+ 1 - 0 | § ¶Istanbul: Ramadan, and waiting for Visas.

The call for prayer.

Streaming loudly, continuously.

At first, as part of a dream.

Pouring out of loudspeakers, perched high up above the ground, flooding my dormitory room.

My eyes open slowly. 

Other chants and calls for prayers follow shortly, all from different places.

Muslim chanting flooding out of more and more loudspeakers, as if awoken by the first.

All blend together into the Symphony of Allah.

I look up to the cracks in the ceiling above my bed, and realise...

I am still in Istanbul.

+ 1 - 0 | § ¶Rendez-vous in Istanbul on the 4th!

After Belgrade we didn’t want to spend too much time in another city and just spent 4 days there. We met M Sofianski, the mayor of Sofia, who will soon be signing the Velo Mondial Charter for Bicycle Friendly Communities.

Coming into Sofia, I met Tony a local Bulgarian in the traffic. He took us out that night to celebrate the day’s meeting, initiating us to Bulgarian cuisine and Bulgarian nightlife. And to his recommendations we left Sofia on Monday the 25th October to visit the Rila Monastery south in the Bulgarian countryside. This truly was a spectacular site to see this huge monastery in the midst of autumn mountains that reflected the identical colours of the monastery itself. It’s even possible to sleep in the monastery but we preferred to try out one of the cheap hotels nearby.

+ 1 - 0 | § ¶Plovdiv to Istanbul: 444 kms in 4 days.

And Proud of it!

Istanbul had, since our first days on the road, been the first real hurdle of the trip.

Gateway to the Middle East, symbolic end to our days in Europe.

The never ending slopes, the wind in my face, and the temperatures, gradually falling to cold winter levels, were only details, when faced with the adrenaline of finally leaving Europe, finally arriving in a new continent, finally Istanbul.