View Toulouse to Istanbul in a larger map
28/3/11
Overnight in La Jonquera for last minute preparations.
Many thanks to Christian and his wife for helping with the bike storage.The Taxi driver who took me from Toulouse airport to the airport Ibis hotel gave me a typical welcome and hinted that he was a little disappointed with the short fare, at least I think that was what all the shrugging and swearing was about.
30/3/11
 |
| IN FRONT OF VIA GENOA |
 |
| LIGURIAN SEA |
Up early doors, weather good and we are off. Good but boring progress on the French and Italian motorway system.Clear instructions from the Garmin and a decent family hotel was found in Italy somewhere just before Genoa.One good thing about traveling out of season is that the hotels are cheap, 50 Euros with evening meal and breakfast.
31/3/11
Good news and bad news.Good result from ongoing saga but disaster struck and Emily wouldn't talk to me and had to navigate the old fashioned way. Another day of fine weather and steady motorway progress.Had a chat somewhere in Italy with an English truck driver for a world rally team. He was trying to get to Jordan but was running out of options as unrest flared up in one country after another.
Overnight in Slovenia. Very nice hotel and an excellent meal. Slovenia seems a bit like Germany of 20 to 30 years ago, very clean and organised with excellent roads. One major improvement is the vignette system.7.50 Euros for a motorway toll sticker and then just drive on through the barriers without stopping. No more struggling with gloves and wallets and tickets..
1/4/11
Fine day and good progress. Easy border crossing,similar system for using the roads in Hungary except there is no vignette just video checking of the number plates. Not a lot of difference between Slovenia and Hungary except the people seemed a bit more serious. The petrol pump attendant wasn't amused at all when my credit card wouldn't work when I filled up.
Passed all the way through Hungary and was trying to press on so that I could reach Galati in Romania the next day. I was expecting the roads to be worse in Romania and wasn't disappointed. I didn't expect to be gridlocked in Arad for an hour and a half though and turned off the road well before Deva to look for a Pensiune that was signposted. It turned out to be a sort of small resort with twenty rooms( basic is one description) and 15 Euros for the night. I sat down to dinner with a German tennis racket rep. From Hanover and a very nice meal it was. I am not sure what it was but the soup had something to do with chickens and the leaves from the Garlic plant and main course was from an animal of some description.
There is a marked change between Romania and the rest of Europe but even though the initial riding has been very hard the first night was very pleasant.
On my way up to the room after dinner I went to remove my Sat-nav from the bike but the hotel owner told me not to worry as it was quite safe locked inside his property.
2/4/11
On my way down for breakfast I glanced at the bike and joy of joys,Emily had forgiven me and the GPS was all lit up and working again.
Nothing could stop me now, only 500 miles on single lane roads and I would reach my destination. I was making good progress when I tried an overtaking maneuver that didn't impress the waiting police. Expecting the worst I was surprised when the officer explained why he had stopped me and then went on to say that if I did it again he would take my license but this time he would let it go. A brief conversation about where I was going and the bike and I was on my way.
The selected route took me up across Transylvania and if it were not for the litter it was quite picturesque.
When my fingers became numb, my nose blue and snow was still lying by the side of the road I realised I had climbed quite high in the mountains
 |
| A Romanian Beauty Spot before the descent to Ploisti |
The road between Brasov and Ploisti, I don't know the number but it is the minor road, has to be one of the best biking roads in Europe, that is if you avoid the trucks and the wannabee rally drivers.Being a Saturday there were plenty of local bikers out and about.
Arrived Galati after 12 hours of very heavy going and found a decent hotel in the center of town with parking for the bike in a secure yard.
Probably just as well to get a wash on as I had worked out were the bodily smells were coming from.It is liberating travelling light but the laundry has to be done at every opportunity.
Good local food from the hotel restaurant. Till now all the food has been recognizable as European.
Romania is certainly a lot poorer than the rest of Europe, horse and cart transport is common and in the towns a lot of people looked as if they had nothing to occupy themselves with, hanging around on street corners being the order of the day.The towns are quite depressing looking with identical blocks of flats lining the street.
4/4/11
Only five hundred miles to Istanbul. broke the back of it today with a run to Varna in Bulgaria.Took a primitive Ro Ro ferry across the Danube. It's interesting how helpful people are when they know you don't know how to do things. Had an interesting chat with one of the other passengers. Not all people are happy with the onset of Democracy. It seems that some people were quite happy under the old system where there was 100% employment and everybody had a home according to their needs rather than there means, education was for everybody and medical treatment was free.I have to say that the Danube was a bit disappointing to say the least not the beautiful blue river I was expecting.
Only five hundred miles to Istanbul. broke the back of it today with a run to Varna in Bulgaria.Took a primitive Ro Ro ferry across the Danube. It's interesting how helpful people are when they know you don't know how to do things. Had an interesting chat with one of the other passengers. Not all people are happy with the onset of Democracy. It seems that some people were quite happy under the old system where there was 100% employment and everybody had a home according to their needs rather than there means, education was for everybody and medical treatment was free.I have to say that the Danube was a bit disappointing to say the least not the beautiful blue river I was expecting.
 |
| CROSSING THE DANUBE |
Crossing into Bulgaria was like coming in from the cold.The immigration was very easy and the officials friendly and helpful.There was also a huge improvement in the condition of the roads.
Nice hotel in the centre of town,good food in a Yuppy type restaurant where there was what looked like a birthday gathering for a local Don with people arriving in their finery bearing gifts. Prices not a lot cheaper than western Europe but obviously no shortage of money in these parts.
5/4/11
 |
| HOTEL BULGARIA BOURGAS |
Short hop to Bourgas, Nice hotel in the centre of town 45 Euros.Hotel building contained modern fastish food restaurant, casino ( slot machines ) and leisure centre.It looks to my untrained eye as if this Black Sea coast is relatively affluent with the town centre full of clothes shops ( where is PETA when they are needed?) and mobile phone outlets.Also lots of renovation going on. All the hotels( except the Romanian pensiune) to here ( this one included) have had free WiFi.
 |
| BOURGAS |
I contacted an “ horizons unlimited community” to get information regarding storage for my bike in Istanbul and the forthcoming help has been humbling to say the least.I had replies from three people all of whom were very helpful but one in particular went way beyond anything I could imagine let alone expected.Arrangements were made for me to be met at the outskirts of Istanbul and a booking was made on my behalf at a reasonably priced hotel.
6/4/11
200 miles to Istanbul.
The border crossing was a little more long winded than previous ones and there was a problem trying to get the insurance sorted out, but I was on my way in about an hour and a half with a beautiful ride from the border to the motorway.Communication is more of a problem now and there are big learning curves figuring out how to do things ( pay for the motorway system for example).Anyway I was soon on my way and made good progress to the meeting point after the last toll booths. The traffic was building considerably as Istanbul approached and Emily was lost and kept telling me to drive to the highlighted route.
 |
| The rendezvous Point with Istanbul in the distance |
Rendezvous with Adil from the “Istanbul Bisiklet Ve Motosiklet Ihtisas Kulubu Drnegi” motorcycle club was made and he escorted me through the traffic to the club rooms where I was to leave the bike.There were people there to welcome me to Istanbul and it was as if I had discovered long lost friends. Big cities can be daunting when visited for the first time but these guys went out of their way to help.They put me right regarding storing the bike and nothing was too much trouble for them including dropping me and my luggage to the hotel which was basic and cheap but was ideally situated for the metro to the centre of Istanbul.
9/4/11
The Blue Mosque
I am at the airport waiting for my flight having spent two days as a tourist tramping around Istanbul with my camera and ever lightening wallet.It certainly is a crazy manic place but very interesting with lots of history.A couple more days will be spent here on my return and I am looking forward to the rest of Turkey.Once again preconceived notions have been completely wrong.The only problem might be the Turkish sweets, they certainly go down very easily with a nice chai.
The highlight so far has definitely been the help and welcome from Zeki and Adil, they visited me at the hotel to make sure I was ok and even dropped me at the airport. If the only achievement of the trip is meeting these guys all the effort will have been worth it.
Next step is to get Iranian visa ready for the next leg Istanbul to Sharjah.
