Urmia to Ardabil (day 6)

Left the guest house about 11am this morning which was a bit later than I wanted to leave but it was nice to stay in the company of the others.

Hossein showed me the road out of town which went towards the lake. I don't think I would have found my way out of there by myself. Traffic wasn't bad and the weather was good. The road goes straight to the lake.

I'm approaching the bridge and I see a police sign, so I was preparing to stop and see if they'd let me pass. There's no one at the check point on my side but the guard on the other side comes over. We have the usual conversation, he's speaking to me like a native and I'm shrugging my shoulders like normal. I hand sign if I can go - he nods but insists I give it some gas on my way out of there!

The bridge goes through the lake and it's difficult to see where the lake ends. It looks like the water has retreated and it looks like the salt flats on one side. I have to stop to take some pictures.

I continue and there's another check point, all smiles and I'm just waved through. I see a sign for bridge toll ahead. This is going to be fun, as I'm not sure what will happen and I'm having trouble with the currency, rials or toman. I approach the booth - Hello! Where are you from? I'm getting used to the speed dating conversation here. We chat in basic English. I ask how much for the bridge - for you it's OK, no need to pay. Great!! Off I go and continue driving. I'm finding that cars are following me really close, too close for my liking. It turns out they're checking the registration and as they pass I get a wave or plenty of honking of horns. One guy nearly caused an accident in his attempt to get close and have the occupants way to me.

The roads are good and I'm heading for Tabriz and hopefully the Caspian Sea today. I settle into a 95km/h rhythm and all is well. Watching the semi desert landscape on either side of me. A couple of local bikers appear from nowhere and they're behind me for a few km's. I let them pass and I eventually meet them again in the town where I stop for lunch.

I was looking for a place to eat but couldn't find anything. A guy in a car says hello to me and I ask him about somewhere to eat. He brings me to a place and orders for me and even checks the price I should be paying. He writes down a couple of useful phrases for me that I can use. I get moving again and I'm having trouble getting out of the town, no idea where to go. I stop and ask for directions, one guy gets some paper and draws out a map for me. I take a wrong turn, I stop to ask some military guy, he smiles and points me in the right direction. So far everyone seems happy to help.

I pull in for a fuel stop. No green pumps so I'm wondering if the have petrol. Yes they nod. More hand waving and some basic English. I'm told to park the bike and come in for a tea. One guy asks where I'm from. I tell him Ireland. He removes his necklace which has a coin on it and tells me he wants a coin from Ireland. I've got some Euro coins in my pocket and try to find one. He settles for a €2 coin as it matches the size of the other coin. I ask about hotels in the next town, they seem to suggest they're cheap but they offer to let me sleep at the petrol station for free tonight.

I arrive into the town of Ardabil, chaotic as usual, busy roads, drivers all over the road. I take a turn at random and ask about a hotel. I come to what looks like a dead end but there's a police officer there. I ask about a hotel, he points to the hostel behind me. OK, that could do for tonight.

The owner shows up and tells me I should go park down the street at a parking lot. They will open at 9am. Tell him no as I want to be on the road sooner than that. He finds me another car park. Bike is tucked away for the night in a multistory carpark. Collect it in the morning.

Total distance covered: 460km

Edirne to Düzce (day 3)

The train journey has been very slow, approximately 7 hours delayed which is going to make today a tough ride. Initial aim was to cover about 700km to get past Ankara thus leaving me with a reasonable distance left to cover.

Thinking it was going to be plain sailing as there was what seemed a short delay turned out to be more like 7. Passport control at the Bulgarian border was fairly quick, then the train moved onto to the Turkish border. I guess that this being Turkey it's not that straight forward. This was control one of three. Control one was just for the passport with a 30 or so minute break for tea/coffee and a chance for the passengers to buy some duty free. After all that time they needed some more cigarettes. Did I mention that smoking was allowed on the train?

Arrive at the final station and all documents are collected once again - passport, vehicle registration and insurance certificate. Wait a bit longer and then the train wagons with the cars are moved into position. I was last on so last off. Despite the delay I was in good spirits as a few of the drivers were asking me about my trip and where I'm from.

Finally get onto the wagon to collect the bike and go through the final customs check. There are about 30/40 cars and only one custom's official. It's 35 degrees Celsius and there's no shade. I move the bike as close to the inspection point in the hope that someone had pity on me and let's me bypass the queue. Success, the guy directing people signals for me to go ahead, passport gets stamped again and I'm ready to go.

Next step is to get the motorway prepaid sticker for my trip. The post office seeks them but the first one I stop at tells me to get it on the motorway. Hmmm, not the best start but I proceed to get going and see if I can find this office to buy my sticker. I take the slip road towards Istanbul and then I see the first point where the system charges you and a few of the cars that were on my train. Great, all ready from here except that the building is on the other side of a six lane highway and there's no bridge to cross it, got to walk across. Get to the office only to be told that they can't give me one for a motorbike here but I need to get it in Istanbul.

So onwards to Istanbul it is. I've got 200km of almost empty motorway ahead and it's going well. Then I approach the road around Istanbul and it's utter chaos with the traffic, one close shave with a truck but I make it through. I eventually find another booth to buy my ticket so I don't have to waste any more time later.

As you approach Istanbul you see this expense of high rise buildings and scattered in between these are the mosques. Lots of them. There's not much time to look at the sites as the traffic is moving and the road if full of trucks too. It's hard work on the little Ténéré. I cross the Bosporus bridge, what a structure, blue sea beneath and ships criss crossing underneath it. I catch a glimpse of an old fortress to my right.

I started to relax a bit too much and nearly missed my exit for Ankara! The road hugs the coastline for a while but no time to admire the view. Trucks pull out in front with little warning, traffic from behind zips past above the speed limit. Then everything grinds to a halt - big accident ahead and traffic is backed up. Get past safely and I start to think where I can stop for the night.

I'm not sure how the traffic works here, I think the only way to survive if to have some form of ESP in order to know what is going to happen. I've never had to race with trucks on the motorway and this is what makes any bike trip dangerous. In the event of an accident there's just no chance.

I was aiming for more but thought best to have a good rest and make an early start on the morning. 

Total distance 457km

Zurich to Villach (day 1)

Day 1 started at 8am from Zurich with a straightforward route to get to Villach in Austria.

The morning was cool which was welcomed as the heat has been unbearable the last few weeks.

After saying my good byes I started the little thumper up and with a blip of the throttle I was off! I will admit it I was feeling very emotional as I left.

First quick stop was in Austria to fuel up and get the vignette for the Autobahn. Direction Innsbruck with the plan to ride over the Brenner pass and into Italy. I was making very good progress until I got to the start of the pass - there was some traffic on the way up. I think I saw a sign for a bungee jump on the way up. Either that or I must have been imagining it with the heat. What a great idea to buy black motorcycle clothing!

Thinking that it was just a few kilometers of tailbacks to the top it'd be easy on the way down. Wrong! More traffic. It seems that everyone decided to go on holiday at the same time.

After some filtering on the way down towards Bolzano I headed off on to some smaller roads - why miss a chance to ride through the Dolomites. The Tyrol area is beautiful and I really recommend a visit.

It was lunch time and I was starting to feel my stomach take over. Now it was time to play random restaurant lottery - which place is the best to eat at. Could it be the one that you've just past or is it the next one. Hmmm. And if the next isn't that nice do you turn back? I found a place and grabbed a bite. It was a quick lunch as I still had some distance to cover.

The rest of the road to Villach was through a beautiful valley with only the last part being a quick hop on the Autobahn.

Arrive at the terminal for the train and there are some cars already here. I'm thinking that I might have arrived too early but it seems not. Quick check of documents, do the check-in, guy puts some tie-downs on the bike ready for it to be secured on the train. I'm sitting and waiting in the shade but it's still unbearably hot at 6pm. Too much time waiting around and I'm starting to think who I'm going to be sharing the sleeping compartment with.

Sitting waiting for the boarding call one man approaches me and asks me about the bike and where I'm going. We have a chat for a few minutes, he's a biker too it turns out. He walks away but returns 30 seconds later - he offers me some cherries he's washed.

Second man stops to have a chat and I find out he's from Kazakhstan. He's a bit of a biker too but only likes sorts bikes as he likes to ride fast.

I get told to get my bike onto the train. Easy enough process with the one exception that there is a height restriction on the lower level. I'm crouched down, chin on the tank and trying to negotiate my way through the wagons - I need to stay left or right side as there is a gap in the middle which would result in embarrassment and difficulty in getting the bike out.

I get on board to meet my roomies for this journey. 3 guys from Turkey but now living in Germany.

Total distance covered today 577km.

The equipment

I bought my Ténéré XT660Z second hand and the previous owner had resprayed it blue and made his own cases for it. It was first registered in 2011 and is the model without ABS.

It has just had its 20,000km service and I asked the mechanic to prepare it for this trip. New chain went on and have kept some links from the old chain as back-up should it break on my trip.

Bike will have some K60 Scout tyres to start with and my aim is to change them when I get to Osh for some other tyres to finish the rest of the trip.

What I'm taking:
Oxford throw-over panniers. Bought several years ago and going to be much lighter than the homemade metal cases I got with the bike.
Additional bag, 50 litre capacity.
Sleeping bag.
Tent - 2 man tent (very cheap!).
Leatherman tool.
Bike's tool kit along with some other sockets/allen keys.
Tyre levers.
Spare tubes.
Epoxy metal thingy - for repairing metal stuff!
Cable ties.
Various straps/bungee cords.
Zumo 660 - old but still working.
Road maps.
Electric pump.
Freezer bags (for my electronics to avoid dust/water).
Duct tape (I had it but didn't put it on the list).
Some spare chain links.
Latex gloves (for those awkward moments when border guards don't have any).
Clutch cable.
Throttle cable.
Spare brake/clutch lever.
Chain lube & WD40.
Oil filter.

Parts added:
Water Pump Protector (from Off the Road).
Hand guards.

Up-rated bars and risers (previous owner fitted these).

Bike Specific Clothing:
KLIM jacket and trouser (Latitude model).
Sidi Enduro boots.
Waterproof socks.
Frank Thomas Enduro Helmet.
Camelbak.(3 litre).
2 x gloves (light and medium weight).