The nice lady from the British Embassy phoned us back, perhaps deciding that we didn't sound too suspicious, and she said that as long as copies of the prescriptions were in the package (which they were, Thanks Mother Dowling!!) then they should not get held up by customs. If they did then we would have to deal with it at the time but there would be nothing we could do before hand.
We tracked the parcel after speaking to the British Embassy and it already appeared to have passed customs, so we speedily drove to just outside Komotini (where we were collecting) and set up camp for the night right next to the beach.
Next morning, (which was yesterday) we sped to Komontini, not quite sure how we would find the collection point, when we just happened to pass a DHL office as we pulled off the motorway for petrol! We popped in and I think the collections point must have been a few hundred meters away as the lady get on the phone to someone and about ten minutes later there was our enormous box of drugs! It is quite enormous, not quite sure how we will carry it without our trusty steed but we have them nevertheless!
It was at this point that we noticed a rather strange smell following us around. At first I thought it was the trees near the beach where we camped the other night, then I though it was the bustling city smells of Istanbul yesterday. But it wasn't until the smell had followed us nearly 500km that it dawned on me, it probably was the car. We've peeped under the bonnet and not being mechanics we can't see anything obviously leaking, hanging or dripping so we have concluded that it must just be a little smelly in the heat... Right? It smells a bit like burning. Also it's OK for the battery to hiss once you've stopped the engine isn't it?
Well just incase it's not, we've given our little Micra a whole day of rest! We arrived in Istanbul yesterday and booked two nights at the same Hostel which means a day without driving :) A well needed rest I must add after driving in Istanbul!
Firstly we managed to get onto a toll road without paying for it as there was no barrier, but when we got to the end there was not unly a barrier but endless amounts of fast moving traffic piling up behind us. In a space of a couple of seconds we were at the front of honking line of lorries hurriedly trying to convince the machine that it wanted to accept our visa card instead of the motorway card everyone else had previously purchased. Luckily we were causing the man at the booth to become so exasperated he let us go through for free.
When we reached Istanbul we encountered several wide roads, no markings, with cars, bikes, lorries and people just storming freely left and right without care nor regard for anyone else on the road! Trice I saw a car driving the wrong was up the motorway on the hard shoulder, and in the centre Taxis who clam they have right of way cut us up frequently with a loud honk and screech of tyres. Navigating through all this chaos caused us to drive in circles, taking the same road over the bridge about three times but eventually about 2 hours later we found our Hostel, tucked up a side street with no name outside or any indication that it even existed. Thanks.
Panic over we managed to hook up with three other teams on the rally who were in Istanbul for one night. Two of the teams are on Scooters and the other team are in a Suzuki. We spent the evening chatting over beer and Shisha, celebrating making it a quarter of the way, with plans of checking out the clubs in Taxim, but unfortunately a few drinks and green shots later that plan went out the window and at about 4am we got a taxi back to our hostel.
A couple of them are getting the Trabzon-Sochi ferry but I think they will be travelling slower then we are so not sure if we will be able to convoy (and scooters will be little help when we want a tow over a river...) Also our Russian visa does not start until Tuesday the 9th August I think, which is a lot later than most of the other teams we have met, and we've heard that there are only two ferries a week, either Sunday and Thursday, or Monday and Thursday, so it doesn't look like we will be on the ferry to Russia until next Thursday at the earliest!
Will have to delve deeper into the folds of Turkey for a few more days.
Morale: Good
Car: Resting
Current Thought: This room was supposed to be air conditioned. With the window open we have the chorus of angry horns to serenade us through the night...
Country Count: 12 (+ Turkey)
Miles: I'll get back to you
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