Road To Balikesir

When I left Istanbul, it was raining. Although I viewed the route chosen by Mr. G with a severely arched brow, he led me surely, albeit circuitously, over the Golden Horn and Bosphorus. The bridge over the Bosphorus was jammed: four lanes coming in and two lanes going out. Bumper to bumper but not much lane changing. Perhaps that was because of the heavy police presence, including a Mini in police colors with lights!  And of course it is a toll bridge, so I had to stop and buy a pass for my windshield. 

The road, a freeway/toll way with lots of truck traffic, angled west by southwest along an arm of the Seanof Marmara. The further from Istanbul/Uskudar I went, the more industrial it became. There were many merchant ships in the arm, most appearing to be at anchor. It wasn't until I turned the end of the arm just past Gölcük and turned south that industry dwindled away. 

For a way along the coast there were military bases guarded by barbed wire hanging on concrete posts and unmanned watch towers. Maybe guarded is the wrong word. But the wire and towers are there if ever needed. 

There is tourism developing there as well, and inland there is farming. It is a mix of pretty coast and towns that haven't spent much on their Sanitation Department's budget. 

At Yalova, I turned south and went over a beautiful pass. At the crest, the view was open with fields and cattle grazing. It looked like high Colorado.  The hills were covered with green grass and trees, and by now it had stopped raining. The wind, however, was still out of the northwest, and gusty. 

Coming down from the pass and into Gemlik and Iznik Lake (a large body of water) the wind really howled. I was beat up and it was barely noon. Somewhere near Bursa, I stopped for tea. 

One Turkish Lira, about 50 cents. Not bad. This was in a parking pull off, and you see these little vans everywhere, selling tea (çay) to the truckers. 

I rode on to Balikesir. The wind was beating me up. I came across a few police speed traps. I didn't recognize how they worked the first time. They put a marked car on the right shoulder facing the oncoming traffic. That guy has the radar/eyeball. A little past him they close off the left lane with cones to funnel all traffic slowly past the catch cars. The radar guy IDs a few cars and they get waved over and processed. 

Well, I saw the radar guy, but didn't know what was going on. I was in the left lane, big truck to my right front blocking the view of the shoulder, auto traffic to my right and right rear. Then there were traffic cones in front of me closing off my lane with nowhere for me to go!  I bagged two cones before I could get over (I literally bagged them by hitting them with my right luggage bag. Glad I didn't have hard cases!).  I just kept on going. 

I got to Balikesir at probably around 5:00. I asked Mr. G where I could stay, and the closest campground was an hour away. My socks were sloshing from the morning, so I asked him to find me a hotel. We went on an adventure. Balikesir spent a fair amount if money on its Sanitation Department budget, but I think the hookah in the Sreet Planning and Maintenance Department was perhaps over utilized. 

The G and I did find a hotel, the OtelBagri. Parking was in the basement, down a ramp behind a solid steel gate. It was gritty. Another movie set. I cleaned up and dried off, changing into clean and dry clothing. Dinner was up next, so I grabbed my kindle and headed to the Otel's restaurant on the top floor.  

When I got off the elevator, there were three 14-16 year old girls in makeup, formal dresses, and wobbly high heels, staring at me and giggling. I can't blame them, this haircut emphasizes my balding head in a very goofy way. I looked around and, just as I feared, the main room was set up for a party. 

I went downstairs to reception, and the desk man assured me that (a) there was another section of the restaurant where I could eat, and the server would show up soon. So I went back up. The views were okay, it started to rain and the rain sounded nice on the canvas rooftop, so I opened the kindle and started to read. An hour later, or maybe even longer, a server showed up. He brought me the pidgin English menu, and I ordered up Russian Salad and lamb on a spit, thinking I would get something like schwarma  

Russian salad turned out to be potato salad with green peas ( pretty good) and lamb on a spit was a lamb kebab (okay). I also counted 15 minarets from where I was sitting. 

The next morning I was wakened by the call to prayer from the minarets. It was the first time I had heard it clearly, as there was no background noise that early. It sounded better without competition from everything else.