Day 18 - Ferry and Phaff

After another great breakfast we were ready to catch the ferry to Bursa (another town nearby) in order to skip out 100km of riding through some of the most polluted industry in Europe. Only we hadn't checked the schedule. 11am or 3pm. It was 10:30. We're used to just cycling where and when we like to be fair.

So we had another morning of tourism which we used to go inside the Hagia Sofia. Was a shame as we were keen to get going again, but nice to see the famous site properly.

It's sadly become an expensive endeavour with large queues and scammers all over - even the official ticket office tried to scam us (seems like they get a commission for upselling so are encouraged to lie), but once inside it was an interesting experience seeing what was a cathedral now converted into a mosque but without destroying the Christian mosaics - they had just removed the crosses. Why can't we all live happily eh?

Back to the hotel to pick up the bikes, have my 8th hot chocolate in 24h and then on to the ferry.

Bikes aren't common here so we waltzed through the airport-like security with them and into the passenger terminal which felt quite wrong but was wonderfully easy and soon enough we were rocketing towards Bursa!

After nearly getting off the bus-ferry 3 stops too early we disembarked onto a 35% hill through a very, very poor area as we climbed away from the sea. The short 15 mile trip to Bursa wasnt without it's excitement though as we ended up on the locked side of a very, very locked gate over a river of sewage in a building site with people living rough. We got through though by working as the crack team we've become, nay, we've always been...

Inevitably we had ANOTHER dark arrival to a turns-out-huge Turkish city, although to be fair this one wasn't our fault and only ever reached 4 lanes - child's play!

We dumped our stuff quickly and went to explore, managing to see all of the main sights, and a pro-Palestine protest on a quiet evening. Much nicer vibe than Istanbul with a lot more real people and fewer tourists and a great hilltop old town which is mostly smart, lived-in apartments very reminiscent of old English houses!

Also I got a 60p Mr Whippy! 60p!

Food spend today: 29 euros