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Alexis Boisselet

Back to Istanbul and a new start:

April 15, 2022, Alexis from Steppe FM, Back to Istanbul and a new start:





Hitchhiking with the dogs

As expected, it was far from being simple. We found a carpool from Mulga. We were up to Izmir. The car was full with our luggage and the three dogs were either between our legs or on our knees. In Izmir, Rico left us with a big part of the luggage to continue by bus.


With Akim, a big backpack each and the three dogs, we carry on hitch-hiking, we walk along the highway before finding a good spot where to stretch the thumb and especially hide the dogs behind our bags. 5 hours later, we have not move yet, no car stopped. In desperation, we look for and find a carpool planned at 4 am...


The sun is not even laid down yet that we look for a place to sleep for these few hours. We find a corner of grass, strewn with broken glass, under an abandoned highway.

The night is not restful: bands of dogs approach our camp of fortune. Our three dogs bark all night long in answer.



The next day at dawn, we get into the carpool, Akim in the back with the three dogs in what is normally the refrigerated trunk of the van.

We are dropped off a few hours later on the hard shoulder of a new highway. It's still early in the morning and we hope to make the remaining 50 kilometers to the ferry by giving it another go hitchhiking.


It takes more than 2 hours but a truck finally stops. It's a cattle truck and during one hour the three dogs and Akim are surrounded by about fifteen sheep. Luckily our dogs are educated enough to not eat one of them.

We arrive in Bandirma, the port where the ferry to Istanbul leaves from. But once there, they refuse to embark us with the dogs. That we have a leash and a muzzle does not change anything in the case. We thought we had arrived and here we are again stuck.


Finally we find, a few hours later, a carpool with whom we have to negotiate closely to finally take us to Istanbul with the dogs





Istanbul:

In Istanbul, I find Rico. We also find Murat who kept us a big part of our luggage, who also had sent us the pacakage with the tepee and especially who kept our bicycles that we thought not found. So, it's with our old bikes that we brought back from France that we will leave towards the west.

And it is left for a big week of arrangement and organization. Indeed, we separate as soon as we leave Istanbul.


In the meantime, we are obliged to distribute the things and especially to buy what we miss personally. We spend a lot of time in the bazaars, in the markets and to make repairs on our bikes which are more or less in good condition.


We take advantage of being in Istanbul to visit a little the districts and especially the superb mosques. But globally most of the time, we spend it to make the organization. They are not the most exciting weeks but are necessary.


In parallel Akim takes the plane with his two dogs to join Marie in France.


On my side, I plan my route, settle all the necessary papers for Jehol. I also get Akim's cart for Jehol.


About ten days later, everything is about to be ready. Rico left yesterday and I am about to leave. Each one follows his road. Me, I intend to go back to the south to Izmir to take a ferry and to join Greece. Rico took his bus yesterday from Istanbul to arrive directly in Bucharest.


We are again by bike but this time we do not take the same way.





The election (this paragraph is my own) :

And how to talk about these last two weeks without mentioning the presidential election. And especially the frustration and disappointment that resulted from it.

While there was a candidate whose program was really turned towards ecology, the French people and more particularly the old ones have, thanks to a quinquennium favoring the extreme right and to this eculated 5th Republic, decided of a second round without any ecological aspect.


We are therefore asked to choose between the extreme right with its assumed nationalist fascism and radical neo-liberalism, predator, by definition, of nature.


So Bravo to all and in particular to the old people who, after having taken advantage of the resources of this world, continue to vote "because it is beautiful" or worse so that nothing changes and we continue to go straight into the wall.




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