Düzce to Kovancilar (day 4)

I thought today was going to be a boring day. I knew that I had to cover a lot of ground to try and make up the deficit of the train journey.

I left the hotel at 06:50 and headed back onto the motorway. I was thinking that I wouldn't have much to write about today but who wrong was I??

I was following the road towards Ankara and then headed east, I didn't go around the city as I thought I would. The road took me through farming country and I was surrounded by mountains on either side. The road was flowing, the bike was happy at about 110km/h and the sweepers just kept coming. Lovely fast flowing roads.

At this point it's just fluid breaks for me and the bike. After lunch I get back on the road and start going towards Erzincan. I look at the GPS and watch the countdown of km's to my destination. Can I get it to drop down to a reasonable number without tiring myself out?

I see some fruit vendors at the side of the road. I pull over at one place and an old woman comes out. She calls for her husband, he's asleep in the van, I start to pick out some apples. She calls again, no response from him. I get my apples and she weighs them. She tells me something in Turkish which I don't understand - I open my hand with my coins and she takes 1 Lira. I give her another but she refuses it. I insist and she reluctantly accepts it.

I drive on and decide it time for a pit stop. I get the bike onto the center stand and ask the guy to fill the tank. A man walks over to me with a cup of tea. He invites me over to sit down with him and another 2 customers.

I push on again after my little break. Get to Erzincan and stop for fuel. No petrol! Eek. Try the next petrol station. Sane again. He tells me there is petrol 5km ahead. I put the throttle into economy mode until I can find petrol. I find a station and they have petrol, saved. It means that I can continue riding at speed again.

I reach my turning point and the road is gravel to start with, over a brigde and then there's a military check point, unmanned but with a small armored vehicle there. I think nothing of it and press on. The road rises up into the hills, and then drops down into a little valley again.

I see spray paint on the back of road signs, CHP and PKK. Now I'm not feeling so keen about this area. I pass a man in military uniform and I can see some watch towers on the hills. I'm making progress on this road but when I see that I've got 175km until I turn off I don't think that I'm going to make it. Further more, I've got cows, stay dogs and little turtles to dodge.

I make it to my turning and daylight has gone. The stretch of road I was on had no lights and some of the drivers think that they don't need their headlights either!

I stop at a petrol station and ask for a hotel or pension in the area. I'm told there's a place 3 km down the road. Head back into town and I find a place. It's not the height of luxury but it has its own wet room so I can't complain.

What a day. Feel tired but I still feel like riding another couple of hundred km's.

Total distance: 1,057km.

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

Villach to Turkey (day 2)

The train journey is being punctuated with numerous passport controls and locomotive changes.

The journey is unpleasant as it's like a sauna. The heatwave continues and there's no respite as it's open countryside and this old train has no air conditioning.

It's also the first train I've been on that has stopped at level crossings to make sure no cars were coming.

Not sure if riding down to Turkey would have been any better!

In Nis there was a change to the electric locomotive to a diesel powered one for the journey towards the Bulgarian border. The train line weaves through a small valley surrounded by mountains on either side and a river.