12 km hike on a beautiful day

One of the nicest days we've had in a while, so we decided to stay put. We were overdue for a good hike, so we set off on one of the many trails here at the Blue Rocks Nature Park near Sliven, Bulgaria.

Because we were parked up at the antenna tower, we were already at the top of the mountain! So it was a little different to be doing the downhill section first and having to climb back up at the end.

Blue Rocks Nature Park near Sliven, Bulgaria

They had been calling for a decent day on Friday, but we woke up to raindrops and they continued on and off until after lunch. At least it's warming up though, with an afternoon high near 20C (68F). And today it's supposed to be sunny and 24C (75F). That's almost shorts and t-shirt weather!

We decided to drive up into the mountains in behind the city of Sliven. 

First impressions of Bulgaria

We've only been in Bulgaria for a day and a half, but there are some things we've noticed already. One of the first things is that the roads are not in very good condition! We missed a pothole yesterday that would have done some serious damage. It was a crater! And this is on a major two lane road that is part of the vignette toll system with a lot of truck traffic.

Also, the roads we've been on so far have no shoulder. But there are pulloffs every few kilometers.

Welcome to Bulgaria. Country #51 for us!

It was chilly on our last night in Turkiye. The temperature was 1C (34F) when we woke up and there was frost on the windshield. So we got up and drove right away to warm things up.

It was only about 100 kms (62 miles) or so to the border, but we needed to stop and top up the fuel tank one last time, as well as fill one propane tank.

Through Istanbul and our last night in Turkiye

I had our route all planned out to get through Istanbul. We would take the tunnel, the entrance to which was only a couple of kms from where Max had been parked. And we set off at about 10:10am, when we figured "rush hour" (if there is a such a thing in Istanbul) might be over.

We got to the turn off to the tunnel and I saw the height restriction sign that said maximum 2.8 meters. Well, Max is 2.8 meters! I hadn't even thought there might be a height restriction, but apparently this tunnel isn't used by heavy trucks.

Speeding ticket!

Turkiye has both toll roads and free roads, and so far we've managed to spend our entire time here on the free roads. The toll roads have a tag system only, so if we wanted to use them we would have had to register Max at the post office and have an account with some credit on it. 

But here in Istanbul, we are going to have to cross the Bosporus Straight either by bridge or tunnel and they also operate on a toll system that would normally be charged to the same highway pass that we don't have. 

A dreary day in Istanbul

Unfortunately the weather isn't cooperating for our visit to Istanbul. Cool, wet, and windy seems to be the narrative for the balance of our time here. We're still getting out and seeing things, although it will give us a reason to return when we can explore under better conditions.

Oh... we got some good news today!

Day one in Istanbul. It never hurts to splurge once in a while.

In the morning, Cheryl took us for a walk around the neighborhood and she showed us how the Istanbul transit cards work so that we could use the metro and ferry services.

The day started off really hazy... or maybe smoggy. We could hardly see across the bay.

Arrived in Istanbul

I had myself well prepared for yesterday's busy drive into Istanbul traffic. Expecting the worst. Fortunately, although it was congested at times, it wasn't overly crazy. Definitely not what you would call a scenic drive though!

It took us just over two and a half hours to do 138 kms (86 miles).

Max is in the shop

We had overnighted at the Cehennemağzı Caves parking lot, so just after they opened, we went for a visit. It was only 12.50 lira ($1.10 CAD, $0.85 USD) entrance fee, so we didn't have high expectations. 

There are actually three separate caves, all very small, but all very different. None of them very exciting though!