Rest day in Kirklareli

July 17th
0km

Last night we were given a tour of the city and a free dinner at a fancy restraunt courtesy of the mayor of Kirklareli. In one of the tourist brochures, we saw a photo of last year's Orient Express group, and there was a photographer busily taking our photographs as we walked through the town. I suppose it makes it look like large groups of tourists visit Kirklareli often. However, we clearly were the only foreigners in town. We went into one shop, bought some candy, and the owner made pedaling motions with his hands. The whole town must have known that the cycling group was coming through.

Today was another restful rest day. Found a cinema and watched the movie “Wanted” in English with Turkish subtitles. The movie stopped for 10 minutes in the middle while the projectionist switched rolls of film.

Really enjoyed the local Turkish food here. Cheap and tasty. We had some kind of sausage roll in a lite pastry shell for breakfast, cheeseless pizza for lunch, and a big plate of donner in pita bread with rice and salad for dinner. Good stuff. The only challenge is ordering. We typically point to a photo of a dish on the outside of the restraunt, or point at what someone else is eating. The first little place we went for dinner, I asked for a table for two and was brought two beers. I then mimed out eating (hoping for a menu) and was brought a small bowl of salty nuts. After that, we stuck with the pointing.

Miles, the tour leader from Istanbul to Beijing, was in town yesterday, so I spoke with him about China visas. He is very optimistic that we can get our visas in Baku, Azerbaijan. We have hired a new tour company as local contacts in China, and they are trying to make the arrangements for us. As a result, I have decided not to fly back to Toronto next week in between the tours. (The first part of the tour ends in Istanbul.) Instead, I will fly to Moscow to visit my friend Tanya and see Russia for the first time. Its only a 3 hour flight and a 1 hour time difference, so its pretty convenient. I got a visa for Russia ages ago, before all of the China visa problems started, so I should be all set. Fingers crossed that Baku comes through for us.

A Turkish mosque:


On our city tour...being watched by the local children: