A Quickie
Round Trip Turkey
GPS log
The GPS (a new one) on the motorcycle kept track of where I was:
Report
This trip was so short that I neglected to write down (in detail) what was happening, but this is how it went down (in a nutshell):
From home via Zurich to the East: A later-than-expected departure, a prosperous journey and a degenerate tour of Switzerland.
Further east: Around Austria. No highways. Looking for non-Western civilization.
Through Romania: Romania is much bigger than you would think. And in the north the roads are 'different'. Anyway - eventually I reached Constanta - a seaside resort on the Black Sea. From here it is 'only' Bulgaria to get to Turkey. But for the time being I enjoy the maritime climate.
More and more to the south: After a day of rest at the beach I drove on to Bulgaria and got a foot injury in the evening. After a day of rest (the doctor's advice was 4 to 5 days, but I don't have time for that) I continued carefully. When I arrived in Turkey I got that 'warm bath' feeling again: I think Turks are a very friendly people. And I like grilled mutton, that helps too.
The Turkish South Coast: Returning to steps 14 years ago (1998 - when I was here for the first time) I tried to have lunch at the same place. But the south coast has changed completely. Then on to Kaş (s-with-cedilla) and immediately settled down there for three days of diving fun. Thursday May 31st and Friday June 1st both started with a spectacular climb of the Anatolian plateau. Intentionally ended in a tourist trap (Göreme) because on some days I can't do without internet...
Visiting Halil: Also 14 years ago I met Halil and his wife Çanan in Capadokia - they were also on the road by motorcycle then (Turkish style). We still keep in touch and when I am in Turkey I visit them. After two very intensive days it was time to go via Greece back to Belgium. That went well, until I was hit from behind by a car in traffic jam (June 5th). Finding the pieces together, modelling the luggage boxes again, I'm now going to think about motorcycling with bruises.
Quickly through Greece:Riding motorcycles with bruised (or broken) ribs is not that much fun. And so I used the highway to go in the direction of Belgium. But after a few hundred kilometers it gets boring, and if there are even nicer roads next to the highway, those ribs shouldn't nag. Finally I arrived in a harbour, where I took the boat to Venice.
Home: Because the luggage system is leaking like a sieve, I could afford one day of rain: the last one. They had understood that well 'upstairs', because locally 80mm of water fell on that last day of travel. But I am safe at home again and can now recover peacefully.
Pictures
My camera did work. Take a look at the (numerous) pictures in a slideshow (in a new window).