3 May, Orhangazi to Iznik, 45km
Aydin Hotel 80TL (breakfast included) (negotiated down from 90TL)

We had planned for this to be our first cycling day on this trip. I had even composed the first sentences of this day’s daily snippet: “Today I turned 57. Today I got on the bike for the first time in exactly two years. Today we cycled 65km between Yalova and Iznik. Today was tough!” In reality, we would not have made it all the way from Yalova on this day... so we were happy to wake up in Orhangazi instead following our spur-of-the-moment departure from Istanbul, to breakfast on delicious and healthy fare, and to cycle the remaining 40km to Iznik, which lies on the eastern shore of a pretty lake. Iznik was founded in 1000BC and is famous for its tiles which were used to decorate Istanbul’s “blue mosque”. We arrived in time to shower, nap, treat ourselves to birthday cake, complete with single candle provided by our host and delicious baklava before a stroll and dinner and bed.

Between Orhangazi and Iznik

Between Orhangazi and Iznik

Lake Iznik

Lake Iznik

Lake Iznik