5 border crossings and a great city

Oh man, today was a chaotic day.

I left the campsite early to take advantage of the morning freshness. My navigation system predicted a long traffic jam at the Bulgarian/Turkish border and recommended a crossing in Greece. Why not?

The Bulgarian/Greek crossing was nice as usual, with many questions about where I had been and where I still wanted to go.

Then came the Greek/Turkish border, the no man's land on the Turkish side was heavily guarded by the military.

The customs officer was also very friendly and interested. At the second station, the Turkish police put an end to it. My green insurance card was not valid for Turkey, I was aware of that, usually there are insurance offices at the borders for such cases, but not here 😬, so I was sent back to the Greek side. There was such an office at the main border crossing between Bulgaria and Turkey. So back again, re-entry to BG and then crossing the border to Turkey.

Of course, there was a long, a very long line of cars when I arrived. Enduring in the blazing sun was the order of the day.

The first counter went smoothly, as did the second counter, then another officer (Station 3) checked the cargo. The entire luggage was inspected, and when it was repacked, I could pass to purchase insurance at an adjacent building. This was again inspected by customs officers one window further, who then sent me back to post 3. Post 3 (the baggage inspector) also took another look at the policy. Once he deemed everything to be in order, I could pass to post 4, where my passport and vehicle registration certificate were scrutinized once again. Everything was fine, I was allowed to enter. Puh 😮‍💨 All in all, it took about 4 hours.

By now, the midday sun was in the sky, so I reluctantly decided to take the highway to Istanbul. After all, there were still 270 km ahead of me, including about 50 km through the Istanbul city traffic.

Onto the highway and step on the gas. Initially at the permitted 120, then slowing down. The side wind became stronger and a fast ride became impossible.

Lunch at a highway rest stop for small money, maybe I should have taken a closer look when I ordered at the counter, it looked totally delicious, and it was, but it was all fried offal like liver, hearts, and so on... 😬

Meanwhile, my navigation system was also annoying me, it still showed the route, but that was it, no more voice guidance, and, even worse, no more turn instructions, all mixed up with totally chaotic traffic. I have traveled to several countries before and have always driven through larger cities, but Istanbul tops them all. 🤗

Despite everything, I managed to find my hotel and take a little exploratory walk.

I will stay here for the next three days and listen to the muezzin. There are 4-5 mosques in close proximity here, and I believe the callers to prayer are trying to outdo each other.