Georgian border crossing was without much incident apart from the long queue and a young man running away from an angry policeman. Feeling somewhat stressed with all sorts of warnings I had been listening to during the past weeks, I didn't really feel an urge to stop anywhere. All through the country, my feet touched the ground three times. Once I was stopped by a mountain guard. He told me that the road I was using was actually a mountain road and I had missed the main highway a few miles back. Second was when I stopped for fuel and ...Read More
"Do you believe in coincidances?" Kutlu asked me... I said "Yes!" without thinking much because I was curious. He told me to turn around and read the name of the boat. It was "ERDEM-2". My name is not a very common one. I've been a student for 20 years and never had a classmate with the same name. But that's not the surprising part.
We arrived in Trabzon quite late in the evening. The road was in very good condition and the scenery made it even better. This is the Black Sea coast of Turkey, a very steep mountainous shoreline full ...Read More
A month has passed since my last post here. It wasn't just a break from writing, but also riding. Somehow, the two seem to work together. I've only started moving one week ago so you haven't missed much of the road. A few things have to be known before I proceed. Turkey is where I was born and raised. My family and friends live in Ankara, the capital. This has been a psychological mid-point on the route. This is where the west ends and the east begins. This is where I intended to take a 15 day break to see ...Read More
Somewhere between Thessaloniki and Kavala, I missed the highway exit and the road took me about 20 kilometers inland. I wanted to camp on the seaside but there weren't any roads on the map. However, there seemed to be a thin road barely visible over the mountains. I decided to take it. After a few kilometers, I arrived at a hut where the road seemed to disintegrate. I took a few uncertain turns and found it again. Climbing further up, this time I ended up near a TV antenna tower. Apparently, the road existed for the construction of this tower ...Read More
Adriatic countries are not a part of the union. Road conditions become less favorable, traffic more chaotic, and people live in less favorable conditions. However, in some aspects, these countries are much more interesting to experience then the ones in the union. People are more observant and welcoming. Contrast and variety is abundant. There are more things to discover. But it takes time to adjust.
Croatia has a very long and dynamic coastline with a new highway spanning along. Most of the usable land on the shore is somehow made available for tourism. The most popular and economic way of doing ...Read More
Albania is full of surprises. I was in some hot springs this morning. Alban, my voluntary tour guide, was watching over me so I do not faint... Prolonged exposure to sulfur can do funny things...
He insisted on riding pillion without a helmet. "Go like Valentino Rossi!" is all he kept saying. I wonder how Rossi would ride on these horrible roads with so much load. A few short wheelies is all I could do to please him.
Now I'm on top of a mountain pass near the Macedonian border. There are cement military machine gun aprons around. Goats have ...Read More
It's raining again. Packing a wet tent is not a good idea if you plan to use it in the long run. Things take a moment to get soaked, but hours to dry. Rain means waiting. But waiting means writing. So it's not too bad.
I'm now in a campground a few kilometers shy of Cannes. There are two German GS riders in the tent next to me. They're also held back by the rain.
I tried to fix the GPS mount couple of times. Last time, I managed to think about the fuse... And yes, it was blown. Apparently I caused ...Read More
