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Day 6 - Istanbul, Turkey to Hattusa, Turkey.
Big day today, early start followed by about 400 miles to try and get from Istanbul to Hattusas.
First things first: a really good night in the HiltonSA in Istanbul ( well if you have the loyalty points - why not use them!) They looked after us and the bikes very well! We all ate a filling breakfast on the roof top restaurant with views out over the Bosphorous in the sunshine. Absolutely perfect!
We had planned to leave the city before rush hour but ended up in the thick of it although it wasn't as bad as expected. Once you see a local on a scooter you know what is acceptable for bikes and you basically use whatever route you can to get to the front of the queues. The bridge over the Bosphorous was our way into Asia and then we were screaming down the motorway at 80mph, buzzing through the tolls and setting all the alarms off - they'd have to catch us to tell us off :-)
3.5 hours of travel and about 200 miles and we're off the motorways. What followed was another 4 hours of the most amazing roads, views and adventure. The scenery past Ankara is breathtaking and really is completely different to anything we'd seen so far. Just the immensity and scale is a feast for the eyes! The people look different again and whilst not necessarily poor it is a real subsistence lifestyle they lead. We're getting waves from the locals and the kids give us hand slaps if we're going by slow enough accompanied by big smiles.
Being on the bike feels completely normal now and it's a really nice place to be. Have discovered that the Tiger uses the most fuel out of the four bikes when sat at 80 mph and 6000 revs for hours.
We arrive at Hattusas and check into the Hotel Asikoglu and get an instant history lesson on the Hittites from one of the owners over a beer. Really interesting stuff and tomorrow we'll take a quick tour through the lost city on the bikes.
Time for a warm shower as its been a little chilly today at times <20 degrees all day and quite windy. We're over 3000 metres in altitude now so its time to wrap up warm for the evening.
Local fare is taken for the evening including a Hittite Pida which is a kinda long pizza served on a paddle of wood. We're gonna need the energy as it has got really cold and Hawk has resorted to going to sleep in his sleeping bag under the duvet.
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