Day 26 – 2nd May 2014 leave 9.30am miles rode 45 Istanbul
I like being in the apartment although it’s away from the city centre so no one to engage with. The apartment is in SW Istanbul and I rode to Ceyhan’s workshop in the NE to service my bike. Although Ceyhan wasn’t there the guy across the way opened up for me and hey, what a […]
Day 25 – 1st May 2014 leave 12.15pm miles rode 31 Istanbul
After a coffee or two Ceyhan headed out with his friend home to Bulgaria for 4 days and I caught up with laptop stuff. It’s ‘May Day’ and last year here in Taksim Square there were riots, I had wanted to observe but before I headed that way I heard there were shootings so Shelly […]
Day 24 – 30th April 2014 leave 6.15pm Miles rode 18 Istanbul
I moved from the hostel to go and stay with Ceyhan today. Ceyhan is a biker from Bulgaria who lives and works here in Istanbul. He has kindly let me stay in his apartment for 4 days whilst he is away. This is great as it will give me time to catch up with IT […]
Day 23 – 29th April 2014 Istanbul
I went to the Azerbaijan Embassy this morning to enquire about a visa and they won’t give me one as I’m not applying for the visa in the country I live in, how crazy! It makes me wonder if some countries want tourist? They won’t get my money or me telling everyone what a great […]
Day 22 – 28th April 2014 Istanbul
I woke to heavy rain and headed up to the restaurant for breakfast. I knew we were central but I didn’t realise from the restaurant The Bosphorus was only a few hundred metres away and the view across was amazing (even in the rain). I decided a day staying in catching up with IT & […]
Day 21 – 27th April 2014 leave 11.00am Miles rode 283 Cunda island – Istanbul
Slept well (note to self: you can stop commenting on it now:) and again heard the lapping of the waves, contentment. I heard Steph packing away so made an effort to get up. Steph had started packing and after a cuppa we said our farewell and she headed south. I felt empty when she went […]
Day 20 – 26th April 2014 leave 11.15am Miles rode 55 miles Cunda Island
I was warm and could hear the water slowly lapping against the shore around me as I woke up. After a while I opened up my tent, stayed in my sleeping bag and watched the near still sea. It was the sound that was special. It was 8am, I had had another good night sleep […]
Day 19 – 25th April 2014 leave 10.00am Miles rode 147 Erdek – Cunda Island
I was woken at 5.15 with the usual ‘call to prayer’, I had a slight headache and eventually went back to sleep to wake at 8 feeling not too bad. There was a mist rolling in from the sea so we packed our tents away wet. The ride was great today up in the mountains. […]
Day 18 – 24th April 2014 leave 9.30am Miles rode 153 Lake Iznik – Erdek
An interesting ride initially followed by hours of boring straight dual carriageways, we arrived near our destination to find ourselves in an industrial town, not nice, we rode on and after 20 mins were in Erdek, a wonderful seaside town full of character, both the town and people. We camped for the first time on […]
Day 17 – 23rd April 2014 leave 8.30am Miles rode 135 Istanbul – Lake Iznik
Off to the ‘Indian Embassy’ this morning, it would be good to get this visa sorted in the next week or so then I have India & Pakistan ‘in the bag’ which means other than Iran I’m sorted for the next few months. This will also allow me to plan a couple of options depending […]
Day 16 – 22nd April 2014 leave 8.30am Miles rode 28 Istanbul
Good day today, I rode over one of the main bridges which crosses ‘The Bospherous’ so I stepped into Asia for the first time on this trip, afterwards I made my way to meet Ceyhan a Bulgarian guy who lives in Istanbul (Oli, another overland biker put me touch with him), he’s a biker too. […]
Day 15 – 21st April 2014 leave 8.15am Miles rode 9 Istanbul
Up early and off to Iranian Embassy where they confirmed they just process visas and Tehran makes the decision. As I thought I have to get an authorisation code and this means a guide so looking into prices today and sorting other IT / mail stuff in between coffee in the sun. I feel really […]