Back in İstanbul

May 24, 2008

The Bulgarian segment of the trip turned out to be a short one. On Thursday we left most of our stuff in Edirne and rode across the border near a Bulgarian town called Kapitan Andreevo. We kept going until we reached Svilengrad, which is just a bit larger. İt was a great little town with incredible food. (Veselin, now İ know that all of your stories are true, and İ will have to plan a trip to see more of your native land!)

Later in the day we headed back to the border. The immigration officer on the Bulgarian side was a guy in his twenties, and he asked about the brand of the bikes. He wanted to know where Konas were made. My first thought was the question was something related to customs, but then İ asked if he was a cyclist. He simply pulled up he sleeve of his uniform to show off his tan line as his answer. This was the first cyclist that we’d met on the trip. We saw one other, but unfortunately he was going the other way on a busy divided road, so we never got to speak.

Friday we hopped on the train with our bikes to get from Edirne to İstanbul. İt was a five and a half hour ride through beautiful country-side. At one point we crossed the path that we’d taken on the bikes and even saw a restaurant where we’d eaten through the window.

There is one day left in İstanbul. A good portion will be spent breaking down the bikes for travel, and tomorrow İ begin the journey back…

İ hope to see all of you on Tuesday at the Kranked 7 premier!

James