Day Seven - Ephesus and Ferry to Athens

The local village near Küçükkuyu.
After breakfast I head South around Izmir which seemed to have most major roads being rebuilt and little in the way of detours, thank goodness for my Garmin Zumo 400 that has been faultless for the entire journey.

The heat goes up and I see 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on the air temp, before I left on this trip SimonDippenhall gave me quite a bit of very useful information after his amazing trip to the Red Sea, one of his gems was to carry a camel back, I had the thermal insulated model which kept the water cool and fitted in a back pocket in my BMW jacket, I kept it topped up. In the heat today I would get through 6 litres of cold water and that was barely enough, but it was a real life-saver.

The road surface can get very slick so you have to pick your path carefully.



My destination today was Ephesus near Selçuk. Ephesus has one of the largest collection of nearly complete ancient buildings in the world dating back to 550 BC. I could have easily have spent all day here and not seen everything.






The original communal toilets

But I am on a schedule and I have to leave sooner than I would have wanted to catch a ferry out of Turkey to the small Greek island of Chios.

I speed onto Cesme where I find my small ferry that will take me to Chios.

I meet this Italian couple who have been touring Turkey for the last 2 months. Thankfully he has excellent English but his girlfriend doesn't speak a word, so over a cold drink while we wait for our ferry we enthusiastically share experiences of our journeys, she just sulks, typical bikers.


It only has enough room for 3 cars and my bike.
The sea looks calm in the harbour but the wind has been blowing hard all day and the crossing is expected to be rough, so the crew insist I stay next to my bike for the 50 min voyage to keep it upright. At least they gave me a chair.

I get to Chios and wait for my overnight ferry that will leave at 22:00 and take me to Athens. I will really miss Turkey, I love the food, lifestyle, historical sites but most of all I found the people warm and very hospitable.

Day Six - Gallipoli & Troy

I had planned to get on the road early this morning but the weather had other ideas, as I woke to very heavy rain.

This morning I knew it was going to be difficult

• Wet, very slippery roads
• Flooding on the roads hiding big potholes
• Hot humid conditions while wearing a one piece oversuit in a city so little cooling air while riding along
• Suicide jockeys masquerading as Taxi drivers
• Rush hour in Istanbul

Once I got going I was fine, and actually started to enjoy the conditions.

As I was leaving Istanbul I pulled into a petrol station for fuel but they had run out, and stopped for a chat with this amazing character in German, now I know what Santa Claus does in the summer, goes touring Turkey on a BMW.
After riding together for a short way we parted company, I wanted to get off the dual carrigways and took the coast road south towards Gallipoli

Unfortunately the tarmac soon disappeared and I did the next 15 miles on a dirt track, who needs a GS anyway.
Thankfully the tarmac returned
I passed the town of Gallipoli and headed down the peninsular to the site of the Dardanelles Campaign. A disastrous First World War campaign that resulted in the loss of 336,000 men from both sides. Here is a Turkish memorial
Soon I see the British graves
Private Luck, aged 19. His luck ran out in a foreign land in a battle that could not be won. I am really starting to hate the futility of war.
The Australians and New Zealanders landed here, the attack on ANZAC beach in a huge blunder it was one of the few places for miles around that was overlooked by steep hills, which the Turks held.
This memorial records the events. You can clearly see the high ground just inland from the beach.


After the battle site I ride to Eceabet and take the 30 min ferry to Çanakkale. This narrow but strategic piece of water has been fought over by countless armies for centuries including Greek and Trojans, the Persian King Xerxes in 500 BC, then by Alexander the Great 330 BC and the Allies and the Turks in 1915.


After landing at Çanakkale I head South to the site of the Siege of Troy, there is not much to see other than a few ruined walls and the tourist board replica of the infamous horse.

Day Five - Istanbul

This morning I learn a large bomb went off last night in Istanbul killing 17 and injured 150, it was about 10 miles away and did not seem to be directed at tourists so I do not feel that threatened, but relatives at home always fear the worst so I call home to tell them not to worry.

Before breakfast I take a walk around the local neighbourhood.


This is the Sultan Ahmet III Fountain. Built in 1729, the fountain symbolises luxury, abundance and beauty. The Haghia Sophia can be seen behind it.Breakfast on the hotel roof terrace, the Blue Mosque is only a few hundred meters behind me and is clearly visible and audible during the call to prayer.

Breakfast consists of cheese, olives, yoghurt, hard boiled eggs, bread, honey, jam and tea from a large urn, coffee was not an option.
After breakfast I take a short taxi ride to the Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar) opened in 1461 and contains about 6,000 shops

Everyone seems to want to sell you a Persian carpet.



I have a chat with this guy, he's from Argentina and has been on the road travelling for six years and was on his third bike, he tells me some amazing tales, I'm in awe of such committed travellers. I gladly bought one of the tiny doll badges he was selling to contribute to his journey.
I go back to the hotel to change out of my shorts into long trousers so I can go inside the Blue Mosque, its amazing


I have lunch in a local street cafe, Mixed Kebab with Yoghurt, delicious and not too expensive.


That afternoon I relax in a cafe people watching and drinking tea from a glass and smoking a Nargile (Hookah, Bubble Pipe). I am really getting to like Istanbul, its attacks your senses from all sides but in a nice way and the people are really very friendly, even if some of them are only trying to get you to buy a carpet.

On the streets the Police are clearly a bit jumpy after last nights bomb and are pulling people over and checking ID documents.

There was also a big bomb in Iraq killing many more people so the Istanbul bomb didn't get the headlines they were looking for, so I go to bed early as they might strike again to make the headlines they missed last night, tomorrow I ride into Asia.

Day Four - I arrive in Istanbul

I get up before breakfast and go for a walk around the hotel, and enjoy a early morning swim in the pool.

Early breakfast and on the road again, it's quite warm so I strap my jacket to the back of the bike until


The pace of life is clearly much slower here as I stop for a tortoise crossing the road.


Local road signs are in Greek
Then I arrive at Greece's border with Turkey

After an unbelieving 2 hours of hassle getting visa's and stamps etc I am finally allowed into Turkey.

A typical Turkish road, the hard shoulder at the side of the road is used by slow cars being overtaken or slow vehicles such as tractors, which could be travelling in either direction.

I also saw very fast car drivers use the hard shoulder to overtake lorries. The closer I get to Istanbul the more crazy the driving gets.

I had no problem using my UK credit card in Turkey at petrol stations and hotels.
Frequently when I stopped locals would come over for a friendly chat and take my photo and ask about my trip
End of the Toll motorway entering Istanbul, cost was only 2.3 Turkish Lire (about £1)

As I enter the city of Istanbul the driving gets more crazy. Its Sunday lunchtime and local families are cooking kebabs over hot coals in parks at the side of the road, smells fantastic.

Thanks to the additional detailed Turkey maps on my Sat Nav I find my hotel in Sultanahmet, interesting décor.

The location is great, very close to the fabulous Blue Mosque

I've been riding in high temperatures for four days and been pummelled by the road, so in attempt to "fight fire with fire" I immediately get changed and go for a Hammam (Turkish Bath).

Its an amazing experience, the incredible building has been used as a Hammam for over 400 years. First you swap your clothes for a towel then into a hot steam room to soften up, after 20 mins a massive scary hairy giant of a man in a towel grunts and calls you over to the large hot marble central massage slab and quickly goes to work on you, he gouges and pummels tired muscles until you cry for mercy.

Then its over to the side of the area, you sit next to a large marble sink and the big ugggh starts with masses of soapy bubbles the scrubs you down with a coarse scrubbing mitt followed by large buckets of water.

Then you sit in an extra hot section for another 30 mins before you can leave for fresh dry towels, then out into the lounge area for a glass or two of Turkish tea and relax.

When its all over I feel fantastic no aches or pains and the cleanest I been for some time.

That night I reflect on my journey so far, I've ridden from the North West to the South East of Europe. Tomorrow I will spend doing tourist things in Istanbul and the day after I will cross the Bosporus and into Asia.