Charles looks tired the next morning. Clearly he had found the free porn channel as well or the pressure of sleeping in the car all day while I drive is starting to take its toll. We leave Mersin and head back towards Adana. After 50 KM we reach the Ankara road and head north through the hills. The route is scenic and the road seems pretty good. There are a lot of lorries bringing goods inshore from the ports along the Med. It looks like an easy leg of the journey is ahead of us. Famous last words. Soon the road is under construction and we are squeezed into one lane in each direction. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a problem, but when you are stuck behind a lorry at 40 KPH you can choose to sit there and take all day for your journey or overtake and push on. I opt for the latter. Problem with this approach is that as soon as you overtake one lorry another one appears. Also the cars stuck behind lorries coming in the opposite direction have the same idea. What transpires is like a ballet on wheels. From behind the lorry I note a gap and emerge into the opposite lane. There is a lorry coming in the opposite direction but a good distance away. As I emerge a car appears overtaking the lorry coming towards me. He sees me and we both pull back in behind the lorries we were following in the first place. This goes on for about 60 Km and is really quite stressful. Finally, the road returns to normal, then becomes a 3 lane highway as we push on towards Ankara. Charles is already asleep, clearly the car ballet has exhausted him I settle down for the rest of the drive and as we take a gentle left hand curve at 130 KPH, a herd of 200-300 sheep appear in the road in front of us. I get on the brakes early enough and we stop short. The previous day, I was behind the wheel for 13 hours. Today will be much shorter and we opt to stop at the first hotel we come to. This happens to be the Aktif Metropolitan, Ankara. They have rooms and the hotel is modern and very clean. It is also dry and doesn’t have a bar. No real problem as tomorrow we will be in Istanbul. After an excellent meal, I process some photography and relax in the room.
Following breakfast we head North East for Istanbul. I guess that the Ankara-Istanbul highway will be a good quality road. I am not disappointed. We are soon on a 3 lane toll highway that would put most western roads to shame. This is again impressive. I have been hugely impressed with Turkey since our arrival. The industry and infrastructure far outweigh my expectations. I can’t see any reason why Turkey would not be a major contributor to the EU, If allowed to join. 450 KM later we are on the outskirts of Istanbul. Charles is awake and has a map of the city from a previous visit. We know roughly where the hotel (otel) is. We drive over a couple of bridges and, after a couple of wrong turns, arrive at the hotel. It turns out that we are a day late. I had found a lost day in the travel itinerary before I left Qatar. I thought I had accounted for it but it rears it’s ugly head here. We should have checked in the previous day. Luckily, there is no problem and we check in. Now having been surprised by the free porn channel in Mersin, I am equally surprised by the mirrors on the ceiling in this hotel room. After a shower we head out and take a tram to an area with lots of bars. We take up residence in an Irish pub called “The James Joyce” for the night and seek liquid sleep assistance.
We are up bright and early the next morning and have breakfast on the 4th floor terrace. The hotel even lays on entertainment as an Albatross dives down and starts eating food from a nearby table. We are alerted by the scream of a one eyed German boy with a patch who just happens to be sitting at the table at the time. The parents rush over and chase the huge bird away. I figure it must have happened because the kid looks like a pirate.
We head for the Blue Mosque and San Sophia. They are interesting to see, but again I am singularly underwhelmed by them. This goes back again to having seen the Pyramids and Petra at the start of the trip. By 11 AM we are back in the hotel. We have lunch. My head is already back on the road for the drive the next day. The trip is clearly getting to Charles as he is talking about buying something. He needs another bag for his flight home tomorrow. I ask if his medical insurance is up to date just in case he breaks a $100 note.
I chill in the room for the rest of the day and need to get focussed on what is ahead. Tomorrow I will be alone again and crossing into the EU. There are many horror stories about the Greek border regarding cars being seized and drivers locked up. This is a major milestone in this journey. Once into the EU border crossings become much easier. But first the Greeks.
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