Entertaining our German guest at the mountains who was passing through the village on his bicycle,
it’s lazy time now, trying to recover from the tiredness of the journey, riding between
I normally choose to ride through old road which climes the
Zigana Mountain about 2000 mt from sea level.
At around 11 am I got up and headed for Istanbul from Kapikule border of Turkey, the roads to Istanbul were empty with perfect conditions for speed riding, 3 lanes of motorway all empty this time of the day, I was able to give my bike a good test for top speed which reached 90 mph, the bike I m riding is not a speed bike it has a engine of 1425 cc made specifically for cruising, I have to say.. it is a wonderful bike for cruising and got me here in good time, it’s going to take me some time to clean the bike which has insects stuck in front from many countries.
It was great to enter a country with no Trucks on the road and all 3 lanes at my use.
At around 1pm I entered ring roads Istanbul heading towards Bosporus bridge which will take me from Europe to Asia , this was a hair raising experience, the traffic in Istanbul is not a child’s game, it’s an eye opener, large vehicles overtaking from both sides, you never know where the next car is going to appear from, this was the most dangerous part of the journey by far, there are no rules or regulations obeyed. I felt like I will be lucky to get out of here in one piece, I was also surprised and disappointed with Turkeys approach to Bikers, you are treated same as a 4x driver, there are no special rates or concessions when going through toll charge areas like Bosporus bridge and some motorways, charges even for a bike can be as harsh as £3.00 for a stretch of motorway. I do find this annoying as the Turkish government is making no attempts to reduce the motor car numbers by encouraging bike users.
Luckily I managed to get away from the lawless parts of Istanbul.
I started riding towards Adapazari and Samsun The journey to my final destination will probably end by next day sometimes depending on road conditions as there are large road constrictions going on at the coast of black sea. I reached Samsun at around 2 am really tired, looking for a place to sleep, as usual I could not find a safe place for the bike in any hotel, I then stopped at a restaurant/café setup on a road side where I met some locals, made friends and fell a sleep next to the bike in usual secure style. I usually kip for a couple of hours and continue as I can not getting too comfortable with these sleeping arrangements.
3 hours away from Trabzon 6/7/2007 - 5.56am face fully covered with sunburn.
my first dinner in Turkey with a burnt face but after a good shower and a shave I cleaned up well…
At the Borders of Trabzon
First arrival at Trabzon, I have to say I was pleased to be here in one piece after driving all night and day without proper sleep. I did look a sight !! 9 am 6/07/2007
After arriving to Trabzon I decided to go to Pekun my Village near Gumushane where everybody was, Gumushane is actually on the SILKROAD ROUTE.
On the way to my Village
The roads to Gumushane goes through beautiful mountains of Zigana at 2900m above sea level, it’s a dream to ride on these mountains on a decent bike, enjoying every minute of it.
Zigana Mountains where you can see the mountains of ERZURUM
Zikana snow
Pekun (My Village)
Arriving to my village was great, I received amazing reception. I was greeted and received just as I thought, most people were amazed at my journey from London to Pekun, I was also pleased with my self for doing it without any incidents…
No point in hiding anything, perhaps I should share it with you. Approaching Pekun is very rich with fruit gardens. while I was riding I thought I’d move the bike to the edge of where the gardens were. Riding close to gardens I could see if the fruits were ripened so I could stop and eat some, as I moved closer to the edge where it was pure shingles, which bike does not like, I found myself lying flat on the road with the bike.
After all that journey without a single hiccup, I managed to fall off the bike just for couple of fruits, it was difficult to pick the bike back up as the front was facing the ditch where the gardens were, if I lifted it would just slip down to the ditch, it was essential for some one to pull it back as I try lifting it as it’s a real heavy bike, few cars went pass which I tried stopping but I was totally ignored, 30 minutes or so I managed to stop a person who helped me to get the bike up, there was no damage, just a little scratches on chrome safety bars and little aches and pains on my arm and a leg as a result of bike falling on to it.
After a good scrub and a shave at barbers I felt I got back to Normal.
I managed to settle down pretty quick, had a good scrub and a shave, I must say , having a razor blade up your throat at a Turkish barber shop is lot more frightening than the journey I did or sleeping at the dark mountains on your own.
Here you are, restored back to normal I hope!
But not totally recovered, in a few days time I’ll be spending a few days in forests which will do the trick 
Pekun is a beautiful part of the world where you can come across all sorts of wild animals and birds including brown bear, people used to go bear hunting until recently I managed to get 15 of the locals prosecuted who shot a Brown bear and declared themselves a hero, Hunting activities no longer taking place thanks to heavy fines, There are times where you can go hunting for wild boars and wolfs,who are considered to be dangerous.
After settling down in alocal café people surrounded me talking about my journey, some called me crazy some called me brave many were really impressed. I felt good,
Feeling like a hero did not last long, just the same day we saw a cyclist riding through the village on his own with loads of gear attached to it, My brother Suleyman suggested weStop him and offer him a drink which we did, I wish we hadn’t , it turns out this 22 year old chap called Erique had left Salzburg/Germany in April 2007 and aiming for Iran/Pakistan/Tibet cycling through our Village on his own, and has been cycling since april, (No Engine) that’s just my luck I thought I did something, but this young German chap has stolen all the attention that was given to me!
Erique and me with the Village in the background
Erique with my Brother Suleyman
I had a feeling this chap must be real tired, we asked him to stay if he wished and he grabbed the offer and stayed in the village for 4 days, majority of the villagers has worked in Germany spoke German, so Erique did not have problem communicating,
After 4 days Erique has left for Trabzon then Iran.
A collective of Insects and fly’s from all the countries I drove through.
6.00 pm local time, enter Bulgaria.
Romania was dreadful, continuous tracks instead of roads. And in result of this - my average speed was 40mph. Blinking Awful! I’m still hoping to reach Turkey Today.
I then entered Bulgaria through a very impressive bridge across the river at around 1pm, following E85 apparently should take me to Turkey.
Entering Bulgaria
Again the roads in Bulgaria was not much different to Romanians, constant Track traffic slow speed, no progress. as my navigation system did not cover Bulgaria I had to make my own plans and try and find destination in these primitive roads with poor signage, the other problem was the road signs were all in Bulgarian alphabet until very near to borders where they become modern alphabet too.
After about 2 hours I had to stop to refuel, again I met some more Turkish truck drivers, had something to eat again I asked for the best route, it was suggested that I should follow the route svilengrad which should take me to Turkey, again the crossing was very slow and painful, I was not making any progress, it actually took me all day and night to get to Turkey.
It was a relief to see sign post showing Turkey
At one stage I took a signpost showing svilengrad, followed it for about 1 hour, it was taking me through woodland with no sign of life and total darkness, during this period I came across a barrier with 3 man popped out of their cabin, it actually reminded me of the Bosnian war times I spent in Sarajevo during early 90’s where people used to pop out of barriers to control, I was not sure what I was suppose to be doing, I told them I was heading for svilengrad, we could not communicate and they let me through, I went for a little bit more and the road surface became unsuitable for the bike, I could not go on further as I had no spare tyres or a repair kit, I took the decision to return back to main road and try my luck again, by now the time was getting on to 3am in the morning, tired and agitated, I just did not want to get lost, it later turned out that I was on the shortcut route which would have got me to svilengrad but road surface was not suitable,
After returning to a main road I suddenly noticed couple of Turkish Trucks, facing the direction they were I assumed they can only be heading for Turkey, I then started following them and thank god we arrived to Turkey at 6 am Thursday morning after non stop Continuous riding.
Looking at a mirror after arriving to Turkey was a little shock, I was totally black with sunburns, this must have only happened in Bulgaria where I had my head and face gear off, from here onwards I had no option but to cover my face and head totally as it was hurting from the burning.
After discovering my burnt face I had to hide from the sunshine plus the large insects kept going in to my mouth.
Here I had to have some rest but before I could, I had to go through the normal Turkish beaurocracy paperwork chase, in order to enter Turkey I had to show a log book for the bike, obtain compulsory Green card and the bike gets registered in your passport so that you make sure you take it back when you return, no other country asks any thing of this nature or even a question, I m not sure why a country like Turkey still applying 50 years old unnecessary regulations at a stage where they are trying to enter EEC.
After about an hour of queuing and providing paper work at 6 am in the morning, I managed to get away to a nice road side rest area where I thought a couple of hours of sleep before I get to do another 1000 km was well deserved.
9.45 Local Time, Just Entered Austria.
I Spent a whole night sleeping leaning up against the bike. I was not able to find a safe keep area for the bike in any of the hotels in Austria (or at least of which I felt safe to leave it).
I woke up to wonderful sunshine, started my ride at 6am. I hit Budapest by 1pm spent some time in the town centre. Rather old and reasonably well maintained. It was the warmest, I was sweltering. I was not impressed with road signs of old rule still there, but people seemed to be having fun along the wonderful river flowing through Budapest. I had no time to spend as I was anxious to ride through Romania in same day if possible.
Anyway, I entered Romania from Nadlac. Looks like they have not given up their usual tricks, a young man came up to me offering money exchange and another one approached me offering Romanian road tax as apparently I require one in accordance of country’s law. Then one more approached offering autobahn Ticket, of course I ignored and went on, I have seen these things a few times in my life time. People try anything, in general Romanians are one of the more reliable and trusting compared with that of the other Balkan country natives. Oh dear oh dear, The roads - what roads there are none!! heading for Bucharest, hoping to hit Bulgaria today. No way is this possible to have one road with on coming traffic! I was constantly behind lorries. Romania has some nice churches same as Hungary but the country has not broken out of it’s shell yet. You can still see the Chauseskou’s old Romania, some nice buildings left for ruins and still relatively poor. It’s in need of roads desperately!
Met a Turkish truck driver and went with him to a truck drivers camp, put my tent up and uploading now. I arrived here in ILLIA/Romania at about 6pm. Took lots of pictures and enjoyed Romania’s beautiful country, roads Just for the scenery - no driving.
I should be in Turkey tomorrow some time 
My sleeping arrangements in the Wien/Austria near the Hungarian border.
Riding / entering Budapest.
Bucharest Sign Post / An Old Church in Budapest.
Entering Romania at Nadlac /
Romania, heading for Bucharest. After eating a big juicy insect, I started to cover my mouth.
Typical Road conditions in Romania and Bulgaria.
Hotel Hilton Romania LLia/Romania (my tent at a Truck Camp ;))
Romanian Sun Flowers
I got up at around 8am had a breakfast with hopes that this was going to be the last day in foreign soil. Looking at the size of the country (Bulgaria) it looked manageable in a day but I never took into calculation the state of theroads. After receiving route directions from the truck drivers I set off for Bucharest, this is to be a easy to find route as it was used by all international track drivers, I just have to follow the tracks who were mainly Turkish companies, I did this for a while but the route was so busy with trucks I could not follow the stationary trucks so I decided to hit the road,
Any one who wishes to travel by car through Romania I suggest think carefully and never do the route I did, I m sure there must be better routes.
My day didn’t really begin well in Romania, along the way I was stopped by a police officer with whom I could not communicate, I eventually understood that he was asking me where my helmet was, because the heat I wanted to have a bit of fresh air blowing by my face, I said to Officer I thought the wearing of helmet was not compulsory in Romanism, he then replied saying Romania is in Europe, or at least that’s what I thought he said, I then placed my helmet and started to ride, these roads are not going to finish at average 40 mph speed, I was really getting tired by this now. An hour later I came to a town with loads of junctions and turnings where I lost concentration, apparently drove through pedestrian crossing while red light was on, some of these countries have strange lights where you can not even see them, specially in harsh sunshine,
After crossing the light I was stopped by two young police officers luckily one of the spoked good English, so there were no complications. He asked for my drivers licence and the documents, I had no defence to make and simply told him the truth, it was not intentional.
The officer informed me that I have now lost my licence which will go to British embassy
And a month later it will be forwarded to me with a fine of 300 of their currency (I think I could tell it was in his mind just trying to scare me) I apologised for my unintentional mistake, he then replied saying that he Believed me, but to be alittle bit more careful. I thanked him and started the ride with my licence returned. At this stage I was really ready to leave Romania as it has taken a lot of my time of unpleasant driving in the heath. The effects of riding in the heath is not a pleasant one and has taken it’s toll, as soon as you pick up a little speed you must have face guards on, other wise the insects land on your face like a bullet, at one stage I remember well, picking up good speed, suddenly a big dollop of Double Decker insect/fly landed between my lips, it felt like asmall water balloon bursting with the impact, I’m not sure what it tasted like but I was thirsty any way, Drove through some brilliant sunflower fields, took some pictures, by now I has approaching borders of Romania/Bulgaria called Ruse, from Ruse I’m to head for svilengrad the Turkish Bulgarian border.
12.45 local time, 520 miles to Budapest. Weather still like home. Blinking rain! I will hopefully cross Hungary before the end of the day. I must stop every 135 miles to refuel. Stopped now due to Rain 
3.15 local time, near Munich. I just don’t believe the weather. Has been raining since England. Dry patches at times but generally rain has not stopped. German roads are not biker friendly. Very slippery patches when wet, especially with diesel spills, you can easily loose control, im also wondering if its going to dry up soon… thsi really takes the fun out of it!
Munich 6pm 02/07/2007
It’s just simply unbelievable, it’s 6pm and the rain has still not stopped. Riding isalmost impossible but I need to get there, the rain on the wind guard is so bad. Visibility is almost only 10meters,
I discovered Speed is the only solution to blow the rain off the screen, although it’s not sensible to ride fast during rain, a question comes to mind, Do I regret this?
Well Last night I was still riding at 3.30am in the dark, plus the rain , it did come to mind that perhaps I would have been better off in awarm bed instead of dark wet dangerous roads!
I stop every 135 mile for refuel and try waiting for the rain to clear, but it never does, I then choose to ride out off it but it gets worst again! However, I have no alternative but get going.
I came across a bus full of german ladies who were having picnic on my table while I was on the internet, as if I was not there, they ate and drunk andf never offered a cuppa. As I was walked away that all changed and we made friends and I received a nice warm cuppa, my german was not that great neither their english, we just nodded and smiled for a picture
Trying to dry from the rain of Austria while enjoying a Cuppa.
My £200 Harley boots were actually like a Harley Pool, just filled with water, I took my feet out to dry which were totally wrinkled.
I will be setting off upon my journey at 1pm, 1st July,
from the Clock Tower, St.Albans.
9.15 Local time Monday 02.07.2007, 5.25 ferry to Calais then tried sleeping in Duisburg, Germany, after drinking large amounts of Red Bull i felt like i just woke up. Occasional rain slowed me down during the night. I then got back on the bike and made it to Frankfurt. Weather here is the same as at home. Yet to see the sun yet!
I think i will be in Hungary today some time. It’s tiring but great at the same time!
The bike’s performance is amazing. Just a shame its American, and not british, it would would have doubled the fun…
take care, Krazy Turk.
