Day 7

7. May 2000, Thessaloníki to Istanbul

Finally no more mountain roads but still lots of hills with many curves. At the end of the day we were even getting a taste of some of the long overland routes that are still expecting us. Today there was only one test in Kirki where we got a four-minute penalty as we were driving not too fast to save our car.

TC 31: Thessaloniki OUT
8:
05  
TC 32: Mavrothalasa
10:
12 102 km
TC 33: Porto Lagos
13:
12 162.05 km
TC 34: Kirki 1
14:
32 67.95 km
TC 35: Kirki 2
14:
48 (4 minutes penalty) 14.5 km
TC 36: Istanbul IN
23:
18 337.25 km

The official results can be looked up on this website

nice wild flowers everywhere

cows having blocked our way

Old Aquaeduct

lining up for Kirki

Kirki: then down the hill on forest track

leaving Greece

flat land

Turkish taxi ride :-)

the stop-and-go causes the same problem we already know from the Frejus tunnel: evaporation of petrol in the pump, no more petrol is transported.
But after some cooling off (thanks to Dr. Pujol from Busch Ibérica for his advice) the car starts again with no problem.

 

just hills now but roads are still very curvy

hitting the sea again

Time check at Port Lagos

the Diesel Ponton of Ullrich/Suchocki

Kirki: First up the hill on tarmac
(the reflection of the route book can be seen in the window, this book is used by the navigator to direct the driver.)

the highway Greece to Turkey: not very busy on a Sunday

entering Turkey

cleaning the car for Istanbul

traffic jam in Istanbul

arriving in Istanbul at the hotel where our family is already waiting for us.