7/2/25
We spent the morning fiddling with the black Surly. We’d taken off the front wheel, rack and mudguard. Pedals, chain and rear derailleur. Cable tied the crank to the rear chain stay, and then finally removed the handlebars. The whole thing was wrapped in bubble wrap and cardboard taped over the disc rotors and forks.
We were finally getting it into the box. It was a tight fit. The rear mudguard was pushed against one end and the handlebars went down the front. Front wheel dropped down the side. Hopefully the bar end shifters won’t take any force. It’s really hard to know where the weak spots are. There is an element of luck here.
It had been pouring with rain all morning. We could hear the wind. It was truly miserable. Well we were in Istanbul and it was Jonathan’s birthday. We weren’t going to stay in. We put our base layer on and wrapped up in all our waterproofs, including waterproof socks. We’d carried the socks for thousands of miles and finally they were going to be worth it.
We took the tram from the bottom of the road, a stop called Tophane and got off at Sultanahmet. One of the attractions we were prepared to pay for was called the Basilica Cistern. It’s a huge underground water tank. Built with majestic salvaged columns. It was discovered 500 years ago. It would be an awesome place to have found. As we were walking over, Jonathan slipped and landed on his back. No serious injuries but it hurt. Bruised an apple in his rucksack too.
It cost 900 lira each, about £20. An extra 100 lira for the audio guide. But it was on your own phone and they gave you a QR code. Seems a bit like a ripoff, the code does expire, but it seems a bit money grabbing. There were random sculptures dotted around in the water. The highlight was probably the medusa column bottoms. No one really knows if they mean anything. Probably just old stones that fit.
It was raining even harder when we left. As we headed to the metro station at Gulhane we passed the signs to Topkapi palace. We walked up to take a little look. It was an attraction we felt we had to skip on account of the price. It was £45 each. And online reviews seemed to be split into two camps. Turkish people who pay a pittance to get in and love it, then foreigners who say it’s good but not worth the cost.
We were increasingly thankful for the plastic covering that encased us. Hard not to be conflicted about the utility of oil. The Marmaray line took us under the Bosphorus to Söğütlüçeşme. That’s an awful lot of accents and despite hearing it on the metro, we still have no idea how to pronounce it. When we got off, still in the pouring rain, we traipsed for a mile to a chain shop called Tedi. We still wanted laundry bags and someone on reddit gave us a pointer. There weren’t any though.
It was another mile to a vegan bakery called Ethique. We were really wet now. The waterproof mitts were starting to get water inside as the rain was running down our cuffs. When we went in we couldn’t understand how no one else was remotely wet. Everyone stared at us as we stripped off our top layer. Had they all teleported in?
The display of pastries and cakes was overwhelming our decision making processes. It was hard to believe they were all vegan. But it clearly said outside that the whole place was plant based. We ordered lattes, with oatly, and a pastry each. The lamination on them was next level.
Afterwards we bought 6 more cakes and pastries for dessert. Jonathan’s birthday treat. It cost almost £60 in total. Not cheap but when are we going to be here again? There was a guy with his family celebrating their child’s birthday. His name was Devon and he’d driven from the UK, Watford more precisely. He eas half Turkish and planned to continue on to Dubai next year in his Lexus 450h. We had a nice chat and he made us feel like we were crazy for embarking on our journey. During the conversation he said we should contact him if we need anything and seemed to be offering us a plane. He had one in the UK. We couldn’t quite make sense of it!
It was actually slightly sunny as we left. We headed to a shopping mall called Nautilus. We really had to get some kind of bag to encase our panniers in for travel. We looked in decathlon first but ended up in a homeware store to buy some light woven bags. They were 150 litres each but not as tough as we wanted. They would have to do. We popped into carrefour hypermarket for a permanent marker too.
The Maramary station was right outside and we took it back to Sirceki, then walked back home on the lower level of the Galata bridge to keep dry. There were dozens of fish restaurants. It would probably be a nice place to sit in the Summer. As we got to the other side it started raining heavily again. We walked fast as the cake bag was paper. It just got home in time with some minor tearing beginning.
We had to buy some more vegetables and water. It was criminal how much bottled water we had bought in the week. At least 5 litres a day. Frankie cooked stir fried rice with aubergine, fried çig kofte and broccoli. Jonathan boxed up the green Surly. It was easier to do it a second time round. More of a process than a calculation. It helped that the bike is smaller and fitted in the box more easily.
We watched the Apprentice with dinner. It is a truly awful show. It must be on its last legs. Afterwards, and with our many cakes, we finished watching Leave the World Behind. Good film. Annoying ending. Then we watched more Paradise. We ate a quarter of each cake, each. They were ridiculously good. We were still finding it hard to understand how they were vegan.
Our time in Istanbul was coming to an end. It was hard not to let the feelings of nervousness creep up on us. We both felt apprehensive about flying having not been on a plane for about a decade. Our things were everywhere too. We’d have to get it sorted the next day. But at least we had pastry waiting for us for breakfast.
Surly They Won't Make It 