Friday 
29.8.2025
451km Total: 6437km 
5h 16m Total: 90h 37m
6.91km Total: 243.54km 
Another day on the highway where the only interesting thing that happened was that I was harassed by drug addicts when I stopped for lunch.
I would have liked to have had a different calling card as I definitely think I interact plenty with that particular clientele at work.
For some reason these idiots wanted me to understand that they were Kurds from Iraqi Kurdistan and not Turks.
It was honorable that they did not want to tarnish the reputation of the host country because it was not Kurdistan's loss that those guys chose to emigrate.
This time we never got to the part of the relationship where I was supposed to give them money as I was quite clear that we were not going to become friends despite their best efforts.
Once in Istanbul the city traffic is just as horrible as you'd think, not the worst I have encountered but definitely in the top tier.
All the other motorbikes I see are riding in a lane that is actually reserved for emergency vehicles but since I don't know the legal status of it, I'm keeping my cool and riding along with the cars.
I skipped the EuroAsia tunnel and took the ferry across the Bosphorus instead.
I have no idea how much the tunnel costs, but the ferry fare was a bargain at €1.5.
On the ferry I get into conversation with a couple of gentlemen so I take the opportunity to ask if it's really legal for two-wheelers to ride in the emergency lane.
Yes, it is, he answers quickly, but after a while it turns out that it's not in fact legal at all (just as I thought).
It's just that no one really does anything about it and the cameras that covers the lanes only take pictures from the front thus not registering motorcycle licence plates.
I still think it's a bit humorous and I know it's a pretty sweeping generalisation drawing a conclusion based on one person's judgement, but I wonder if that's not a bit of the Turkish mentality.
If no one catches you doing it, it's basically legal.
I realise it's bit like the pot calling the kettle black here because I've definitely lived by that principle quite mercilessly myself on the highway.
Amazingly, motorcycles are supposed to drive slower than other traffic, so when cars are allowed to drive 120kph, bikes are supposed to fight with buses and trucks at 100.
The lorries don't seem to have any speed limiters here and they free-roll downhill, so a truck with a trailer at 100kph or more is commonplace here and I will never put myself in a situation where I might get overtaken by lorries.
At least that's my stupid excuse why I've basically not driven a single meter of highway in this country at the legal speed.
I've driven past countless traffic police officers parked along the highway so far who don't seem to care in the slightest, which should make it (in principle) legal by Turkish standards?
I check into the hotel and am immediately offered to park my bike in the garage, which I had already researched that they had one, but it turned out to be much smaller than I thought, so I appreciated the gesture.
Especially since they didn't charge for it at all.
There might have been room for half a dozen cars at the most being a little creative with the parking so there wasn't a lot of parking space for a hotel with 100 rooms.
I explore the surrounding area, which includes a local market, before having supper at a local version of KFC (ChiciWiki).
The ferry across the Bosphorus
I was pleasantly surprised that the hotel room in Istanbul was like a small apartment. Considering how much time I would be spending there as things turn out it was a stroke of luck.
Evening walk in the area around the hotel
I didn't sleep very well that first night considering that this spectacle was going on outside the hotel until four in the morning.
