When it rains, it pours

Brekky at the hotel, then headed out on what we thought would be a brief jaunt to Istanbul.  The bikes had survived the night parked outside the hotel ....

Most of our journey involved motorway type stuff, which steadily increased as we got closer to Istanbul. However, 50 miles out we felt a few spots of rain, and dashed into a local neighbourhood for cover. After spending an hour in the cover of some chaps garage, we thought the storm had blown over, so back on the road.

Another 10 miles and the heavens opened ...

We dashed into a Shell station where we sought sanctuary for an hour, drinking hot tea, and watching the rain ...

From there, it was drizzle for the rest of the ride into the city, which was a harrowing experience to say the least.

Next decision was do we take the bridge, tunnel, or ferry across the Bosphorus.  Thorpy doesn't like tunnels, is scared of bridges, and has an aversion to water. It went to a vote, and while the tunnel won, a navigational blip saw us shoot past the entrance and onto the ferry.

Half way across, I thought I saw Dave passing wind, but it turned out to be the classic "Look lads, one foot in Europe, one foot in Asia" stance.

Arriving the hotel, we were forced to park on the pavement again, the street already being narrow enough.  A rapid shower & change, and we reported for the route march to the Spice Market...

Naturally all that walking made us very thirsty, but lets remember we are in a city full of Muslims. Not to be daunted, one entrepreneur had taken a lesson from Thailand ...paper cups, and keep the bottles hidden in the kitchen...

And then hunger set in ....

.... made for sharing, naturally.

So that was it, Istanbul knocked off the list.  Dave was impressed and vowed to return, Neil was more concerned about the following mornings traffic !  Spoiler alert, a few altercations with articulated busses, but we survived it.