Round 1: Eastern Europe

Didim to Bandirma

Next morning we decide to 'get out of Dodge' as we have codenamed our need to leave. We had time in hand but decided no more for Didim. Chloe pops up to say byeee and gives me a hug and a kiss, 'good luck Rob' she says in her lovely broad welsh accent. What a sweetie.

First thing is Petrol. The beloved Garmin is reliable as has been of late, and the BP station indicated was actually some rather epic ruins in the middle of a residential area.

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We navigate around and find a goat herder in the middle of the town with his flock. I've got my soul/funk collection playing, the herder can clearly dig 'Jamaican Funk' and gives me a wave. The bloke in the Mercedes shows that signals don't mean a lot in town..

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Once set, we head off. Motoring is pleasant, but very hot. It is nearing 40 degrees. We find a good old McDonalds for a milkshake and it does the trick.
Ah yes, good old Mc D's. You may knock it, but when you're in the more unusual places you can bet on a nice cool drink, a decent western lav (not a hole in the ground), air con and maybe a bit of wi-fi.

We carry on and head to Kusadasi and then Ephesus, but it's so hot we can't be bothered to trawl around the ruins, so we have a coffee instead and look through the fence on the way out.

The going is good, and we're whizzing through the towns with the traffic flow, and racking up the miles out of town. Clearly bikers are not common in these parts. People wave. Kids point. We wave back and they love it. The temperature tops out at 41.5 degrees according to the gauge.
I've turned into a lightly sauteed Englishman a l'orange, served on a bed of kevlar.

We stop at a Petrol Station, with a handy travel mosque within it, for those prayers on the go :)

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Another stop at a much needed sheltered spot by the sea:

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Making good time, we decide we can probably make Bandirma that evening to take the fast ferry to Istanbul tomorrow. The light goes off quick and we have an 'interesting' night ride for the last 50 miles or so. But we play it smart, tagging on to the back of cars and coaches and letting them do the discovery, particularly helpful when we run into sparsely signed complicated roadworks as there are many.

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HID's anyone? :D :eek:

Dave has the hump about it. Bloody cissy! :D

We roll into town at about 10.30 and find a hotel with a garage 2 mins from the port. Result! Up for a shower and then dinner at the Moby Dick restaurant, where they're also showing England beating Ukraine. We have a beer.
Dave's mood has picked up. There's a sort of elation about doing something big by making it here, especially in the dark. He orders a steak, which turns out to be Horse :D
 
I'm really enjoying this Roberto. Always nice to read a report that has more than road numbers and mileages in it :clap

Looking forward to the next installment. :thumb2
 
Cheers Gents.. appreciated :thumb2

JB- I'm just using the latest Garmin Zumo maps (I think v12), plus a ratty AA book of Europe I bought from the poundshop :D It's proved an excellent buy.

Other than that its been sort of asking around for tips from locals and travellers and it has worked very well :thumb
 
Bandirma to Istanbul

We wake up to find the early ferry is long gone and the later one doesn't leave until 15:30 but we get over it quickly. We enquire at the front desk about the ferry and the lady behind the counter says that she can arrange booking. Price of TRY 470 per person, which is about £150 :eek: Erm... no, thinks we, giving it the Roger Moore eyebrows, but politely say we'll think about it to try and get a late check out.
We wander across the the ferry terminal and find a most helpful guard called Jesme, who I think is pronounced Cesme. We have a good chat. He predicts 2-0 to England in the forthcoming Italy match and takes us through all of the ferry parlava. He then introduces me to his witty mate behind the ticket window, where we play the how many motorbikes and riders and he pretends not to understand. It's a giggle and eveuntually we have tickets at TRY 90, just over 30 quid a piece. We shake hands and off we go with all best wishes. It pays to shop around eh?

Wander back to the 70's charm of the Ekan Prestige Hotel and get late check out. Shave hair off to a number 3, shower, pack, shower again as the room is so bleedin' hot, it's like the proverbial Turkish Wrestler's Jockstrap. Off to the ferry terminal, a wait, a cola and a cheese toastie (they're big on those) and we're on to the fast cat ferry thingy, which is lovely and a great way to travel.

Waiting for the ferry. Friendly chats with locals.. 'Where are you going? Where have you been?'

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On the ferry we meet Betty and her daughter Caren, who are Turkish but live in New York and Miami respectively. We have coffee and chat travel. Nice folks. They invite us to stop by at their Turkish house on the way to Bulgaria, so maybe we'll do that. We part and get ready for the battle that is Istanbul.

Dave finds the going on the ferry tough. I get a chance to update on the old ride report.

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The traffic in Istanbul is intense. We work our way up to the Turkoman hotel, which is very charming. No secure bike parking, but we get some spots and chain the blighters up. The service very pleasant and they welcome up with Coffee and a Cherry Vodka with a view over the Mosque and the Bosphorous. The beautiful sound of evening prayer calls echo through. It's something else. Stunning.

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Out for dinner, which is crap, which is a shame. '£20 for the food. £50 for the view' as I put it. The price of it sometimes. We head back to the hotel, Dave takes the early bath, I run into three Aussie ladies in the terrace bar, Suzie, and two Debbies which I somewhat origanally name Deb 1 and Deb 2. Arf arf. We shoot the breeze for an hour and have a good laugh.

With sea power taking the strain we cover the precise distance of 2 miles today on the bikes. Hardcore! It certainly makes for a relaxed way to enter Istanbul though.

Mileage on the GS now five short of 25k, Dave's 990 adv now hovering around the 12k mark.
 
Istanbul

The perfect day off. I'll not turn this into a 'Visit Istanbul' marketing thread, but it is a hugely interesting place and well worth a visit.

Ah, the mandatory Bazaar visit..

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In the evening we visit the Blue Mosque. Dave is solicited by someone who wants to give a guided tour. He accepts. The guy gives 15mins facts and figures and then tries to sell him a carpet :D

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We do like Istanbul though ;)
 
Istanbul to Nessebar

We take advantage of a leisurely checkout time to explore the Hagia Sophia. Epic.

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We stop for Orange Juice. I pour most it over my newly washed white T-shirt.

Well the time has come to say goodbye to the Turkoman and head out to break for the border. A big thumbs up to those folks, a very pleasant and comfortable stay indeed.

The traffic in Istanbul was a bit of a hassle. OK to ride in, but you've got to be on your guard for sure. We eventually join up with the main route out of town and use up our remaining few groats on our toll cards. (I forgot to mention about the faff getting them) Anyway on we go. About 30k outside of Istanbul the traffic simply melted away, like our own private motorway at one point. We leave the motorway for the D555 North to take us up to the Bulgarian border. The road was straight and long.

We stop at a very social Total garage to fill up. We dwell for a coke and people roll up and chat. There are few words of English but we have a good old laugh. I'm offered a swap for a little put-put moped, and politely decline, again laughs all round.

Said fella departs after failing bike swap pitch:

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A chap rolls up a little Orange trailbike and is super friendly. He dodges around the back and picks fruit for us from the adjacent orchard. It is sad to go when we do.

After a few more clicks we start to see the signs for 'Bulgaristan', in bright yellow on the signs. Any slight traffic drops off to nothing, and we are presented with a very fine, modern flowing road which seems to roll on and on. Wonderful, a real treat after the straight boredom.

Eventually the road ends abruptly and we commence exit drills. Firstly passport and V5, then through to another post. Passport. Then to vehicle exit procedure. V5 and a chat about Steven Gerrard. Then to customs. He trots us out to the back for no reason and then stamps us as OK. Bulgaristan bound we are.

I'm sad to leave Turkey as it has been truly superb. I haven't featured on just how warm and friendly the Turkish people have been, and can't praise the place enough. The resort was a little different but that was not unexpected for obvious reasons. Even Istanbul was friendly and not at all threatening for a city. I shall go back.

The Bulgarian side is not as ceremonial. A lovely young lady greets us. Quick look at the passport and V5 and we're off. Customs are not interested. Here we are then.
I changed up 25 USD for some Bulgarian Lev. The gent described the resultant notes as 'good for 15 beers'. These are exchange rates I can understand.

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Once out to Bulgaria the difference is stark. There's a rusting ex-soviet sort of military installation which looks pitiful. The road is tiny and winding and has lots of pot holes. Still, all kind of fun. We hit a village. It is like we've just crossed a continent. The houses are ramshackle, and stark contrast to the Turkish side, but it has a beauty.
We encounter local Police - a guy with Sergeant stripes walking under a tree. He gives us a massive smile and nods hello, and we wave back.

I keep an eye on the roadside ads which give a few chuckles. Amongst the Russian Wealth induced Casino ads the best one is of a sausage in a hammock. It's the new chart topper, beating the Turkish Cell Phone Network logo of a snail in a bow tie. I have no idea what the sausage advertising as it's gone all Square Squiggle Hash Pound again.

It's again hot, high 30's so we stop at McDonalds :) I don't know what the Bulgarian for 'Mc Flurry' is, but we managed.

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We stop over at Nessebar, of which the old town turns out to be another Unesco world heritage site. We find a good hotel for reasonable money. Huge rooms and all very good. Still a bit of crap construction around- I pull my plug out of the socket and all of the gubbins come out of the wall. We have an excellent meal and local wine for small money.

Otherwise, something is up. I'm back to not sleeping much at all. Some of the mornings bring me back to the bad old days of work where I was awake but felt still asleep. Not good. Can't put my finger on it. Hey ho.
 
Nessebar to Constanta

Not a great deal to feature so I'll keep it short. I'm tired. We ride the road to Varna, which is decent enough but some hilly winding stages with tough traffic to pass.

We cross the border in to Romania. It's uneventful, but we're given a canine welcome. Woof!

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We roll up in Constanta, which Dave has expertly deliberated is 'a Shit hole'. He's not wrong- not nice words, but sadly we're not in the mood for ethnic ruggedness.

Things pick up in the evening. We find a realy good little open air restaurant called the Grill House. The lady in charge is charming and speaks great English so we're lucky as our Romanian stands at zero. We eat for buttons.
 
Wet drizzly afternoon back here in Blighty Rob ... so you're brightening my day bless ya :thumb

I too loved Turkey, have good friends over there. Istanbul is ffffantastic :thumb

Keep up the good work ... ride safe

:beerjug:
 
Constanta to Brasov

We check out of the hotel. My lonely planet book seems to have gone missing, although I am totally disorganised today and things have been stuffed everywhere. Unusual for me. I had the feeling someone had been in my room. Anyway, what a strange thing to lift. Ho Hum, bit annoying because we were at the stage of the trip where it was probably going to get most helpful.

The morning of riding is all dull and hard work, the only highlight being the bridges across the Danube. Other than that, shite. The main route out of Constanta to the A2 Bucharest bound is full of Romania's worst drivers. Nothing we can't handle, but you just can't relax so much. After ditching the motorway, and a lunch stop we make towards the Carpathians, and seeing them on the horizon is a revelation. We head off of the main drag to a minor road taking us in to the hills. We stop amongst the fields of Sunflowers for a few piccies. This is what it is all about, we tell ourselves.

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The Carpathians beckon in the background.

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Then it is into the hills and it is wonderful. The traffic thins out. The beauty of the country shines through. We ride a road that was so bendy we couldn't hae gotten much more than 20mph on the speedo. We rejoin a main thoroughfare. Some peddlars spy us at some roadwork traffic lights but I stop so far back they have to run up to us.. By the time they get there the lights have changed and we're off. Ya sucks boo to you. Sorry, I can't have you ruining the ambience, I've already lost me book today, and plus I'm in the riding groove, so ner.

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We stop for afternoon tea at a Motel and it's a nice spot. The local football team coach pulls in and everyone circles us on the bikes as we get ready to head off. A young lad wants a photo with me. That's cool. I climb off the bike and plop him in the seat. He barely touches the bars, but the photo will be cool and it has sure made his day.

It is grand motoring in the Carpathians, but I'm having a few problems with my eyes and am a struggling contact lens wearer- so for the last leg I find a local in a Fiat who is driving spiritedly as the sun gets low and the light begins to drop. I think he tumbles that he is the pace car and he does the job admirably. He takes us all the way into Brasov, some 30 or so miles.

We roll in and find the nearest (expensive) hotel. The Aro Palace. It is nice, with a sort of 1980's charm in reception, but the rooms are spot on. We wander out for a beer or three. Ursus is the latest hot tip for beer lovers. Dinner at Prato's, very good, but we're sat with Germans watching the footy so we go back to the hotel. England lose on penalties, but they were total durge, so just desserts.

I sleep well thankfully and it is a god send.

About 800 miles from Istanbul now. Blimey.
 
Brasov to Ramniu Valcea

There is a time to surf, and a time to wax your board. Today, my friends, was a time to Surf. Oh yes.

We checked out of the Hotel in Brasov and made for UKGSer's own Gavin Bell's pad for a coffee. We had a good chat and get may good tips for the forthcoming days, which is really great stuff. Gavin is a good bloke and a font of knowledge for the region. Special thanks to him, as I had not done much planning beyond where we were, and a bit of local knowledge goes a long way, which it has. Next time around I'll be buying some beers for sure.

After heading from Gavin's we head for the Transfăgărășan Highway which is an hour and a half or so away. We stop for some odd soup.

The riding is fun, but to say there are pot holes in some of the roads on the way is the understatement of the century. There's nothing quite like high speed pot-hole avoidance. Dave's quote: "Today, I shall be mostly avoiding pot holes". You get it. Anyway, I'd hit a few inevitably, resulting in one of the Wunderlich Crash Bar bags flying off my horse. Thankfully, Dave notices and picks it up.

We stop for soup. Interesting combo, this.

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As we turn to head North to South for the Transfăgărășan the clouds gather over the hills and it starts to rain. It progressively works to a downpour.

We stop- it is time for waterproof jackets and liners.

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Upside- bike and my nasty trousers both needed a wash anyway. It makes for a tricky, but challenging ascent and I really enjoy the run. I've lost Dave but we're only going one way so carry on. Evidently he chickens out and waits for the rain to ease up under a bridge. Near the top I wait for him for a while and take some pictures.

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Look, there's Dave! :D

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I also make a short video of him looking down whilst he's climbing up the pass. I narrate and take the piss :D He rolls up and we carry on.

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All things wiggly..

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Only one other biker seen today going our way... a guy on a Russian registered Honda, who we continually play tag with as we stop take photos and pass each other. We move to the other side of the pass and the weather is much different, drizzle petering out to nothing and ultimately dry sunshine below.

A little video but not much. I'll post the ascent one when I get a bit of bandwidth. Bonus point if you can see the local Jendarme giving a wave.

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I zip on and have half an hour of 'spirited' riding and it is ace. Really using the brakes hard, and throwing the bike about. My, my, this bike is somewhat loaded up don't you know.. :D But wow- this road is the gift that keeps on giving- once out of the high pass part you are presented with a fast 'valley' section, and then a very technical wibbly-wobbly section by a lake. Mile after mile. It is just great. I resolve to stop at the next café or petrol station, but there are none. A word of warning there, make sure you're ready for a long ride with nothing and be prepared as such. It's a big place. Eventually I stop at a Caravan selling drinks and crisps. Dave rolls up, having been flagged down by a French Cyclist looking for accommodation. There's nothing for 31km and Dave broke the bad news to the Cyclist. He says he has a tent so 'OK'. Good job that- Dave can retrieve luggage, but I doubt he could carry a portly Frenchman and a bicycle.

We were heading for Hunedwara, but a look at the Garmin says 'arrive 23:47'. Clearly out of reach, so we settle on Ramnicu Valcea. We pass on the hotel that promises 'Sexy Show' and 'Sexy time' and pitch up at a place in the centre. The car park security tells us where to put the bikes. He has a gun, so we do as we're told. Later the security guy lightens up and we have a laugh, and he watches some of my video from the day. After the relative warmth of the Turkish people the Bulgarians and Romanians were far more stony faced and reserved, but if you give something they open up and give back.
The hotel itself is quite adequate. The electrics again are a bit crap. I pull the card thing off of the wall trying to get the leccy to work in the room.

Dinner at the 'OK Sport Pub' is pretty good and the waitress very friendly and bags of fun. If I could take her with me I would. In fact, if I'd have probably asked she'd have probably said yes.. :)

Bloody hell did it storm last night, still better than during the day I s'pose.
 
Loving it.

I have a chicken & gravy pie, frozen peas and oven chips for tea. :tears

:beerjug:
 
How you have time or inclination to post this stuff whilst on your adventure.. including video's ... is beyond me .... but keep it going :beerjug::beerjug:
 
Loving it.

I have a chicken & gravy pie, frozen peas and oven chips for tea. :tears

:beerjug:

I actually feel really bad having read that now Chris :(

How you have time or inclination to post this stuff whilst on your adventure.. including video's ... is beyond me .... but keep it going :beerjug::beerjug:

Aye, ta. Funnily enough it's quite therapeutic and it's good way of recalling some of the bits and bobs. That aside, it'll be a lot of posts to make at once next year :)

This brings back some good memories, Rob, although the road looks to be in a lot worse condition that it was 7-years ago.
Am I detecting a trend for trashing hotel rooms? :wasntme

The road is good on the very wiggly showpiece bit, but poor in other parts for sure.

Re: Hotel rooms? I could not possibly comment Brian :cool:

:beerjug:
 
Here's a longer bit of footage of the schlep up the Transfagarasan in the rain.. :eek:

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Ramnicu Valcea to Timiosara

I am up, unfortunately a poor night of sleep, lots of dog barking and then once that calmed, one hell of a storm. Eyes like two of the proverbial holes in the snow. I switch on the TV, hunting down the music channel which I normally do but haven't bothered with whilst abroad so far. I'm rewarded: Some accordion based europop Boy Band. Splendid. That makes for a chuckle punctuated packing session.
We went for an 8am breakfast, Dave is uncharacteristically late. He's had little sleep and is struggling. We'll need a day off again soon.

Out of town and we're held up by some roadworkers clearing a rock face. There's a huge tailback. We amble up to the front on the bikes, milling amongst the people out of their cars and wandering about, clearly bored. I think they have been there for some time. We chat for 20 minutes with a Polish truck driver before being ushered on and head through. We have a clear run with no traffic and then drop off to some excellent minor roads. Real GS territory yet again.

We do another pass type road. A little music. I love music on the bike. Anyhow, for this run, I feel something epic coming on. I rarely listen to the Who's Quadrophenia, but when I do it always proves memorable. The power of the music is all enveloping and riding along to the music is moments of total joy. We emerge from the pass to the lowlands floating along to the track 'Is it in my head'.. A beautiful few moments to the lyric "I see a man without a problem". Everything is flowing riding, it's rare perfection and the road runs on for what seems like ages.

In the afternoon we drop by Hunedoara and stop at the Castle. Real Hammer House of Horror stuff..

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On the road once more we realise we're not going to make Novi Sad in Serbia- just a bit too far, so resolve on Timiosara.

Mandatory amusing sign on the way..

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If I can summarise the roads west towards Timiosara- it is like an arcade game with endless credit. I always liked doing the run from the A1 along the A604 to Oakham- it's about 15 or so miles of pure bliss, you can get a proper lick on, overtake and shift, a few curves, all good fun. The road to Timiosara is like a two and a half hour version of that, with a couple of odd pot holes and surface changes thrown in for good measure. Happy days.

We check into the North Star Contintental Hotel and are given a thoroughly miserable welcome. Everything is too much trouble. 'This is a local hotel for local people' we thinks. A girl we chatted to earlier back at Corvin Castle said 'The problem with Romania is it doesn't like tourists'. At the time I wasn't sure that was entirely fair or true, but on this showing that theory might hold some water in certain places.

We do have a nice Italian meal in the town square so it's not all bad. On return to Hotel misery we find that the bar in the basement has become a sort of titty bar. Just fancy that. I decide the budget has been abused enough so we speedily exit (plus the Doris dancing on the pole looked like an apprentice beekeeper :D )

Time for bed.
 
Timiosara to Sarajevo

Today will be a day of differing countries that's for sure. We head out and on our way down to Sarajevo. We cross the Border straight forwardly into Serbia and towards Novi Sad. Serbia is quite pretty to my eye, and I'd like to see more, but for now we need to press on. From there it is Garmin taking us down to Sarajevo and on any road south I just don't think you can go wrong. We cross into Bosnia Herzegovina and it is all very simple and straight forward. Anywhere we've been so far, folks only want a Passport and V5. Nothing else. The only place they asked about a green card was Montenegro, but they didn’t want to see it.

It's all square, squiggle, triangle again.. :blast

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Riding down to Sarajevo is pure joy, and there is a wonderful evening run in which deposits you from great biking to the hotel in about 5 minutes flat. I have some Ray Charles playing and from now on I'll associate that with my ride down there.. music brings back great memories for me.

Hotel, was gear, shower, out for dinner and beer. Sarajevo has a great bar scene for sure. We run into some crazy Spain supporters who are having it large. All great fun.

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On the biking front the bad side is that now are some worries. The gearbox is starting to clunk a little. It jumped out of gear this morning and selecting 2 & 3 has become much more clunky. Fingers crossed for the moment and we'll see how that goes.
 


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