81st Day - Sept 27: Edirne + Problems with passport upon entry

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The morning sun woke me up again. I had slept a bit restlessly because today was my last border crossing into Turkey. I was ready to go after just forty-five minutes. From my sleeping spot, the Eco Farm, it was only 5 kilometers to the border crossing. However, I still had to climb about 140 meters in altitude. Then I saw the never-ending line of trucks in front of the Bulgarian exit point. At the top of the pass where the border crossing is located, there was everything your heart desires. Hotels, supermarket, restaurant, and special meat shops. I thought to myself: Maybe Turks come here who want to buy pork. And currency exchange offices. I exchanged some of my Bulgarian money into Turkish Lira. I planned to exchange the rest in Edirne because the exchange rate at the border crossing was not favorable.

Then I arrived at the border checkpoint: The Bulgarian border official looked at my passport for a few seconds and then I was allowed to continue. After just 200 meters, I reached the first Turkish checkpoint. I showed my passport, the officer scanned all the pages, and gave me a paper, which I didn't understand. About 100 meters further, there was the second checkpoint. The Turkish officer flipped through my passport several times from front to back and scrutinized all the entries very closely. Then there was a problem with a stamp. A year ago, I was in Montenegro and had an exit stamp from Podgorica, the capital. This stamp seemed very strange to him. He asked me in Turkish, but his English was quite poor and my English was not much better. He said "problem, problem" several times. After about 15 minutes, he couldn't figure it out and took my passport and I had to wait. I was already very worried. Could this stamp prevent my entry? In the meantime, numerous other cars passed by me. After about 15 minutes, he returned, handed me my passport, and simply said "Bye bye." I was very relieved because I didn't want to go back to Bulgaria. Then there was a third Turkish baggage control checkpoint. I had to wait there for a long time as well. With my fully loaded bicycle, I stood out a bit. After about 15 minutes, an officer came and made a waving motion with his arm: "Go ahead." Finally, I arrived at a fourth checkpoint. I showed my passport and the paper again. It only took a minute and now I was officially "through" and entered Turkey. I took another "proof" photo and set out for the city of Edirne, which is located at the tripoint of Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, about 40 kilometers away.

I wanted to get away from the border as quickly as possible and started cycling. On the left side, the trucks were backed up for about 15 kilometers. After an hour of cycling, mostly downhill, I reached a large gas station and had breakfast in the shade. At the gas station counters, I asked for a road map, but all I heard was "No," the same in the small supermarket next door. Without a road map, planning the rest of the route to Istanbul would be very complicated since I am constantly dependent on my phone. I continued cycling to the border city of Edirne. I couldn't get a road map at two more gas stations either.

In the center of Edirne, despite the typical oriental hustle and bustle and the confusion caused by thousands of advertising signs on the facades, I quickly found my booked, but very simple hotel. I showered and soon set off again, but on foot, because I had to exchange the remaining money and find a bookstore where I could buy a road map. After over an hour of searching, I finally found a currency exchange office and exchanged all the remaining Bulgarian money into Turkish Lira. I did find something similar to a bookstore, more like a combination of stationery and bookstore, but they didn't have a road map. The same in the second and third bookstores. In the fourth one, there was an automobile map, but only for the entire Turkey with a large scale, unusable for me. I only needed the European part.

I gave up on finding a map and planned my travel route on my small laptop. I also visited the famous Selimiye Mosque from the 13th century, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Because: Earlier, the city of Edirne was once the capital of the great Ottoman Empire and of great historical importance. Of course, I also wanted to visit churches again, as the region at the crossroads between the Occident and the Orient was Christian in Byzantine times. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and therefore searched for the Grand Synagogue of Edirne, as there used to be numerous Jews in the city as well. Unfortunately, the Jewish house of worship was already closed. From the outside, I could only imagine the grandeur inside. I went back to the hotel, spent almost two hours planning my travel route to Istanbul over the internet on secondary roads, and then went back to the center. In the evening, the center becomes even more lively and vibrant. Many young people go out, meet in bars, and numerous köfte snack bars. I ate something and went back. The hustle and bustle in the center became too loud and hectic for me, as there was always a teenager honking on his moped nearby, booming music from a speaker, or someone loudly promoting their goods. Back at the hotel, I wrote something for my blog, watched some German news, and then went to rest in my tiny room.