Stay:Istanbul- paid parking for motorhomes at a soccer facility with all facilities incl. washing machine for 60TRY/€9 41.004200,28.956400
We said good bye to the Black Sea and made our way back to R#9 and followed it to the Turkish border.
We were unsure how long the process would take us, having heard of possible long delays as tomorrow starts a week long major holiday (just our luck). We were pleasantly surprised to have no cars at the Bulgarian check point.
After looking at our passports and inside Bluey we were in our way to Turkey...and as we turned the corner there were only 2 cars.Yay. The process was a little different here. We approached the passport window first and showed them Mark’s pre purchased visa (60USD for Australian passport holder evisa.gov.tr). French passport holders don’t require a visa. Then we went to the next window and showed them Bluey’s registration papers and insurance certificate. Once that was done a customs officer had a quick look in Bluey then there was one last barrier where all papers and passports were checked again and we were off! We didn’t envy the other side with a long queue. There was even a food van driving along the line!
The road to Istanbul was good quality and practically devoid of traffic.
We stopped several times to enquire about their vignette/road tax sticker but had no luck. We decided to travel on the motorway as it saved at least an hour and hoped we could sort it out in Istanbul once we got a sim card and internet (need to find a Post Office to buy the sticker).
About 20km out from the centre we were astounded by the vast development of appartements as far as the eye could see.
Statistics say that there are 15million living here! Given this figure we were grateful that there was hardly any traffic and if it wasn’t for us missing a turn off we would have arrived at our destination without too much trouble.
Our gps took us under and around the aquaduct just barely fitting through the streets.
By 3pm we had parked up and immediately put a wash on. Then ventured off into the old quarter to find a bank to get some Turkish Lira(1TRY/€6.50), to get a SIM card (Turkcell 12GB 150TRY/€22) and to get a map of the city(free from a hotel lobby). Once that was accomplished we ventured up to the Grand Bazaar, although it’s closed Sundays, and just took in the atmosphere of this part of the city. There were plenty of people about even though most of the shops were closed. Then it was back to Bluey and hoping that the night won’t be too noisy...only time will tell.
We walked past a couple of mosques
Shopping outside of the Grand Bazaar..
Different fashion
Ruins left on the side walk
The university entrance
Different baklava
Lots of Turkish delights.
Fancy looking restaurants
Lots of buffet style meals
We loved Istanbul and spent four weeks there staying at that soccer complex last November. The manager, called The Chef, used to knock on our door in the morning to invite us to share breakfast with them, and would also call us over for afternoon tea, soup etc. We just toodled around every day on our electric bikes and really got a great feel for that wonderful city. Can't wait to go back again sometime and your blog has got me all nostalgic. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi there, thanks for your comment. You must have really got to know Istanbul after a month. Not sure we could have coped with the crowds and it’s hectic pace. Hope you are enjoying lots of new places now. Cheers
Delete