Istanbul to Sapanca

The stretch after the bridge is the least known part of Istanbul: the northern forest belt. These woods are not decoration but infrastructure; most of the city's drinking-water reservoirs collect in this basin, which is why building here is restricted. The unbroken green on either side of the road is a rare thing to survive beside a city of fifteen million. Thirty kilometres to the north, to your left, you would come out on the Black Sea at Şile.

A long, narrow arm of water appears on your right: the Gulf of İzmit, reaching some fifty kilometres inland. This is the most industrially concentrated place in Turkey, with refineries, car plants and ports lined up one after another. The suspension bridge cutting across the mouth of the gulf is the Osmangazi, and its only job is to shorten distance: crossing rather than driving around the gulf takes roughly an hour off the journey. Cars bound for Bursa turn south here; we continue east.

As the gulf falls behind, the land rises on your right: the Samanlı mountains. One of the high points of this ridge is Kartepe, which holds snow in winter and is the only ski area you can leave Istanbul for and return from the same day. The reason the view changes here is geographical: the industrial gulf stays on the flat while the road climbs the foot of the mountains. In winter this section can be wet or snow-covered, and your driver plans the pace accordingly.

The lake appears suddenly, because the road crosses the ridge in the final kilometres. If you wonder why Lake Sapanca and the Gulf of İzmit you passed a moment ago lie on the same dead-straight line: both sit on the North Anatolian Fault. The lake was not formed by water filling a hollow but by the earth's crust pulling apart here. The hotels are scattered from the shore up the hillside and the distances between them are not walkable; your driver takes you to the hotel door.