We rose early determined to have a quick look at Sivas before barreling on to Istanbul. Sadly a quick look is all we had time for. After the long months in SE Asia and India the luxuries of the West and the quality of the food continued to be a source of joy. Our delicious and healthy breakfast that was presented with such care was the sort of thing we had dreamed about for so long.

The car was now requiring daily attention. The coolant needed topping up every day, we were randomly losing power, the bonnet kept popping up due to the accident in India which required constant adjustments. The list of ailments was getting long. A wire from the alternator fried itself and a temporary solution was realised. We have clunks in the suspension that we couldn't source and some that kept reappearing after tightening because we lacked the tools to apply adequate torque. The idle was failing intermittently causing the engine to stall and we had a vibration at speed that a wheel balancing in Iran hadn't fixed. The interior light flicked on and off with the hazard lights and the key was refusing to go into the barrel and had to be left there. The coolant tank was being topped up daily, the oil pressure gauge was reading zero and we were in desperate need of a front wheel alignment. Before we left we had decided that the car must be able to do three things. It needed to be able to go, to stop and to turn. Everything else you can do without. So far so good then... The drive from Sizas to Istanbul was a pleasant one through a multitude of towns, cities and villages. We touched the outskirts of Ankara. It was first class highway but out drive was constantly broken by the need to make adjustments to our car. Mostly it was the bonnet, which kept poping up. This was a result of the truck backing in to us in India and the associated damage to the front substructure. It hadn't been a problem up till then as Julian, ever vigilant with the maintenance, decided to lubricate the locking mechanism. In the end we took the grill out and used a zip-tie to hold the locking mechanism in place. Who would have thought a can of WD40 could cause so much trouble! We did some calculations when we first entered Turkey regarding the relationship between fuel efficiency and speed given the price of fuel was $2.50/L. Given the ridiculously slow speed limits in Australia we had been looking forward to enjoying European speeds but we eventually settled on about 110km/hr which was frustrating low but not as low as our finances. Needs must.

Late at night we made it to the outskirts of Istanbul. It's a massive city. Truly enormous. 10 million people or thereabouts. That's about the size of two Sydney's and a Perth. There is a main freeway right through the middle of the city and we seemed to be driving through it for hours. Of all the places I wanted to see Istanbul was near the top of that list and even though I was exhausted and my bum was sore from the long drive I was so excited to finally be there. When we finally drove across the almighty Bosphorous river that separates Asia from Europe we were extatic. We had made it to Europe. It had taken five months but we had made it to Europe. After getting lost and frustrated and making more than a few three point turns on Istanbul's narrow little streets we made our way to our little hostel right next to the Blue Mosque.

We were in Europe.