Amsterdam to Istanbul

Okay, so I made it... and I've been here since the 23rd and still haven't written a post or put any cool pictures up (I have lots) but I've been running around too much. Relaxing, stressing about getting my bike shipped out, and exploring at a crawling pace have taken precedent over blog posting... but I'll get around to it I suppose.

Our first 3 nights were spent as a group in a camping area (bungalows) for Muslim families. Somehow the dates got mixed up and we ended up camping outside instead of in the bungalows, but after the summer we had camping was the usual. The only problem were the sprinklers that went off every night at 3am - except the night they went off sometime earlier and sprayed the inside of our tent (we didn't have the fly on). It's funny that we could arrive at the campsite to find a puddle in our tents with all our stuff completely soaked through and the first reaction would be laughter. I never thought I would make it to a point in life where things didn't really phase me. This was likely one of the more valuable things I picked up on the trip.

Debrief was better than I thought it would be. People really came together to make the best of our last 3 days together. I saw sides of some people that I hadn't really seen on the ride and I bonded closer with some whose company I had really enjoyed.

From there, Joanna and I took our bikes and stuff to Murat's house - we found him on couchsurfing - where we were welcomed and cooked for. We stayed there for 3 nights and he let us in on his favourite spots in the city, gave us a Turkish history lesson, fed us Ayran and Turkish coffee, and talked about all his travels. Then he helped me ship my bike to London - hopefully it makes it there! We could only get one pedal off... and it was easily the worst packing job I've ever taken part in, but I was under a time constraint. I'm just glad to have it off my hands. We met up with the majority of the group who was still in town and went to the Turkish baths - quite the experience.

Since leaving Murat's place, we've been staying at the Chill Out Hostel with Jake, Charles, and Shani and it's been really nice to be close to them and hang out as a group again. The other day we explored the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar where we ate Turkish Delight until we were sick and bargained for pashminas. I bought a backpack and some nice cheap clothes for the rest of my trip and now I'm set!

Yesterday we took a ferry up the Bosphorus and had lunch in Asia - WILD! Then last night we found some cheap cafeteria-style dinner and took a tram over to Ortaköy where we spent the night strolling through outdoor markets along the water and relaxing at a rooftop terrace bar with the most beautıful view!

I'll put pictures up at some point and I assure you (mom), they will be amazing :)