9/2/25
We woke ourselves up at 2:10am to check into our flights. Only we couldn’t. We’d booked a flight with Expedia, travelling with Thai airways, but operated by Turkish airlines. It was the cheapest direct flight ticket we could get. Flying with a stopover was half the price. But we felt the climate implications were unjustified. Take off and landing uses a lot more fuel than cruising.
We got up at 8am, feeling tired from the unwanted stress of trying to make sure we could board our flight smoothly. This wasn’t the first problem we’d had with this ‘codeshare’ flight. We hadn’t been able to book the bikes or request a vegan meal. Well not easily. We’d managed to hopefully do it via WhatsApp. At least the representative said he had.
We went out early to hunt for a car. We wanted to hire a car using Getir, basically Zipcar for Turkey. But first we needed to check we could get the bikes inside. We both signed up to the app. Then Frankie unlocked a car. Not to drive, but so we could use a rug, that happened to have the same footprint as a box, and check the boxes would fit. It would be close but it seemed like they would. We then tried to rent the car using Jonathan’s login but it refused to work. We defeatedly returned home.
We ate pancakes and watched more Apple Cider Vinegar before doing the final packing. All our pannier bags were wrapped in plastic, taped together in such a way they could be opened and examined if necessary, then covered in one of the crappy bag coverings we’d bought. It seemed like we’d done something useful.
After scrubbing the kitchen we returned to the issue of the car. Lloyd’s had blocked Jonathan’s card which we only discovered after turning on the UK SIM card. Then it worked. We got a big discount for a first booking. So it cost £30 for the car for the rest of the day. We finished the house tidying then went to get the car.
Driving in Turkey was exactly as we’d observed for the last month. Pay a lot of attention and use your horn liberally. Navigating down the streets to the house was horrible. Stupidly tight corners and large stone bollards. Not to mention the trucks using the tiny roads too. Oh and the steep hills. Still we made it back to the house. Now for the moment of truth.
They fitted! Hallelujah! We had to double park on the street while we loaded up. Then we shut the door on our Istanbul flat and headed off to cross the Bosphorus. We’d never got the chance to go on a cruise under the bridges so we went over the First Bridge in the car. It was an exciting experience which we duly had to repeat by turning around and coming back over to Europe again.
There was a vegan deli that would be on the outskirts of Istanbul, if it had any, called Bi Nevi. We ordered an oyster mushroom burger and a quesadilla. We told ourselves we had to use up the leftover Lira. It was tasty food. They had a nice bookshelf that we sat next to, quite a few of them English books. All on veganism of course.
After chilling for a while we headed back to the road. It was weird being on the type of roads we had cycled, but effortlessly cruising up hills. We looked at the hard shoulder with intrigue. It would be odd to see a cyclist there. As we left Istanbul, flanked by huge skyscrapers, we couldn’t quite get our head round the fact we’d be in Thailand the next day. Madness.
We stopped next at a forest park. We just sat in the car, watched dogs fighting, and tried to buy insurance for our next leg of the trip. We didn’t know we’d get this far so hadn’t bought it yet. More problems with using the credit cards. Eventually solved by using a UK based VPN server. Afterwards we drove to Göturk. The last town before the airport.
We bought a boatload of fruit to help us get through till our flight left then went to a coffee shop. It was called Cup of Joy. They sold big oat lattes and they charged an insane amount for them. We seemed to be in the Cambridge of Turkey. We were tired and anxiously excited so maybe our decision making faculties weren’t working properly.
Frankie’s card had been partially restricted because we’d used it for the rental car and also tried to buy the travel insurance so we had to call nationwide. Luckily Skype lets you call 0800 numbers for free. It took a few minutes but we worked it all out.
It was dark now and we headed to the car. The final 16km to the airport awaited us. When we first started driving it felt off. Then we realised that we hadn’t moved when it was dark for a long time. It wasn’t a (sensible) option on a bicycle. When the airport came into view it was like arriving at a cathedral for the worship of planes. The weather was dire, intermittently sleeting and hailing, a really effective form persuasion to go somewhere warmer.
Once we’d parked the hire car we had to find a trolley. This was no easy feat for some reason. It didn’t help that it was unbelievably cold, not more than a few degrees above zero. The first trolleys we found were taken off us as they were special ones for valet’s or something. We walked at least 500m through the cavernous car park, then took the lift two floors up to get authorised ones. We found one, and had to leave a deposit for one. The machine pumps out a QR code so you can get your money back.
Back at the car a cat tried to get in, escaping the cold no doubt. Manoeuvring the bikes was tricky with all the bollards. We had to decant them to get inside the lift. Finally we got through the rain to the equally cavernous departures hall. Immediately we had to go through the X-ray machines. The bikes fitted on the belts and the staff seemingly enjoyed the novelty of the situation.
We spent a few minutes repacking the panniers into their makeshift case, then headed to check in. We were about 7 hours early for our flight. Our boarding passes were issued no problem. But then it was insisted we flew under Turkish airlines rules for our baggage. This meant no free bicycle. We went to the mean faced and shortly spoken supervisor who after some cajoling told us we would only have to pay $84 for both bikes. That’s all good we thought, and he sent us to ticket services with a slip.
It took ages for the man at the counter to give us any information and seemed not to be able to find a bicycle option at all. When he did, he came back with €110, each. We had to contest. He was far more friendly and listened carefully to our explanations. He looked at the Thai booking website which clearly stated Thai airways was the ‘significant carrier’. Thus meaning we should be bound by their rules. After talking to his supervisor multiple times, randomly returning saying that if the bike was under 23kg then it was okay but then retracting it, we were still stuck paying €220. It took a couple of hours, we think. Time was being weird.
We finally got the bikes to the oversize drop off. Our wrapped up panniers were also oversize but luckily no extra charge. While we were walking around we actually saw multiple abandoned suitcases. If only we’d known! After security we entered commercial central. This place was a horribly busy shopping mall. Another monument to unnecessary luxury goods. It was almost impossible to find somewhere to sit. We ended up in the food court. Frankie wanted chips but McDonald’s was closed. They were almost £4 anyway.
When we finally ended up walking to the gate it turned out there were loads of nice quiet places to sit and even a ‘napping lounge’. If only we’d known. We were feeling even more anxious when we boarded. It’s statistically safer to fly than drive or cycle we reminded ourselves. We were sitting together in a two. Frankie had the window, not that there was anything to see.
We actually left on time. Flightradar reckoned that never happened. Once we were in the air we felt more relaxed. It was about 3:39am when they brought dinner. Our vegan meal request had been honoured. Rice with vegetables, a small salad and a mighty delicious Turkish doughnut thing. It was basically like lokma and oozing with sugar syrup. Sleeping felt nigh on impossible. We tried to watch a film, Frankie finally watched the new Beetlejuice.
Surly They Won't Make It 