Bergama-Akçay-Trojan Plain-Çanakkale

And so it goes: all of a sudden we are deep in the bike trip... even though I'm sıttıng here ın an Internet Cafe ın İstanbul's Sultanahmet quater. We have more than 300km behind us now and each k (well 10k) has a story. I'll stick to highlights, like American coverage of LeTour.

There was the Akropolis at Bergama. We rode up there in the morning wıthout our bags and I found it was so steep I could accelerate away from cars who were trying to sell me rugs. The top was breathtaking where the views' the ruıns and the red red poppys knocked me out individually and en suite. Riding gives one the ability to apprecıate wildflowers on the side of the road. İts very nice.

There was the uneven road that became a cobbled road that became a dirt road as we moved farther into the small roads on the map as we attempted to cut off a large lobe into the aegean. Prepared Dad had gotten us Armadillo tires so that punctures were never a problem. The road wound up and down through towns that are never mentioned ina guide book. It was just after mahgrib so the cafes were full with people who fell silent as we went passed.

There was lunch on Sat. where we were mobbed by 3rd graders after one got over the shyness to ask us our names. This mass of excited field tripping kids engulfed Thomas and eventually we had to beat a quıck retreat down the road.

There was the Trojan Plain in the soft evening light. We had made it out towards the end of the day because of a headwind and we had ridden off the map so we were just guessing. Positive Dad believed we could find a room or make it to Troy, but ıt was not to be. We camped in an olıve grove and feasted on a tomato Ekmek bread and some goat cheese which we surprisingly couldnt finish. There were three of us and my two person tent and my (Sophie's) sleeping pad, so I slept outside on the fly. İt was too cold for bugs so İ was fine. We rode into Troy the next morning at sunrise.

We enquired in the last town before camping for directions and a man said he had seen us riding that morning 80km ago. We do stick out.

The three has become two. We dropped Thomas off in Çanakkale and we took the bus up to İstanbul. Today we took a long walk around the city that was highlighted by inadvertantly stuffing ourselves at a Bürek shop. One of the ways this city is remarkable is because of the thousand or so minarets that pierce the skyline. İt makes you look up and that makes you notice the birds. İts very nice. We will take the train to Bucareşt tomorrow night to begin biking again. I cant wait.