Sofia Istanbul Bike Connect

Blog is updated! Útibeszámoló és képek!

2006-08-15T10:25:00.000+02:00

The blog has been updated. Everything marked as (new) is new. and you can read downwards in a chronological order, except for the "project results" which is a summary of the trip as a project. Since i updated the whole second trip at once, it is quite long. You can read it in sections of course. And I will now start publishing comments...

Most meg lett újítva a blog. minden ami grúziában és törökországban történt, most már itt van. egy kicsit kevesebb lett a magyar nyelvi beszámoló, de azért lesz személyesen budapesten valamikor egy utibeszámolóest, az angolajkúk nem kaphatnak. ráadásul, megírtam egy verset magyarul...

for the pictures/ erre a képek:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2103020853&amp;code=23630412&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Sustainable mobility tour - project results (new)

2006-08-15T00:53:00.000+02:00

Both the Bulgarian and the Turkish part of the bike trip and guide book delivery tour went very well. In fact, they went better than I could have even hoped.

In both countries, the mayors and vice-mayors kindly accepted me into their environments. The other people I encountered along the way were also very helpful, both those that had been organized from Sofia or Istanbul, or those just met by happenstance.

Shortly after my visit to the town hall of Sinop, they contacted my partners with a request for a feasibility study for a mobility/transportation project to be conducted in their town! This is one of the early good news outcomes.

Also in Sofia, the partner organization I worked with was invited to the city's ecological commission, which was quite happy to accept and recommend the bicycle plan that had been submitted for the city of Sofia.

Eventual follow-up work with the different towns visited will hopefully be one way to even further establish both working relations with the municipalities as well as encourage them to consider moving their towns in the direction of greater sustainability.

The partners I worked with did a wonderful job: They succeeded to get the guidebook translated and printed, and they were able to do all the necessary preparations for meeting with the municipalities along the way.

My partners in Bulgaria were Za Zemiata (For the Earth) and in Turkey included Turkish Bicycle Federation, Turkish Young Greens, Traffic Association, and several individuals.

My special thanks for making this a successful project (with the hopes for continued collaboration) go to: Elitsa Grancharova and Vanya Boneva in Sofia. Tuna Türkmen, Dilek Özkan, Kevser Ustundağ and Murat Suyabatmaz in Istanbul.

Many others helped in many different ways, for which I am also thankful. And the project is not even really over.

Isztambul te csoda (new)

2006-08-15T00:51:00.000+02:00

avagy: még egy kicsit akarok

igen, ez nehéz volt téged megközelíteni. büyüçekmece (nagyfiók) és küçükçekmece (kisfiók) után, csak a büyük szívedet akartam találni, pontosabban a taksimodat, a taksim tér. de arrafelé megmérgeztek engem a hatalmas nagy útjaid, autópályáid.

másfél óra lihegés után, jóval tisztább volt a lakóidnak a levegője, és sokkal feketébb a tüdőm. de ez volt neki az ára, hogy taksimban találhassam magam. végig is mentek a hatalmas sztrádáid egészen a közepedig. kegyetlen.

de amikor véget ért a bringás utam, mérföldek után, gyönyörködni tudtam az aurádban, eltűnni a kis utcáidban. látni a sok fény és a sok ember ragyogásait. erre törökül: kalabalük

szereztem barátokat. vittek pihenőhelyekre, vittek alvóhelyekre, vittek fontos találkozókra, vittek szórakozóhelyekre, vittek sok kis utcán át gyönyörű látványokra, vittek a parthoz, vittek az ereiden át újra a szívedhez.

nagyon szép vagy. nagyon büyük vagy. utálom az autóidat és autósztrádáidat, de szeretem a fényességedet és a rengeteg sok küçük pontod, ahol épp elfér egy ember, és látni, nézni, bámulni ösztönöz.

dombosság, víz, sokaság
e három szó jól leírja
az elemeidet

reggel felébredek és egy ismerős hang jön föl a harmadikra és a fülemre. régi angolos hang, régi dal, és nyugtató és kellemes. jól bírja a dimenziókat, az utcát és a házat. dicsőíti. finom érzést sugároz és tudom hogy örülök a napnak, a reggelnek, a napsütésnek és az ittlétemnek.

csodálatos vagy. jó volt veled, benned élvezni, éldegélni, gyalagolni, taksimozni, beşiktaşozni, karaköyüzni, kabataşozni, szóval büyüküzni.

kalabalük, ez a te trükk

és köszönöm, köszönöm, köszönöm, hogy addig vártál, hogy hathatott a mérged
amíg már elmentem tőled.

istiyorum daha biraz

Leírok neked Törökörszágot (new)

2006-08-15T00:31:00.000+02:00

Először summázva: még soha sem voltam egy országban, ahol kedvesebbek az emberek, finomabbak a kaják, vagy magasabb a biztonságérzésem. akár egy biciklin az országúton.

Mesék az országútról:
volt amikor megállt egy autó, kérdeztek hogy hova megyünk, és adtak tanácsokat, hogy hol jó az út és melyik utat inkább elkerüljünk. És volt amikor egy autó megállt hogy adhassanak nekünk pólót. Rajta volt a vezetőnek a sütőipari lógója. S így akkor csináltunk az üzemnek egy kis reklámot.

Dudálnak sokat. A dudahasználat többnyire ennyit jelent: "Szia!" Jó van, csak ha ezt százszor a napban hallod, akkor elkezdesz rossz sorsot kívánni a vezetőnek.

Beleláttam hogy miért esetleg nem akarna az EU egy Törökországi csatlakozást: A jelenlegi tíz új tagállam csatlakozásával és a közös piac nyitásával azonban megnyílt nyugat-európának egy nagy piac, amiben sokat tudnak gazdálkodni. De ha Törökország, ami szerintem jóval gazdagabb ország egy átlag kelet európai országhoz képest, ha Törökország csatlakozna, akkor megnyílna inkább a törököknek egy nagyon nagy piac az ő árúknak. Tényleg, ez azért lehetne, mert a törökök nagyon sok mindent gyártanak. Grúziában például, minden második kamion török kamion. És ahol Magyarországon országszerte rengeteg sok nagy múlti látható, pl. Tesco, Phillips, Kaisers, Danone, stb. stb., Törökországban minden ilyen áru meg olyan áruház van, csak azzal a különbséggel, hogy a cég mindig török (érdekes volt, hogy alig egy angolos vagy franciás szót látható kint az utcáról).

Izgalmas volt számomra megfigyelni a kendőhasználatot a nőknél. Sokan hordanak a kendőt. De ugyanakkor sokan nem hordanak. Isztambulban például kevesebb mint a fele használnak. Volt ilyen város ahol inkább a többség hordott. Sinopban, a végállomásom, ott alig láttam kendőt, a használók aránya még sokkal alacsonyabb Isztambulnál. Volt amikor szállást kaptunk egy családnál, ahol a nő kendőt viselt. Gondoltam hogy vajon alapvetően konzervatívak. De ugyanakkor nagyon nyitottak, és eléggé normálisak. Megértették hogy nem vagyunk házasok, de ugyanakkor egy szobába raktak. hát, nem nagyon tudtam mindig hogyan kell viselkedni vagy mit csinálni egy adott helyzetben. De szerencsére nem nagyon bonyolult kitalálni, és ha valami idétlenszerűt követsz hamar megbocsátanak, hiszen külföldi vagy.

Túl kevés időt töltöttem Törökországban, hogy nagy kedvem lenne egy bölcsöt játszani aki mindent már tud az országról. Ehhez vissza kéne mennem valamikor. Talán egy évet tölteni ott. De egy dologra már van véleményem: Ez a hely nem épp Európa. Annál inkább izgalmasabb.

sick of/from smog (new)

2006-08-15T00:26:00.000+02:00

the journey continues

I mentioned already the nightmare of the trip into the heart of Istanbul, by ways of a huge and terribly polluted highway. in Istanbul I had a great time, and fortunately the effects of my poisoning were not immediately felt, thus I had a brief reprieve. but as I took the 20 hour bus ride from Istanbul towards the Georgian border, I got sick.

this being sick involved almost the whole 2 weeks that I would be in the republic of Georgia. next on the program was the conference "biking beyond borders" which took part in Batumi, near to the Turkish border, on the seaside. later I would be with the conference group in Tbilisi, where we had a Critical Mass, and then after that in the high Caucasus mountains, specifically in Kazbegi, near the 5000 meter high Kazbek mountain, on the border to Russia.

my ailments went like the tide in Batumi: they rose and fell, yet often displayed very large waves. the whole right side of my face seemed to be infected, including a tooth, my lip and even somewhat my right eye. this together with an often altogether general rotten feeling in my body, and I could only deduce that it was a direct result of being poisoned by the feckless Turkish motorists. Things did generally improve after I had a tooth operation at a dentist in Tbilisi, and by the time I was in the mountains it was mostly only an occasional feeling of lethargy and the common occurrence of diarrhea.

Fortunately, I was completely back to good health literally a day before the start of the second cycling trip, from Tbilisi to Sinop. But don't think for a second that I didn't enjoy Georgia....

Biking Beyond Borders - BBB (new)

2006-08-14T23:41:00.002+02:00

"Biking beyond Borders goes east" was a European Youth Exchange put on by Falkor organization from Holland, and bringing together people from 6 different countries: Estonia, Holland, Hungary, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia.

The purpose of this youth exchange was to get together people from different backgrounds, and have us work on issues and educate ourselves in the area of cycling, and to also try to promote and popularize cycling in Georgia as well, a place not generally known for its great cycling culture.

As people came from different backgrounds, it meant that there was a great variety in what the participants themselves have for a relationship with the bicycle. Some have been active in biking organizations or cycle on a daily basis while others might have last sat on a bicycle when they were children.

Thus we gave workshops: I presented my first trip, Sofia-Istanbul, and the Hungarian group talked about Critical Mass and showed movies from Budapest Critical Mass. We also had a street action both in Batumi and Tbilisi. In Batumi we rode around the town center (near the sea), wore T-shirts with messages on them (in Georgian), handed out flyers and hobnobbed with the locals. Tbilisi was presented with its first ever Critical Mass, as we joined with another organization and cycled down the main avenue, which had been closed off for the occasion.

Georgia (new)

2006-08-14T23:34:00.000+02:00

A collection of my different impressions from Georgia

Entering by bicycle

on my way to the BBB meeting in Batumi, I cycled across the border from Turkey into Georgia. It was evening, and about the second village I came to, I saw a bunch of young people standing under tall trees. One guy waved to me, I also saw a bicycle leaning against a house, so I thought this might even be my group.

It wasn't, but it was rather my first experience of Georgian warmth and friendship. This guy, el guca, just saw me cycle by and wanted to welcome me to his country. it was my first taste of homemade Georgian wine. after a long harsh day on the bus, I let it refresh my spirits and glide down my throat. I was happy for that friendly touch, and to be able to speak again, and also excited at having arrived in another country. so I cycled on happily towards Batumi, which was still 10 km away, and happened to first of all bump into the Estonian group, who were thoroughly surprised that a random man on the street could identify them as Estonians, and then happily brought me to BBB headquarters.

Batumi

A sea-side town and the capitol of the Adzharia region. During the BBB seminar we were quite occupied with the program, so I did not have much time to explore this city fully, and besides the weather was quite rainy. The waves on the very windy sea were so huge and choppy that swimming in the sea was somewhat less than a grand attraction, what with the weather like that. So my first impressions were of the neighborhood where BBB took place, and it seemed to me to be in a state of fair disrepair. Although later in the month when I came back through by bicycle and had another whole day there, I warmed up to it more. This is after I had also had the chance to visit other Georgian towns, where I also realized the contrast to a town like Kutaisi, for instance, which apart from a large central square, was mostly kept in darkness.

Tbilisi

The capitol of Georgia also has the largest concentration of the country's resources. In fact, preceding a visit by US president George Bush earlier this year, they went on a special painting spree, transforming some of the 1960s block buildings into colorful objects of residence. They should do that in Újpest, Gazdagrét or Budaörs, I thought.

I could talk a while about how the motorcar has overrun the city. Then again, it is not that much different from Budapest, with these two exceptions: 1. Drivers in Tbilisi are much more aggressive than in Budapest, and will not stop for any puny pedestrian. The car is king here, above and beyond what I have seen anywhere else. 2. The main street of the city, which features many fine buildings, palaces, the parliament and more, is literally ripped into two pieces by a 4 lane large road. The braver Tbilisian will walk across and through the traffic, trying not to get hit, while most of the rest take underpasses. In my humble opinion, this is a ridiculous thing to allow for very downtown of the country's cultural, political, economic and tourist capitol.

Nonetheless, I'll lay off of spouting at the mouth, and focus on other aspects instead. It was very interesting to be in this city, just a few hundred kilometers due north of Baghdad. Historically, it has close ties with Russia. It is also one of the oldest Christian cultures. From my own cultural bias/origins, my impressions were of the Georgian culture and architecture as being well on its way to the orient. Some of the houses that I have seen, I have not seen anything similar anywhere else. Lots of lattice work, detail design and interesting angles and large jutting out balconies and overhangs.

Very invigorating thermal baths in the old town, which I visited together with Edit and the Estonians. Georgian orthodox churches are also quite unique from other orthodox churches I have seen in Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia. Since pictures speak a thousand words, I will try to save myself the writing hassle by instead displaying the pictures of these ... okay, tall angular brown-colored religious buildings, often placed on a hill.

If the above mentioned architecture was not enough to make me feel like I had been transported a great deal to the east, the Georgian alphabet and lettering everywhere certainly finished the job. Lots of shapely squiggles, soothing to the eye. I needn't be bored in Georgia, cause whenever I looked up, I could have lots of fun trying to decipher the letters, which brought me almost to a full solution of the puzzle set by the end of my time there.

In the shadows of the Kazbek

A bit of literary license there, since it was quite sunny up in the mountains, no shadows in sight. Although on the first day clouds did envelop the peak of the Kazbek mountain, which is the highest mountain to date that I have seen with my naked eyes: 5033 meters. Kazbek is on the Russian/North Ossetian border. The Chechen border was also no more than 10 kilometers away.

It was wonderful to be in the high Caucasian mountains, very high mountains indeed, utmost beauty and wonder. With Edit we hiked for three days in the area, explored a mountain monastery, were pulled as if by a magnetic force in the direction of the great Kazbek. Had a wonderful Georgian breakfast, complete with homemade hadzhipuri and matsoni (the first a savory breaded cheese pastry, the latter a thick yogurt), in the village of Sno. Sno is a medieval village, composed of stone houses and a stone tower in the center of it. This kind of tower can be found especially also in the Svanetis mountain areas. From what I have heard, there are villages wholly composed of such towers.

Some foreigners do come to this area, as it has a reputation for being great hiking country. We ran into a British couple, a whole Polish hiking crew, and in a hotel we stayed in a French man and Levan, an artist from Tbilisi, who all made for enjoyable company.

Toasting

Georgians are a very hearty people and love to drink their tasty, sweet wine late into the night, toasting to friendship, to love, to women, to mothers, to children, to each other, and to much more. It is a very intimate situation where one is able to open up to the others gathered around, and be happy and exuberant in the face of sharing these moments with other fellow humans gathered together. While women may be allowed to take it easy, men are usually encouraged to finish each glass along with each toast, and subsequently be filled back up again to the brim. Since Georgians have a higher alcohol tolerance than most of their western counterparts, one has to become crafty and shrewd in thinking of ways to stick with the toast, yet pour as little as possible down the throat. I was told by Levan from Tbilisi
that the average Georgian can drink two bottles of wine a day and one bottle of vodka. He did not seem to be exaggerating. The opportunity should not be missed here to stress that Georgians love music and love to sing. Thus singing is often just a moment away, and it matters not what talent one has to give, one's heart and soul here are what is meant to shine.

Beauty

Georgian people, men and women alike, are beautiful. Dark complexioned, a touch of mystery, deep eyes, dark hair. Had I been less shy, I might have asked half of Tbilisi if I could take their picture.

To come back

would be very nice. When I travel, I usually view my enterprise as something of just a part of a larger fabric in space and time. I see and enjoy things that I like and that I want more of. And I hope to come back and engage more. Also in the case of Georgia, I had glimpses of many things that might beckon me to some future exploration at a later date. I have still to go to Svanetis, a place that the author Wendel Steavenson has described as the most beautiful place on earth. For the sake of being in mountains, there is never really a good reason not to come back, or not to spend more time there. And for the sake of hospitality and promises of once returning, there is also no reason to consider those hollow words.

Bicycle trip part 2 (new)

2006-08-14T23:27:00.000+02:00

Tbilisi - Sinop

Here I shall recount my second trip of this summer, which took me from Tbilisi, the capitol of Georgia, and landed me in Sinop, on the Turkish Black Sea coast, 1200 km to the west.

This time, I was not alone. Daria from Moscow joined me. She is a Russian doctor, avid cyclist and Greenpeace volunteer.

It would take 4 days to cross Georgia. Highlights from the trip:

§ Sleeping in a 3000 year old stone village in the side of a mountain.
§ Travelling on a plain, with very high frontal winds, which seriously impeded our speed. (rather a lowlight)
§ Staying with a Georgian family in a village in the mountains, after being rained on and tired out by the winds
§ Cycling on the worst road that I have ever encountered, between Ozurgeti and Kobuleti. There were more holes than there was road, and there was no end in sight. Everyone we asked told us a different story about how far still to Kobuleti. Then the people stopped. Then the roads divided. Evening was coming. Then... we saw the sea.
§ from Kobuleti to Batumi another 20 km, then 10 more to our accommodation "El Guca" who sang us his favorite Robbie Williams songs. He didn’t seem to want to stop, either. Checking Daria's speedometer, that day we cycled 170 kilometers.

Back into Turkey.

First stop in Findikli, to alleviate the hunger and at the same time consume a Sütlaç from paradise (a milk rice pudding sprinkled with nuts)

The meetings in the municipalities could start again, I had my books (Turkish version) and I took them straight to the big men in Rize, Trabzon, Görele, Giresun, Ordu, Fatsa, Ünye and Sinop.

On the Black Sea coast highway it could happen that people stopped for all sorts of random reasons: Once somebody jumped out of his car, asked us where were are going, and then proceeded to show us on his map which routes he recommended and which ones we should avoid. Then somebody else stopped to give us T-shirts that bore the logo of a local bakery. Why not.

Once again, the people are of the kindest sort. The only problem is that the best way for a driver to express that ("hello") is to beep his/her horn. After the 97th hello from a passing driver, I was wondering if I should make a sign that read "If you love me, don't beep, PLEASE!" (sevliyorsun? LÜTFEN klakson çalmamak!)

It was also very hard to spend money. After any meal, just when you reach for your wallet, you find out that it has already been paid, and your dinner companion elicits a smile and asks if you have heard of the famous Turkish hospitality. This was also the case when getting a bike repaired in a bikeshop. After more than half an hour of work, the shop owner flatly refused money and said, look we're friends, okay?!

Meeting the mayors and vice mayors was also fun. It was interesting to peep into that world. My assumption was that the mayor acts like a king, and the servants in the house have to walk out backwards, etc, etc. But on the contrary, it was quite informal, with about 3 telephones ringing simultaneously, all sorts of people sticking their head in the door or coming for a signature. In the meantime I am trying to breach the subject of traffic calming, but there is always another interruption. The previous month in Bulgaria, I had felt quite proud of myself for making a presentation in Bulgarian, due to lack of translator. I believe that in Ünye I was even more proud of myself, when faced with the same situation, I somehow managed to pull off a (very basic) presentation in the local lingo - or maybe was he just nodding politely, thinking about his sütlaç for supper…?

Turkish towns

Although the trend is to build 5,6,7 story large and uniform houses, this is often offset by the practice of decorating houses with unique designs. Sometimes a simple floral motif and sometimes a quite elaborate design covering the whole facade. What I liked best though about the towns are the central squares or central street where there is always a place to sit down and have a rest, and where there is otherwise so much bustle and life. Street life is a lot fuller and more vibrant that what I am used to. Since buildings are close and squares are usually smallish, this lends a quite cozy feeling; the feeling of nearness or protection. It is also my theory that there is no town or village in all of Turkey where you can be further than 10 meters from a fresh cup of Turkish tea. You only have to ask someone the time of day, and they already offer you a cup of tea. I drank a lot of tea.

some pictures going to Istanbul / kepek a törökorszagrol

2006-07-07T18:18:00.000+02:00

i could only upload a few pictures now from my the second part of my trip (basically Turkey). a fuller gallery will come sometime in the future. click on the link

itt csak nehany kep lathato. tobb kep es egy magyar leiras valamikor lesz. de azert meg lesz! kattints a linkre.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2104465541&code=22996684&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

How i got to İstanbul

2006-07-01T12:26:00.000+02:00

IGEN İSTANBULBAN VAGYOK
YES I AM IN İSTANBUL

i have a little bit of extra time now, because i couldnt get the bus i wanted to for georgia, so i will take a bus tonight, that gets me to the border tomorrow in the early afternoon.

cycling backwards in time to burgas, i can cycle forwards again in these lines, to revel the hilly midnight border approach. due to the fact that the things went the way they went and i met a very nice person in municipality in burgas, and i didnt actually swim in the black sea for 10 minutes like eli wrote, but actually 15... i got off to a bit of a late start for the day's destination: malko turnovo, right near the bulgarian border. leaving burgas at 18:30, i didnt stand a chance to actually get anywhere before nightfall. i thought of trying out my tent for the first time, but since i had somebody waiting for me in m.turnovo, who kept calling me and encouraging me to come, saying that the road is without holes (this was only partially true) and there is no traffic at night (much more accurate) that i can still come, no problem if late. so i cycled the night. there was a lot of up and down and i wore special head lamp to make sure i avoid any holes (i didnt want to hit a huge bump and have to change tires in the dark). it was a bit lonely, but pleasant also at the same time. i had to divide my time between wondering how long i have to keep going up and up up up and up, and wether those 2 faint lights in the woods belonged rather to an ocelot or a jaguar, and finally thinking about how long it was to malko turnovo. just when i thought i had still at least 10-15 more kilometers, all of a sudden a noticed a big advertisement sign in the dark, a "see you soon" message from a bulgarian mobile phone operator, and then suddenly i am in malko turnovo. after cycling through the woods at dark, it was a different experience to catch the rest of the spain-france game at stoyan´s place.

next day i cycled across the border to turkey, some more uphill just to the border, where i had both the guard in the first check point and the second checkpoint joke with me about being justin timberlake, and then i sped on to kirklarelli. my turkish partners arranged for a meeting at the municipality there, and beforehand i had three 50 year old turkish men on bikes come and pick me up and take me around town. i had already been fully overwhelmed with the sensations of a wholly new place, and this was then excacerbated at the mayor´s office. posh is the word to start with: posh. blue carpets lining the walls, glowing (halogram?) things on the wall, thick carpet and polished wooden furniture. while i thought this might be the living space of an emir, my translator kept referring to him as the "prime minister". so the prime minister of kirklarelli kindly welcomed us and told us about his experiences in holland, based on which he himself would like to see bike lanes being built in kirklarelli. probably he can even do it, he just has to push the button.

i had to still cycle that night to vize, although i had really hoped to stay longer in kirklarelli (the most educated turkish city i was told). sleeping in vize made it at least theoretically possible that i could reach istanbul the next day, 140 km away.

last day, vize-istanbul: to divide it up into the three main sections
1. vize-saray: short section, flat, little traffic, enjoyable first section 20 km
2. saray-catalca: very hilly, up and down incessantly, very sweaty, little traffic. ca. 70 km
3. catalca-büyükcekmece: wonderfully downhill, a lot more traffic, ca. 20 km
4. büyükcekmece - istanbul: up and down, %&$§§$& traffic, ca. 30 km.

section 1: pleasant, nice, good, fun. i even met some other long distance travellers, who had come up from south western turkey and headed for bulgaria and on to central europe. they also have a blog: http://timandpiper.blogspot.com/

section 2: long, taxing, made me tired. hot. sweaty. but the best ever homemade yoghurt in my life in the village 10 km before Catalca.

section 3: the easiest ride of the day. nice to hardly have to pedal for a change.

section 4: i would not want to wish this experience on my worst enemy. while i had the romantic notion of cycling leasurely into istanbul on small streets, and heading ever inward, i found out that the only option from where i was consisted of a mad 8 or 10 lane highway which i rode on for over an hour, wondering when will it ever end? i did the citizens of istanbul a great public service: i cleaned the air for them - with my lungs! i could see all the black smoke from the non TÜVed cars and truck go by, but i could not see when i could remove myself from this nightmare. i kept asking people for taksim, pointing in directions at a 90 degree angle either right or left, but they always insisted i go straight. i thought i was hallucinating when i saw the second huge banner saying "welcome to istanbul" i had already been welcomed 10 km back, but i didnt feel that way, and so i uttered my meanest in contempt.

i could go on, but suffice it to say that i made it to taksim, and was met by Tuna. before i met tuna it was my own treat for reaching the goal of "Sofia - Istanbul" that i sucked dry a grapefruit i had bought that morning in Vize. We then met Dilek of the Turkish Young Greens, where I stayed for the next two nights.

friday was a whirlwind of press time, public transportation conference, meeting the mayor of Istanbul and holding a film night in the evening. the Turkish guidebook had been prepared by this time: now there are 2! turkish and bulgarian. so we could deliver the guide in to the mayor and to various transport people that day, as well as in the evening to civil society.

when i was the first time a tourist in istanbul 8 years ago (while student in bulgaria) i didnt have nearly such a rocking night out on the town as this one. thanks Fulya, Elvan and Ahmecan!

And it is of course exciting to see things getting organized by people like Kevser, Tuna, Dilek, Fulya, Murat and others, especially since next year there will be the "Towards Carfree Cities" hosted in Istanbul. Should I just stay here until then, or come back 5 months early next year....?

While huge traffic and huge pollution is certainly a problem in Istanbul, there has been some positive things done lately, for example all over the city there are beautiful new bus stops, really high class, and new (and cleaner) buses as well. And just for my arrival they opened an underground funiclar from Taksim to Kabatas, which transports you in 110 seconds as opposed to bus or car - up to 20 minutes in verstockendes but not verstummtes traffic.

Now I am in Asia. I will catch soon a bus to Rize. Then I will catch a bus to the border. Then I will cycle across the border. Then I will be in Batumi. Then I will go to Biking Beyond Borders Goes East Conference. Currently I am still very much to the west.

a vegso cel tolem most mar csak 140

2006-06-28T22:33:00.000+02:00

szegyelem magam hogy egy kıcsıt hanyagoltam a magyar nyelvu leırasokat. most ıs az lesz mert egy kurvaıdegesıto bıllentyuzet hasznalom es le kell aludnı mert holnap 140 kmet kell tekernı ıstanbulıg a vegso celıg! de aztan tobbet ırok. eddıg jo volt az elso napom torokorszagban, nagyon ızgı mınden.

sok puszı macarlar ıcın
azaz magyaroknak

Last Day! Tomorrow İstanbul!

2006-06-28T22:22:00.000+02:00

So today i have crossed the bulgarian turkish border.

I will wait for a later time when i have more of it (time) and a less annoying keyboard, to explain more of my thoughts and feelings.

but the news is that i am right now in a town called Vize, and i am 140 km from İstanbul, which i hope to reach by tommorrow night and meet Tuna in Taksim square. I will leave pretty early and cycle all day. I hope not too many mountains. Today, I cycled over 100 km, which included a lot of steep climbs, a border crossing and a meeting at the municipality of Kırklarelı with the mayor which was really great. So, minus all that and I think I should be able to make it tomorrow....

And what a change it is to be in Turkey! More about this later, i still feel like i entered a different world. and it feels great.

watch this space

Justin made it to Burgas

2006-06-27T17:12:00.000+02:00

from Eli

Sitting here at the office, I just received a sms from Justin. He is heading down south, the boarder with Turkey!
He arrived successfully yesterday evening in Burgas. In the morning there was one of the most successful meetings in the municipality of Burgas and the representative was very much willing to work on sustainable mobility with partners, even from Istanbul.
Justin had only like 10 minutes to enjoy the warm water of the Black sea today before jumping on his bike and getting on the road again!
Good luck!

cycling in StaZa

2006-06-25T11:16:00.000+02:00

Vanya was my cycling guide in Stara Zagora. On duty both during the day and at night.

Vanyával cangaztunk StaZa-ban, ejszakai tekerés is volt, simán a 100 e lakos város egyik oldaláról a másikra és vissza jutottunk.

Itt ahol laktam van még egy baszk önkéntes. mindketten ugyanilyen munkájuk van mint piroch marcinak, sérült madarakat megmenteni

cold facts warm answers

2006-06-25T11:12:00.000+02:00

the hard, cold facts:

i am still in stara zagora, although this will change in about 15 minutes.
i handed out all the guidebooks i had with me, but i am receiving a small shipment sent to burgas, the final destination (for the bulgarian mission).
guidebooks handed out so far to:
sofia
Blagoevgrad
Razlog
Yakoruda
Pazardzik
Plovdiv
Stara Zagora

coming up: Burgas

Sliven will just have to wait for the postal service (because their municipality strangely doesn't work on weekends).
the 15 minutes up top just changed to 20 minutes.
it looks like another hot one.
my knee occasionally acts like it want to pain me, but i am wearing a knee brace and will be going slow today, so easy does it.
i have not been struck by lightning so far.
i have not used my tent even once yet.
i have used my toothbrush, more than once.

light warm questions:

if i wrote less and rode more, would that be selfish?
should i not be eating more fruit and vegetables?
am i going to have fun in burgas?
will i even make it to burgas?
am i looking forward to burgas?
where is burgas?
why have both 15 and 20 minutes come and gone?

light warm facts and cold hard questions to be served up later

hétvégi kiadás. különszám: a gasztronómia

2006-06-25T11:10:00.000+02:00

szép. megint hétvége van. nem kell valami úticélt kitűzni. csak felébredni, reggelizni, és elindulni. nem kell öt óra elött valamilyen hivatalba menni. visz a szél ahová akar. még egy kicsit messzinek érzem burgasztól, de remélem hogy ez a nap közelebbre visz, a nagy délbolgár kikötője, mint a bolgár szakasz végállómásom. na jó van még egy kis strand az út mentén a török határ felé, de nem fogok ott az embereket téríteni probálni a közlekedési útmutatóval, csak jó napot, egy dober den, egy mozhe li edin tarator. az a hideg uborka leves.

amit szoktam enni: mivel sopszka salátát nem nagyon kell magyarázni, a banitszát pedig csak ennyít hogy mint a bürek, csak vékonyabb és hosszú, ez a mindenhol kapható mint gyors kaja, a gyors válasz az éhségnek. de vannak változatai, például plovdivban felfaltam egy tökbanitszát, máshol hagymával, pl. Tegnap ettem egy fözelékféle kajat, bob jahnia, azaz babfőzelék. csak lehet hogy nem kezdték a rántással. a már említett tarator mindig kapható, minőségi különbségekkel (a tipp: szürcsöljetek inkább a házikosztot) a danone uradalma ellenére még mindig lehet kapni vagy 6 féle joghurtot. na itt megállok, mert most egy kicsit sok halvát ettem, s nem akarak épp többé kajával foglalkozni.

Notes from Plovdiv-Stara Zagora

2006-06-25T11:05:00.000+02:00

Sofia Istanbul Bike Connect

from plovdiv i cycled to stara zagora. i went on a bit of a detour, because i hoped to escape the main busy busy road which goes also to the seaside. but at some point, they told me, don't go that way, through the mountains, the roads there are terrible, and the people there are truly wild. that wouldn't necessarily have put me off, but just then a grandiose thunderstorm broke in, and soaked me silly. so i headed back southward a bit and cought the main road to stara zagora. high quality road, but that was the only good thing about it. preposterously unwanton madhatter traffic, which had the effect of a passing truck spraying so much water from the road, i wasn't even sure i could be visible to the next thing coming down. a bit of a climb too, the gradual long sort of climb, infinitely more repelling than short steep climbs, which i actually don't mind at all. but i got there.

bulgarian bike trip in pictures: part 1 Sofia - Plovdiv

2006-06-23T09:35:00.000+02:00

Sofia-Plovdiv

itt lathattok az elso kepsorozatot, ami szofia-plovdiv uti szakaszt tartalmaz:

here you can see the first picture series, covering sofia - plovdiv:

tuk sa kartinite ot purvia etap na kolelezdene, sofia - plovdiv:

burada yolucuk resimler, sofiya'dan plovdiv'e:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2104986551&amp;code=22770135&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

in pazardzhik

2006-06-21T16:41:00.000+02:00

Sofia Istanbul Bike Connect

i am in pazardzhik at the moment, but will leave soon for my easy 2 hour ride to plovdiv, bulgaria's second largest city. this is after all day riding through the mountains yesterday, very beautiful but very strenous. i probably did 120 km or more, with lots of up, and got into paz. at about 10 pm.

but i stick to my last entry: more longer extra information soon! on the physical side of things, my seat is making me a bit sore, even a bit reddish hey, but my right knee is holding up (although i was nervous at one point), the bike is fine, and i feel a nice tiredness, like i have been biking for a looong time. and the bug bites. yesterday coming down from the mountain was my first feeling of absolute amazement at astounding enveleopment by

nature/priroda/termeszet/tabiat: left right left right left going downhill finally right left right and still more mountains and cliffs and along a river left right left right and great greenness left right left water gurgles left right sun shines left i meet another long distance biker right left right who says that even more beautiful places are found over yonder left right left i am wasting my time, he says, going to turkey, when right left, i could just stay in the rhodope mountains, right left right, this is all towards sundown, a glorious almost last stretch of the day, after some really difficult parts up hill now a beautiful glide down left right

in the pirin mountains

2006-06-20T09:35:00.000+02:00

Sofia Istanbul Bike Connect

HI

a longer blog entry will have to wait until i have the time to type it all in - i am now in razlog, in the pirin mountains. in about 3 minutes i am to meet with the mayor of the town, mr. liuben tatarski. last night i slept in town at some crazy guy's house, who was telling me all these strange conspiracy stories and wants me to look up the town of razlog in some bulgarian archive in istanbul when i get there, and it is related to his lost wealth as well, etc, etc...

so all is nice, the sun is shining, i managed to cycle over 100 km on sunday to get to blagoevgrad still in time to see the brazil-australia match, and i had a nice time staying at eion's place just a street over from where i lived in blagoevgrad for a few years.

more updating and pictures when i can manage.

eli es vanya (ZZ) is ragyasok akarnak lenni!

2006-06-17T16:53:00.000+02:00

The bicycle ride is underway!

2006-06-17T15:53:00.000+02:00

magyar ajkuaknak: olvassatok lejebb egy kicsit...

day 0 - wednesday 14 june

last day to pack or buy anything that i need. last minute checks. bought wierd little tent for the hard times. parents came by with some goodies for the road. then big panick: the train leaves at 23:25 NOT 23:55! pack all of my belongings for the trip in 10 minutes flat. edit accompanies me by bike to the train station. a pleasant surprise: kristof and zsoka where there already to see me off, and just a few minutes later kisreka shows up. zsoka also has some podarichki for the road. fortunately i can put my bike in the sleeping compartment with me, which of course provides the bulgarian sleeping train official with a bit of extra pocket money. budapest is speeds away from me. kattogva kattog es elveszetten elvisz.

day 1 - thursday 15 june

i arrive in beograd at 7 in the morning, already homesick, and who was there to meet me at the station but milan boric! (from Yugo Cycling Campaign) he came out just to meet me before work at 8, and to make sure i could transfer fine on to bulgaria. good thing he came too, cause i had a small fright: the bulgarian conductor told me it was fine to keep my stuff in the compartment and continue in that wagon on towards the bulgarian border. he would lock the cabin for me, and i should be ready to go in an hour. but then the train just left, and i was wondering: is this already the end of the trip? my bicycle and most of my luggage taken by a train trickster? milan and i chased after the train (about half a kilometer) to some train yard, and found it sitting there, with someone in it, who confirmed that it would continue to sofia in an hour. whew!

i train all day long, get to the border about 5 pm bulgarian time, and then start to cycle: first stretch is dmitrovgrad (Serbia) - Sofia (Bulgaria), 60 km. then another 15 km at least in sofia to get to the za zemiata office. my first real use of the new bike, nicely fixed up by gyurka. it rode well, although at one spot the chain became extremely tightly stuck, and i had to ask someone in a nearby village to extricate it for me. my observation of his extrication job led me to believe i could have done it myself. so i learned something. i am very tired from this first day of cycling, at night before sleep i just am nearly going to faint. am i ready for this trip?

day 2 - friday 16 june

but it seems i can recover quickly. feel good, and already at 14:00 have first meeting with traffic division at the municipality, together with eli and vanya from Za Zemiata (ZZ) - my main bulgarian partners. just twenty minutes before the meeting the guide arrived to the ZZ office! and it looks really great! this first meeting also turned out really well, the two gentlemen we talked to were very responsive, seemed highly appreciative of the guide, and agreed with us that the traffic is a problem and needs to be dealt with. they said they would study the guide, and be happy to work with ZZ in the future. so from what we could see, a real success! my presentation of the guide to them also went well, only after rehearsing on the way to their building.

in the evening there was an open air event at a bar in a park in sofia, called "lotki" or boats. we screened several movies, budapest critical mass, different cycling films and what not. quite a lot of people there and everyone seemed to enjoy it. plus some contacts made for ZZ

sharp sofia a super start

day 3 saturday 17 june

didnt succeed to copy the dvd films for ZZ due to technical incompetency and a general lack of know-how. this will have to be done some other way, some other how. sit and write these lines, and then (it is already after four pm now) i should get on the road, as i want to get somewhere near to dupnica if possible, so that i will have an easier ride on sunday. (blagoevgrad morning municipality is the goal).

eli, vanya and delyan have all been very helpful and i have had a great time with them.

HU: akartam volna ugyanannyit irni magyarul mint angolul, csak az a baj hogy most mar mennem kene ha nem akarok sotetedes egy 20 km-es tekeres utan. szoval, nagyon jo volt eddig. sikerult vonattal eljutni a bolgar-szerb hatarhoz. budapesten a keletibe mentek kisreka, zsoka, kristof, es persze az edit is, hogy bucsuzzanak tolem. nem gondoltam volna, de orultem neki nagyon. es belgradban is, amikor 1 oras varakozasi idom volt az allomason, elem jott a milan borics, ismerosom es bicajos arc, hogy minden rendben van-e. nagyon jo fej.

volt egy 60 kilometeres tekeres a hatartol szofiaig, ami technikailag nem volt teljesen zokkenomentesen, de azert iszonyatos faradtan megerkeztem a bolgar fovarsoba, talalkoztam za zemiatasokkal, es kipihentem magam. masnap a fovarosi kozlekedesi osztalyban volt egy megbeszeles, es nagyon jol sikerult! atvettek az utmutatot es mondtak hogy szivesen egyuttdolgnak a za zemiatasokkal. az este a vetitesek meg buli, az is jol sikerult.

ughogy jol kezdodott minden, es most mar el kene mennem tovabb. a ZZ-es nagyon jo fejek. az idojaras most mar tokeletes, bolgar kavet iszok es bulgarul is cseveghetek, bar egy kicsit hangolni kene meg ezt a nyelvi eszkozom. roviden talalkoztam tervel-lel, meg nehany mas ismerosommel.

megyek tovabb: JU

The bicycle ride is underway

2006-06-17T15:42:00.000+02:00

Kerékpárral Bulgárián és Törökországon át

2006-06-06T20:49:00.000+02:00

A legjobb dolgok az életben olykor váratlanul történnek!

Itt kínálkozik egy ragyogó alkalom, hogy csatlakozz egy izgalmas bringatúrához június második felében. Napokon belül elindulunk, úgyhogy nincs időd sokat teketóriázni! Június 15-én, Szófiából indulunk, és július 1-ig tart a kaland.

Ez kerékpártúra, melyet a Zöld Fiatalok Egyesület (ZöFi) szervez, a kirándulás örömén túl a fenntartható közlekedést kívánja népszerűsíteni (kerékpár, vonat, busz a tuti), az ehhez illeszkedő városfejlesztést ajánlva a régióban.

Az út során helyi önkormányzatokat és nonprofit szervezeteket is meglátogatunk, az erre az alkalomra kidolgozott "Fenntartható Közlekedési Útmutató" egy-egy példányát nyújtjuk át nekik. Az útmutató témái: környezetbarát városfejlesztés, ökováros, autómentes övezetek, "lassú" település... Az út során a könyv bolgár, török verziója is a kezünkben lesz.

Helyi környezetvédő, illetve kerékpáros szervezetek segítségével dialógust kezdeményezünk a helyi lakosokkal, bemutatót tartunk nekik a témából, miközben élvezzük a balkán relaxos hangulatát, és az édes déli, tengerparti klímát.

Ha szeretsz tekerni, csatlakozz bátran! Lehet, hogy az útnak csak bizonyos részére tudsz jönni, az is megoldható. Gondolj csak bele: micsoda új barátokra lelhetsz Samokovban, Plovdivban, Pazardzhikban, Edirnében, Tekirdagban vagy akár Kücükcekmeceben!

Nincs részvételi díj. Két lehetőség van eljutni Szófiába: vagy kerékpárostul vonattal odamenni 15-eig, amikor a hivatalos program kezdődik, vagy még a hétvégén a túraszervezőhőz csatlakozni és szintén szófia felé tekerni, a szerb-román duna menténi nemzeti parkon keresztül.

Jelentkezz, érdeklődj a túraszervezőnél:

Justin Hyatt justin@zofi.hu

preparing the bikes...

2006-06-06T18:39:00.000+02:00

Sofia - Sinop route variants

2006-06-06T17:05:00.000+02:00

Sofia - Sinop

Starting on June 15th, we will travel from Sofia to Sinop, where we arrive by June 30th. Main events will take place in Sofia, Plovdiv, Istanbul and Sinop. There are still a few route variations, especially concerning the Bulgarian section, for which we will make a decision together with the Bulgarian participants.

Versions:
1. Sofia – Blagoevgrad – Plovdiv – Dimitrovgrad – Edirne – Istanbul –Izmit – Zonguldak – Sinop
(this brings Blagoevgrad into the equation and the nice mountain pass between Razlog and Velingrad)

2. Sofia – Samokov – Plovdiv – Stara Zagora – Sliven – Burgas – Kirklareli – Istanbul – Izmit – Zonguldak - Sinop
(skipping Blagoevgrad, we would instead go to Stara Zagora and Burgas, and also escape the heavily trafficked Dimitrovgrad-Istanbul main road)

3. Sofia – Samokov– Plovdiv – Dimitrovgrad – Edirne – Istanbul –Izmit – Zonguldak – Sinop
(this would be a shorter version of Bulgaria, but then also make for less km per day in Turkey)

Feel free to comment on the variations, and let me know soon if you are thinking to join!

През България и Турция с колело

2006-06-03T14:08:00.000+02:00

Понякога най-хубавите неща в живота се появяват неочаквано!

Каним Ви да се присъедините към супер вълнуващия вело-тур през България и Турция, който ще продължи 3 седмици през юни! Побързайте, защото започваме съвсем скоро!

Елате при нас в София, на 15-ти юни, и карайте колелото си с нас до 1-ви юли. Да, да, ... за 2006-та година става въпрос!

Като пилотен проект, който произлиза от Унгарското екологично движение, или по-точно Зелени Младежи Унгария, тази велосипедна обиколка е планирана като възможност за срещи с местни общини и представители на неправителствени организации в градовете по маршрута, където ще раздаваме копия от създадения по този повод "Гайд за устойчива мобилност". Също така ще има възможност за разговор с местните жители, ще има презентации пред обществеността, ще показваме филми и ще се срещаме с местните жители, както и ще се наслаждаваме на спокойното настроение на Балканите и приятния южен климат.

Ако обичате да карате колело, вие сте добре дошли да се присъедините към нас! Можете да участвате и само в някои части на маршрута, по ваше желание. Ако си мислите, че нямате достатъчно приятели в градове като Самоков, Пловдив, Пазарджик, Одрин, Текирград или Кючукчекмедже, това е вашият шанс!

Целта на този вело-тур е да представи идеи за устойчив транспорт (колоездене, автобуси и влакове ... за начинаещи), както и устойчиво развитие на градовете. Екологични практики, еко-градове, градове без коли, "бавни" градове: всичко е тук! Гайдът излиза на български и турски език.

За проверка на последния вариант на маршрута, както и за записване, можете да се свържете с мен или с националния координатор.

Няма такса за участие, а и дините са с ниски цени ;)

Организатор на тура: Джъстин Хайат, justin@zofi.hu
http://greenbikeeast.blogspot.com/
http://www.zofi.hu

Местен координатор: Елица Грънчарова, eli@zazemiata.org
ЕС "За Земята"
София, ул. Цар Иван Асен II 1, вх. В, ет. 4
тел./факс: +3592 9431123
www.zazemiata.org

Through Bulgaria and Turkey by Bike

2006-06-03T12:35:00.000+02:00

Sometimes the best things in life come unexpected!

Now You have the chance to join in a super exciting bicycle tour through Bulgaria and Turkey, for 2 weeks this June. Hurry up, because we start really soon!

Come and join us in Sofia, Bulgaria on the 15th of June, and cycle with us through July 1. Yes, we are speaking about 2006!

As a pilot project originating from within the Hungarian environmental movement, more specifically the Hungarian Young Greens, this bicycle tour has been planned to be an opportunity to meet local municipal and NGO representatives in the towns along the way, where we will be handing out copies of the "Guidebook on sustainable mobility" created for just this occasion. We will engage in dialogue with local citizens and make public presentations, showing films and meeting the locals, and enjoying the relaxed mood of the Balkans and the sweet Southern climate.

If you enjoy riding bicycles, you are welcome to join the ride! You may participate for parts of the section as well. Just when you thought you didn't have enough friends in places like Samokov, Plovdiv, Pazardzhik, Edirne, Tekirdağ or Küçükçekmece, here is your chance.

This bicycle tour attempts to promote the themes of sustainable transportation (bicycle, bus, train for starters) and sustainable urban development. Environmentally friendly practices, ecocities, carfree cities, slow cities: It's all there. The guide has been produced in Bulgarian and Turkish.

Check back here for the latest itinerary, and let me or your national director know you are coming. There is no fee to participate, and watermelon prices are cheap!

Tour organizer: Justin Hyatt, justin@zofi.hu
Bulgarian section: Elitsa Grancharova, eli@zazemiata.org
Turkish section: Murat Suyabatmaz, murat@bisikletdunyasi.com