Day 6: I visit the Kesan Post Office
As the PTT or Post Office is about 150metres from my hotel, I decide to start the day with a visit there. Even though I am undecided on my track across the country, I want to buy a motorway pass - it's electronic and automatically deduce the toll from your account, as you cannot at on the motorway itself).
When I arrive for the 0830 opening I discover from the neat ticketing system I am already Number 30, and the place is rammed:
It's pension day I think and I am asked for advice by various elderly ladies about the queue system which is numbered - I even manage to explain by sign language to Number 46, a slightly 80+ year old, that she has a while to wait given Number 28 only just came up. I also explain to another old dear how the ticket machine works - all without a word of Turkish ;-)
I can tell it will be a while so I go back to the hotel and pack, returning for my time to be served at 0920. All is going swimmingly and after numerous goes and my work is reviewed and I am asked smilingly to do it better, again. Then a long silence and a scurrying to the back room and finally an apologetic admission: 'we don't have any motorcycle passes in stock, perhaps you can try Ipsala' - this is somewhere ~I had passed 30 Kms before so that ain't going to happen!
But I am in no rush, so it's all part of the fun. It even helps my decision making because heavy rain s forecast for Istanbul whist the Dardanelles/Gelibolu route looks dry. The prospect of navigating through thousands of gridlocked Turks over the Fatima Mehmet Bosphorus bridge on a heavy laden bike IN THE RAIN was not in the least attractive.
So I headed South
and at Gelibolu there was a selection of attractive ferry boats, Spe of which might have been less than 50 years old (although I wouldn't bet on that!)
I nab the best place on the boat.
But avoid the inflight catering
I see a police speed check quite soon (helpfully alerted by an oncoming driver who flashes his lights) but in general the roads are wide, good and entry and the sun shines.
I stop for petrol and to munch my lunch. Then follows a planning conference since I now wish to avid motorways where possible - not only are they boring but I have no pass.
I decide I will aim for Eskisehir, reputedly 'the happiest town in Turkey' and one of the more liberal. I stayed here in 2008, o the way back from Syria, when my recollections were clouded by being half-beat with some 24 hour flu, so I just collapsed into my bed.
It is also notable as the Hellenic Dorylaion where in 1097 the Crusaders thumped the Seljuks, a compliment the latter more than returned in 1147!
Then my GPS froze so I decided to pull into a rare MacDonalds to have a coffee, avail of their wifi and fix the GPS.
'We have no wifi', they admitted so I contented myself with opening up the GPS in their car park and disconnecting the battery. Soon it was right as rain.
Fortunately the second garage I interviewed admitted to having wifi (it was a Shell garage) so I gave them my custom and enjoyed a pleasant cup of cay whilst I searched booking.com for a worthy accommodation which I found beside the mosque in the old Ottoman quarter.
Definitely a better country for Carnivores than vegans:
I think I will have a morning off tomorrow, as by my reckoning I have done 2,500 miles since leaving England on Wednesday. Feeling good, though, as settling into a relaxed riding routine.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
As the PTT or Post Office is about 150metres from my hotel, I decide to start the day with a visit there. Even though I am undecided on my track across the country, I want to buy a motorway pass - it's electronic and automatically deduce the toll from your account, as you cannot at on the motorway itself).
When I arrive for the 0830 opening I discover from the neat ticketing system I am already Number 30, and the place is rammed:
It's pension day I think and I am asked for advice by various elderly ladies about the queue system which is numbered - I even manage to explain by sign language to Number 46, a slightly 80+ year old, that she has a while to wait given Number 28 only just came up. I also explain to another old dear how the ticket machine works - all without a word of Turkish ;-)
I can tell it will be a while so I go back to the hotel and pack, returning for my time to be served at 0920. All is going swimmingly and after numerous goes and my work is reviewed and I am asked smilingly to do it better, again. Then a long silence and a scurrying to the back room and finally an apologetic admission: 'we don't have any motorcycle passes in stock, perhaps you can try Ipsala' - this is somewhere ~I had passed 30 Kms before so that ain't going to happen!
But I am in no rush, so it's all part of the fun. It even helps my decision making because heavy rain s forecast for Istanbul whist the Dardanelles/Gelibolu route looks dry. The prospect of navigating through thousands of gridlocked Turks over the Fatima Mehmet Bosphorus bridge on a heavy laden bike IN THE RAIN was not in the least attractive.
So I headed South
and at Gelibolu there was a selection of attractive ferry boats, Spe of which might have been less than 50 years old (although I wouldn't bet on that!)
I nab the best place on the boat.
But avoid the inflight catering
I see a police speed check quite soon (helpfully alerted by an oncoming driver who flashes his lights) but in general the roads are wide, good and entry and the sun shines.
I stop for petrol and to munch my lunch. Then follows a planning conference since I now wish to avid motorways where possible - not only are they boring but I have no pass.
I decide I will aim for Eskisehir, reputedly 'the happiest town in Turkey' and one of the more liberal. I stayed here in 2008, o the way back from Syria, when my recollections were clouded by being half-beat with some 24 hour flu, so I just collapsed into my bed.
It is also notable as the Hellenic Dorylaion where in 1097 the Crusaders thumped the Seljuks, a compliment the latter more than returned in 1147!
Then my GPS froze so I decided to pull into a rare MacDonalds to have a coffee, avail of their wifi and fix the GPS.
'We have no wifi', they admitted so I contented myself with opening up the GPS in their car park and disconnecting the battery. Soon it was right as rain.
Fortunately the second garage I interviewed admitted to having wifi (it was a Shell garage) so I gave them my custom and enjoyed a pleasant cup of cay whilst I searched booking.com for a worthy accommodation which I found beside the mosque in the old Ottoman quarter.
Definitely a better country for Carnivores than vegans:
I think I will have a morning off tomorrow, as by my reckoning I have done 2,500 miles since leaving England on Wednesday. Feeling good, though, as settling into a relaxed riding routine.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
