I was quite surprised how modern and upbeat Van in western Turkey appeared on arrival late on the 17th August 2009. The bustling noisy city had a central business and shopping centre that was bedlam to a visitor. And I was directed by a local lawyer to the heart of town where two brothers and their fore fathers had run the hotel since its construction in 1964. The manager was very helpful and personally assisted me in getting settled which was just as well as the hotel was under-going a major renovation with neighboring rooms being whilst I was there.

Turkish people seemed very friendly and personable. They were not so brash and in your face as previous countries. I explored the streets after sunset and thousands were out shopping or just wandering about. Mr Mule was parked below in an underground car park that resembled a dungeon. Getting my gear from the Mule was always a hassle especially if it was in a public place in the hot sun. This time it was out of public view but I had to cart the 3 bags and 2 panniers up 5 flights of stairs. I sussed out the banks and did some basic food shopping as I had decided that after the 'Stans' and Iran, Turkey was decidedly more expensive. Fuel was nearly 4 times more expensive than Iran at greater than $2/L. Fuel became my biggest cost on a daily basis at more than $50 per tank.

Turkey was a country of contrasts that on one hand was dominated by modern European diesel and LPG cars yet there were still a significant number of peasant farmers and their families living a very basic farming lifestyle. The cities that I passed in southern Turkey were undergoing significant high-rise development. It was not uncommon to see an entire suburb of 10 story apartments being constructed. There was also many suburbs that had simply ceased construction once the concrete shell was complete. I was unsure whether this was related to world economic crisis or local issues but it was very noticeable in every city. Generally the roads were excellent and drivers were better behaved than the nutbags in Iran. I opted to camp rough for a few nights as I wanted to stay away from the busy heart of these Turkish cities. Finding a peaceful campsite in the countryside was easy just on dusk as the weather had remained very hot with temperatures in the shade staying up around 38 deg C. The big distances caught me out too! Given the road and traffic conditions it was hard work doing more than 500 kms in a day. I spent four days getting to Istanbul with last two being on motorways that fortunately skirted around most the biggest cities such as Ankara. It is hard to describe the degree of development in a city the size of Ankara but it is done as one substantial 20 building multi-story project. Every building is identical all facing the same direction. From motorway there were literally hundreds of buildings under construction many of which had not progressed for more than 12 months. It was hard to fathom how so much development could be undertaken based on needs.

I was relieved to arrive in Istanbul after nearly three weeks of continuous daily travel. This is one monster of a city with a very cosmopolitan feel around the main city areas. Two hours of navigating around busy streets jam-packed with afternoon traffic eventually found me a hotel just one block from the Mediterranean Sea. Four Star accommodation was sheer luxury after winging it in the wilds of Eurasia for weeks.

With the help of one of my friends in the UK (thanks Tim!) I found a new tyre for Mr Mule and had it fitted in Istanbul. The Continental TKC80 tyres had now done more than 21,000 kms and were beginning fail in the sidewalls. The two guys at BuzMotors saved me considerable heartache as I was dreading having to try and change both tyres with my injured chest. Lifting, bending and twisting at ground level were still causing uncomfortable pain levels.

It took a full hour of cruising the highways to get out of Istanbul. The city just went on forever. Departing Istanbul was the beginning of the final leg of my adventure and that was to arrive safely in the UK within one week.