Find me way out there

Here's the latest! Bursa was a cool place to visit for a day or two for its Ottoman-era charm and Sultan-commissioned mosques, but aside from that there wasn’t too much to see or do within walking distance of the city center. One of the highlights for me was visiting the mausoleums that house the 13th/14th century founders of the Ottoman Empire! Perhaps if I ever visit Bursa again I will take the trip up the gondola to the mountains to go skiing! The bicycle ride from Bursa to the ferry that would take me to Istanbul was chaotic. It was only 30km, but at least two thirds of the trip was full of traffic on 4-5 lane roads with the ever indecisive/erratic turkish car users. I made friends with a Turkish guy who was out for a recreational ride. He helped me find the terminal, and bought me a tea before I had to run to catch the ferry across the Marmara! I spent four nights in Istanbul this past week - all at the same hostel where I spent ten nights over Christmas in December. It was a much different experience than I had only three months prior! The biggest change was that there were actually other people there! In December it was essentially just me and an Australian guy, along with the occasional turkish man. This past week there was a really good mix of people! I met two guys cycling from Belgium to Nepal, a woman from California stopping over on a trip to India, a guy from Victoria currently studying dentistry in Ireland, as well as a Russian and Ukrainian duo on holiday from Voronezh. More people meant a more social atmosphere - and more “social lubricants” consumed. We somehow managed to stay up until three (or later for some), three nights in a row. I’m paying for it now - suffering through the late stages of a cold I came down with post-Istanbul. I was able to check off a couple things that I had missed on my first trip through Istanbul on this visit. I managed to get to the Basilica Cistern, visit the original Nusr-et steakhouse (It was like a dinner, and a show), and just explore more! I met up with an American guy named Michael, now living in Istanbul for over a year. Long story short, I saw some coffee related work he had published online, reached out, and we met up over coffee to chat. After coffee was finished he took me to a cag kebab place just around the corner from the Second Home Hostel in Eminonu - he was still revelling after his first visit there the week prior. He was so excited about it that he used me as an excuse to go back again! It was cool to know that someone who has lived in Istanbul for a year (and had spent two years there prior) was still able to find new and exciting things. I also found time to revisit some coffee shops in Istanbul - including the fine people at Arabica Trading House - I forget if I’ve mentioned them prior, but I met Martell by chance at Kronotrop in December - he started a green coffee importing business in Istanbul this past May after previously working for an importer in Norway. It was really cool to reconnect with him and learn about a different facet of the coffee business. I also find it really refreshing to be able to have a conversation without exerting the mental energy to decipher a foreign accent! It took me three days to cycle from Istanbul to here, Burgas, Bulgaria! I’ve had people tell me I should write a book about my travels - perhaps they’re right, because some of the stuff that happens is just too strange/comical to make up. Cycling out of Istanbul was less busy than my ride into the city in December, but no less arduous. Thirty kilometers of five-lane traffic, followed by another twenty kilometers of two-lane highway with a bumpy shoulder. I had to fight a bit of a headwind as well as the traffic before making a turn north. I found place to camp after 125km of cycling, in a little forest just off the main road. I was a little concerned that I was only 50m from a house, and 50m from the road, but I didn’t have much energy left to cycle more that day. As it turns out, the proximity to the road and the house were not an issue, what was an issue was a roaming pack of dogs that came barking (literally) at two in the morning. I had woken up a few hours earlier because of my oncoming cold, and the hard rain that fell overnight, but this time I had at least three dogs barking right outside my tent. At first I just laid there and tried to be still, after about 15 minutes I tried “shhh-ing” the one dog that hadn’t given up barking yet. This works sometimes in daylight, but it only caused the dogs that had given up to resume barking at me. I went back to laying still and they eventually gave up on me after half an hour or so. Day two was full of headwinds, but had a three-fold silver lining of meeting Chris from the UK who was on the final leg of his London-Istanbul bike tour, I also crossed the threshold of 10,000km of loaded cycling on this trip, and I found a great camping spot in a pine tree forest! In total I’ve cycled a little over 3500 kilometers just in Turkey! Second most kilometers in a country is a little under 2000 in Italy. Crossing the border to Bulgaria was pleasantly uneventful, though, the Bulgarian border guard seemed a little confused that I was on holiday with my bicycle. I cycled the 40 kilometers to Nessebar yesterday and was a little disappointed. Nessebar’s old town is a UNESCO world heritage site - it’s full of old churches and restored 19th-century houses. A large portion of the old town was shuttered up - it is still the slow/shoulder season for tourism here on the Black Sea. Mmm. I realized on my ride to Bulgaria that my travel insurance was set to run out today! Fortunately I was able to get it extended after spending half an hour on hold with the company in Richmond. I also had to re-sign up for Skype so I could make a call to a landline without having my phone connected to a service provider. I had to use my dad’s cell phone number to receive a confirmation code to sign up. It really is amazing how limited you can be without having your own phone number. Today the plan is to relax and explore Burgas on foot. Give my legs a bit of a break before cycling to Veliko Tarnovo. I had VelikoTarnovo recommended to me by the Ukrainian/Russian woman I spent the day exploring Kadikoy with on Friday last week. It works as a nice mid-way point on the way to Sofia as well! I should also really work on learning basic words in Bulgarian - right now I can’t even stumble through words in print because I’m not familiar with the cyrillic alphabet!