Day 87 - Arnavutköy to Istanbul

48.7 km - FINAL TOTAL 4,483.0 km - Route pedalled.       Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 87  

We are safe and secure in Istanbul, Turkey.   

We decided to leave early because we were a bit anxious about the cycling through Istanbul. I remember from my time in Istanbul 14 years ago about the many hills the city is built on and how steep the walking had been.

The first 15 kilometres were fairly easy. Not much traffic on a Saturday morning in Arnavutköy and then a dirt road. We got to ride side by side, shared the road with one car and half a dozen cows steered by a dog.

Spotting the white minaret, we looked forward to our last chai stop with the guys in a rural setting. It is quite interesting to hear engaged conversation come to a complete stop when we walk in and resume shortly thereafter. From my seat, I could see the start of our final 2 kilometre climb.

On one of her ‘wait for the old guy’ halts, Hélène looked ahead on the side of the road and spotted a small turtle. That was her second turtle of the trip. 

We also encountered our first horse and wagon also going the hill. A very steady climber, that horse was pretty quick and almost caught up to Hélène. The change from rural to urban was instantaneous and we were in heavy traffic.

As you can see in ReLive there was quite a bit of downhill which was nice. We also had the wrestling with the rebar that brought Hélène to an immediate halt with 13 kilometres from the finish. We were so lucky to get that sorted quickly. 

We left the easy riding of the main artery to swing right, uphill to pass beside the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus. We got a turn by turn opportunity to experience the neighborhood's narrow and steep streets.

From there, we passed a number of large and impressive mosques on our way to our final stop on the Sultans Trail, the Süleymaniye Mosque. Because of strict dress regulations, we were not able to visit the inside of mosque so we focused on the surrounding grounds.

From the mosque, it was but a short 1.5 kilometre to the hotel. We finally made it to the hotel almost 10 1/2 hours after leaving Arnavutköy, very satisfied with what we had accomplished over the last 87 days. It was nice to be told to go check in and our luggage would be looked after.

Behind us the Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul

I am writing the blog(June 22, 2025) while sitting on a wooden bench facing down a very steep street. I keep sliding down the bench. I could use a seat belt!   

I'm sitting facing Hélène as well as the slope of the hill

This will be our last blog update.  A statistics/lessons learned page will be published once we are back home and we will send an email to let you know it has been published.