends while drinking tea (a national pastime in Turkey) and wandering around town.

Migros can also be found in Turkey

Necmettin aka Nejo

As we arrive in Horasan at dusk, an old man still full of energy shows us the way to the local öğretmenevi (teachers' house), also taking care to displace any curious bystander that would ask us too many questions. This network of  houses was built by the government to enable teachers and their family to have a cheap place to stay for their vacations. Nowadays, they are also open to non-teachers, albeit at a higher price. As we are having dinner, one client who has been drinking some rakı (local schnapps) alone expresses his strong disapproval of the current president because of high alcohol prices, shouting a few angry "Fuck Erd*gan!"...

On the next day, we find ourselves in the climax of the Kurban Bayramı, the "Feast of Sacrifice" which is a major Muslim religious holiday. Every family is slaughtering goats, sheep or cows and share it in precise proportions fixed in the Quran with their family, neighbors and people in need. Blood, intestines and chopped off heads can regularly be seen along our way (fortunately for you, we do not have any pictures).

While we are fighting against a headwind on one of the numerous hills before Erzurum, we run into Pinky, a Hongkongese backpacker that we have met 3'500 km ago in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. We hang out together for a few days before hitting the road again.

Unexpected encounter with Pinky and her guide!

Nice evening watching the Netherlands-Turkey football game in a local bar

Riding through gorges on the way to Erzincan

Wild camping is harder in Turkey because fields are everywhere

The weather gets colder and we hurry up to leave the Western region as negative temperatures are expected.

Our penultimate pass above 2'000 m before Geneva

It's cold outside but locals are warm!

After the pass, we are expecting a nice downhill ride from 1'600 m to 600 m. However, roads seem to go uphill even when they should not... Welcome to Turkey!

We continuously ride up and down for the whole day in a beautiful scenery

In Erbaa, we are hosted in the summer house of Kayahan, an English teacher at a local boarding school. We are invited for dinner at school before spending the night playing cards together with his wife and friends.

Erbaa at dusk

On the next morning, we visit three of Kayahan's classes and present our travel and pictures to his pupils before Q&As. Most of the questions are about our job, marital status, family or football clubs. Finally, we organize a typical Swiss vote and ask them if they think that we are crazy to do such a bicycle tour. Results: 100% think that we are. Kayahan reassures us: when they said "crazy", the students meant "cool, wicked".

Presentation of our journey

Q&A time

After leaving Erbaa, we stop in Amasya

Some hilly days later, we arrive in Kurşunlu where we rest for one day. In the morning, we are called by the school director who leads us to an exhibition with a lot of black and white pictures of mass graves. Two English teachers are also there and explain us that every year on the national day, they organize such an exhibition to educate the population about the Armenian incident and prove the innocence of the government.

At the exhibition with the school director (with the tie) and English teachers

On our way to Düzce, we meet an old Spaniard who started his world tour 2 years ago. After 48'000 km and 3 accidents that lead him each time to the hospital, Frederic plans to ride to China. We are bit worried for him as he seems completely in his own world, almost getting run over when crossing the road.

Take care, Frederic!

Fall colors on the way to Düzce

From Düzce, we head to the Black Sea coast that we follow until Istanbul.

Lunch break with students at Akçakoca

Once they spot the camera, they all take the pose

Great encounter!

The coastal road is an unending series of short but extremely steep ups and downs. Every day, we ride the equivalent of a day of heavy mountainous riding.

Small break by the cloudy Black Sea

In the middle of a climb, they invites us for a delicious pide (Turkish pizza)

Our daily bread

In the forest near Şile

Şile lighthouse

The choice of the Northern route turns out to be wise as we avoid most of the traffic entering Istanbul. Once in the city, we ride South along the Bosphorus and take a ferry between the Asian and European side since bridges are strictly forbidden to bicycles or pedestrians.

Bye bye Asia. Europe here we come!

Leisure fishermen are all along the Bosphorus

We spend a relaxing week in Istanbul where Sébastian's parents have joined us.

Beyoğlu area and the New Mosque, Istanbul

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Byzantine cistern, Istanbul

Heavy traffic on the Bosphorus

The Etienne team, Istanbul

Time to say goodbye to the Blue Mosque, Istanbul

We choose again the Northern route to exit Istanbul, riding through extremely wealthy areas with less traffic. As we are pausing at the gate of a camp site in the late afternoon, we ask one of the guard if we could sleep inside. After some minutes of discussion, he accepts and let us through. In the middle of the night, a herd of dogs gathers around our tents and barks for several minutes before finally leaving.

Séb's tent has been marked as some dog's territory

The last chunk to the Greek border is partly done along the hilly coast of the Marmara sea.

Exiting Turkey under a cold and cloudy weather

Our last Migros until Switzerland

Even though we rushed though Turkey, we still had our fair share of handshakes, smiles and invitations for tea. Many thanks for this warm welcome!

Next stop: Thessaloniki, Greece with a hopefully better weather!