Escape from Istanbul

We had booked a rental car through Avis before departing Australia and headed out after checking out of Hotel Mina this morning to pick it up. We had to go from the old part of the city across the "golden horn" to Taksim precinct. We were familar with the area since our tours this week all converged or left from there. With our yellow Fiat taxi bulging with our four bags and 3 bodies we headed off through the narrow winding streets only to be blocked by a fire truck. No matter, our driver was a fire chief when not moonlighting in taxis, so was able to bring a certain authority to bear when shouting at the other driver to clear the road.

We soon made friends with our driver who was impressed that we were heading for Canekkale (the town of his birth) and was only too happy to stop in the middle of Attaturk bridge for us to get a good shot of the Crusaders tower on the other shore. I'm sure all the traffic behind us didn't mind a bit.

Finding Avis wasn't that easy. After asking several other taxi drivers and hotel concierges, we finally tracked Avis down by phone and were "talked down" to their offices. This had to be the most well-staffed little office in all of Istanbul, but sadly our car was waiting at the airport and we would have to go there. I'm sorry? Then the "we try harder" emblazoned on your uniform means something else I guess. When they realised we weren't moving, it was decided it would be easier to just give a car that was more to hand, which was most efficiently done. And after seeing our bags (duly guarded by Alex on the footpath) they gave us a station wagon. Packed in our brand new Kia, we were ready to leave, just had time to duck across to the diner for donor kebabs which were just fantastic and we were on our way - after being driven out of the melee that is Taksim by a friendly Avis staffer. Then, with Deb at the wheel and Geoff at point, we were off!

We had had quite good instructions for how to get on to highway O3 heading west from Istanbul and made it without a hitch (no one was more shocked than us). Canakkale was about 5 hours drive and we passed through the ever-increasing outskirts of Istanbul, dominated by groups of very tall, and very new, apartment blocks. Presumably, this is where Instanbul's 11 million inhabitants are living. Once free of Istanbul itself, we were treated with expansive views of farms growing, mostly, sunflowers it seems and farmers and their families everywhere on tractors or horse-drawn carts. And if the tractor is on the road, why not take your whole family, parents, neighbours with you? These are just many of the hazards of driving on Turkish roads, with the other drivers being the most hazardous. We saw at least 3 accidents that afternoon, one of which most likely was fatal. A combination of speed, risk taking by poor drivers and deplorable roads would seem to have been contributing factors.

We took the turn off to Terkidag on the coast and saw the Marmara sea again with its very pretty blue/green clear waters, and then to Gelibolu (Gallipoli) which had a number of tourist accommodations offering views across the Dardenelles strait. We finally drew into Ecebat and boarded the ferry to take us across to Canakkale.

We had booked ahead (using trusty iPhone and free hotel wi-fi at Hotel Mina) to the hotel Askin Art in Canakkale. With addresses in Turkey more of the "you know, turn left where Akmed has his shop" type, we pretty much had to follow our nose to find it. Which we eventually did after doing several circuits of the small town. The deal with parking was: we have free parking if you can find a park and get away with it without somebody noticing you. Hotel was nice, small, but charming with an old world character. With high 30s the norm here, we were pleased it offered air conditioning.

Canakkale was to be our home base for a couple days and our visit to Troia. Pictures here.