Since Lina's date for her flight back from Istanbul drew closer, we needed to speed up a bit. We managed to take the bus from Canakkale to Bandirma (yes, with the good will of the bus driver we were even allowed to stow our tandem as it is - without dismantling - into the luggage compartment). In Bandirma we had one day and cycled to the nature reserve Kuscenneti for some bird watching and back. The most impressive was the large colony of Pelicans which we could calmly observe from the tower. The next day we took the only ferry (a speed catamaran) at 7:45 in the morning into Istanbul where we comfortably arrived - without the hassle of finding our way through the suburbs on highways - at Yenikapi conveniently located close to the historical centre Sultanahmet and to Besiktas where we had warmshowers at Cagatay's place in Besiktas who hosted us 3 so friendly and relaxed!
Kuscenneti Milli Park