the leaving of istanbul

i have posted some stories from the road but rarely wrote about how i feel. there’s a wonderful post on www.pathlesspedaled.com that describes one of the social aspects of traveling you encounter when leaving a place and people that were a temporary home.

i took the ferry to yalova and followed the coastline when a car pulled over. it was Önder with his family. he later invited me to his house. we had a great dinner with 3 friends who came all the way from bursa. i played some songs for them and they pulled out their mobiles so their friends could hear it as well. after dinner i was present as they prayed and i almost fell asleep while listening to their singing which was so relaxing.

after a good night sleep and a wonderful breakfast i am now on my way to the south of turkey. thank you Önder for the great hospitality!