lukebuehler.com About the life of a pilgrim

Constantinopolis

After staying in Alexandroupolis which is about 45 kilometers away from the border to Turkey, I decided to walk the rest to Istanbul. So I started walking again, slowly the outer skirts of the city vanished and gave way to the harsh and simple nature of north Greece. I took it slow spent some time sleeping in the sun when I got tired around noon and instead of hiking along the main road I made my way through the wilderness. There were occasionally fields, the wind gently blew and the winter already seemed close. As it got dark I decided to sleep outside in the tent just a few hundred meters away from the road. The night was long because it got dark early, but none the less I slept like a baby. If you have trouble sleeping, try walking for 8 to 10 hours during the day, you'll find a fast cure. The next morning I met a hunter that was quite amazed that I slept there and observed me curiously. After I packed I decided to make just hike to the border of Turkey and see what would happen. After I hiked for 10 kilometers or so, crossed a highway, met some "nice" shepherd dogs and walked on unused railroad tracks I came to the big red flag. Its always fun to cross a car border by foot, especially if its on a highway: you get some funny looks. Anyhow, the custom officer told me that I wasn't allowed to pass the bored by foot. There was a lot of military and it was a bridge with many solders on both sides. So he asked one of the cars if they could take me just on the other side. A little compulsive they agreed, and took me over. After that they asked me if I wanted a ride to the next bigger town. We stared talking and I told them that I'm a pilgrim to Jerusalem and that my next goal is Istanbul. After a little discussion among themselves they asked me if I wanted to come to Istanbul with them because that was their destination too. A little amazed that it worked out for me again like that I said yes. The ride was long but none the less we made what would have taken me ten days to walk in 4 hours.

It was already dark when we arrived in that famous city, they let me out somewhere far away from the center. Istanbul is big, 14 million people big, over 100 kilometers from one side to the other. So I decided to take a bus more to the center where I could find a place for the night. I stayed in a cheap hotel in the Fatih quarter. That evening I went to a internet cafe, a friend I met in Greece (Prespa) was online and she told me that she knew someone that probably knew someone in Istanbul (yep that how it works down there). 15 minutes later I had a place to stay for the coming night. I could even have gone there that very night but I already payed the hotel. So the next day I visited Sultanahmet, the old and famous district where Aya Sofia is. I visited that church and I was so amazed by its scope and beauty, definitely a place you must see before you die. In the evening I met my new host, Gözde. She was very nice to me and let me stay as long as I wanted. Almost every day she showed me something new of Istanbul. I stayed with her over a week until my departure from Istanbul, but more about that in the next post.

So After four month I arrived in this historic city, it was quite special for me to do the last bit of the journey in these two big jumps with people taking me so far with the car. I didn't know if it was good or if I should have fought harder to keep walking, because with this I almost saved a month of walking. But I decided to let it go and just be good with it. My journey has always been different than I imagined it from the beginning. Every day I had some expectations and every time it turned out different. Suddenly I would stand in Istanbul and ask what just happened, to cope with this and accept openly what God brought along my way became the essence of the pilgrimage. I'm glad and thank God that I have made it until there (2 thirds of the whole distance) safely and learned so much along the way.

Thank you all for your amazing support until now!