After almost not being allowed out of Greece because their computers went
down, we almost didn't get into Turkey. The customs official at the
Turkey border was too smart. He knew that the document regarding our moto
was not an original, but a copy that we had laminated. It was not colored
but we can not do this in our home country as it is illegal. With the help
of a Turkish gentlemen who had been living in Switzerland for 30 years and
spoke excellent Turkish he relented and let us pass. A Visa is also
required. We did hear of an Hungarian that was turned away with a scooter
as documention is not needed in his country but they did want it at the
Turkish border. At the border we also had to purchase green card insurance.
It cost 4 Euros for Turkey; this we could afford. But the agent said
upon return a green card for Greece for 15 days would be 91 Euros; this we
thought was a bit high. But we now were millionaires due to the exchange
rates.
We are going to tell you only about that part of our trip that you can not
find in a guide book. First, as soon as one enters Turkey and exchanges
money, one becomes a millionaire. In fact, we still are millionaires as we
have a 20 million and a 10 million Lira notes pinned to the wall of the room
where this is being written. Second, we would, for motorcycle purposes,
divide Turkey into four zones. East and West, and North and South, and the
in-between.
THE WEST
The western zone is where one will find most of the tourists sites,
especially the archaeological ones. Even in May and June, it is filled
with tourists and tour buses. These sites can be somewhat dangerous as
when the tourists are let off of a bus, they are dazed, and often looking
up, not at the road and can easily be ran into. They are as dangerous, but
not as smart, as cows, sheep, or dogs. We often found places to park the
moto securely at hotels which cost about 1/3 of what one would find for Euro
prices.
In the Gallipoli (Gelibolu) area, don't go there during Anzac day, 25
April. It is full of Australians and New Zealanders. But even after that
time there are many Turks bused through because it was a great victory for
them. Just off the main roads that encompass the battle areas, there are
interesting villages seldom visited by tourists. Also, as Gail found out,
some off-roading in river beds. A fact not know in English speaking
countries is that there were about 50,000 French troop also involved in the
conflict.
Of course the famous area of Troy should not be bypassed. There are limited
places to stay nearby so we chose to get a room at the Varol Pension in the
village of Tevfikiye. We mention this because it has secured moto parking.
And in this small village there is a restaurant that has a dog that escorts
one back to their hotel, for security reasons?
At the little village of Babakale on the coast one can be given a
certificate stating you have been to the farthest western point of Asian
turkey. While finishing lunch we saw the only gathering of motorcyclist
for this trip, a smallish group, but we were a bit standoffish and did not
go to meet them. Too hot and they were just arriving as we were leaving.
We reached Ayvalik rather late having tried some alternate routes where we
met two Germans, on BMWs, staying in the same hotel. We had a shower, food
and checked the email. The Turkish pizza is different but good, a special
hot bread served puffed and spread with butter was given to us when we asked
about it.
Heading inland to the southeast, we turned towards Izmir, and then to the
little city of Egidir which is on a small peninsula on a lake. We were
flagged down by a rider on an older BMW to have tea. He lived south on a
small farm. While deciding where to put in for the day we chose a fish
restaurant on the beach side of the lake. Two BMW riders joined us for
lunch. Both were doctors on the way to a conference who deviated this way
just to eat the fish. They treated us to lunch, ordering what they thought
was the best. Truly outstanding fish. The next morning we decided to change
course and head down to the Turkish part of the Mediterranean and a nice
ride to Antalya on the coast.
THE SOUTH:
Here again one will find many tourists of various European nationalities.
The travel agencies in different countries specialize in certain areas
so one will find concentrations of Germans, Italians, Norwegians, etc. We
took the road from Ispara down to the city of Antalya. This was a nice
route with not too much traffic as most of the heavy truck traffic is from
east to west. Of course, this is the tourists area and when we headed
east along the coast to the city of Mersin we expected more of the same.
But we discovered that the road from Alanya to Silifke does not run along
the coast but parallel to the coast. Close, but often one can not see the
sea. Not much traffic at all. Then at the city of Tarsus we headed back
north, not along the major road, 021 but the old road of 750 which was
deserted and made for better travelling. Occasionally, we could see the
traffic on the new highway with many trucks.
We visited Cappadocia, staying two nights and then on to the area where the
large heads are found (Mt Nemrut). Here we suggest one should not stay in
the city of Katah as all lodging are located near the mosques. You might
wake up at 4 am to the loud speaker calls to pray. Best to go a little
further and stay in the hostel, Karadut Pansyon, Adiyaman. On our way up
we saw two motorcycles from New Zealand parked outside. The riders were
asleep but we met them at the top of Mt. Nemrut. Later, we met another
motorcyclist who had stayed there. Camping is provided.
Mt Nemrut: When you get to the area of the large heads, there are two
routes, the northern and the southern. We took the southern route as on
this route there are other interesting things to see, plus a nice ride down
a different road. The northern route has a road all the way up but it
was not clear to us if it is possible to take a moto that far as we saw no
traffic what so ever. It might have been only for the restoration crew and
workers use.
THE EAST
Eastern Turkey is quite different. In the west the people act European,
more or less. But the east is not as advanced and much more conservative.
Here the attraction is the landscape not the archeological sites. It is
much more rural with obvious Kurdish and Arab influence. You might want to
visit the city of Hasandefy which will shortly be completely inundated with
water from dams. It is possible already to see where the water is rising in
some places. We went there because a Frenchman told us that this was the
nicest place he had been in, in all of Turkey.
THE NORTH
We were looking forward to travelling along the Black Sea in Turkey. We
had been to the Black Sea before in Romania but there is more history here.
Interesting, but we found that Turkey is building a four lane highway from
Istanbul to the border with Georgia. We are not certain that anyone but
Georgia is benefiting from this but one will shortly be able to drive in a
day or two from Istanbul to Georgia. The problem with this is that "T"
shaped sea walls are built into the Black Sea. Between the walls and the
shore line the beach is being filled with concrete to build the auto way.
So there is no shore line/beach. It is an environmental catastrophe. The
construction mess is so bad, so slow for traffic, that Gail insisted that
we do some more off roading and so at the small town of Qarsama, east of
Samsun we turned south and inland.
THE AREA OF ANATOLIA
Of course the "real Turkey", whatever that is, is the middle part. The
really old Turkey, where it all started before the conquest of
Constantinople. It is an area where one finds those interesting places not
overrun yet by tourists. Sometimes the main road would be near, perhaps,
one or two kilometers, away from but not into a small city. What traveller
goes there? Not on the main route, not in the tourists books, no signs
saying come into the town to visit the hotels or restaurants, who visits
these places? We did visit a some but one could spend many days visiting
these out of the way but unique small cities.
As stated when we were on the north coast road heading west, and grew tired
of all the construction before we reached the city of Samsun, we turned
inland south at the city of Qarsamba which took us along a river to a
lake formed by one of the many dams in Turkey called Hasan Ugudu. There the
main road ended and became a dirt road leading to a ferry. Smart people
would have turned back to the main road but where did this ferry go?
Nothing was on the map. After the ferry it was a dirt road taking us into
the foggy hill country and eventually (hours) the small town of Erbaa. If
one were bypassing this town on the main road one would think nothing of
this town. We put in, found a basic hotel, but no parking. We stated we
needed secure parking for the moto. So the hotel clerk took us blocks away
to the police who allowed us to park the moto at their facility guarded by a
large policeman with a machine gun. Just like in Siberia.
The next day we headed west to Amasya and then north west to Havza. Then
west to Boyabat which is a very interesting seldom travelled road. This
is the place to go if one is a fisherman. We could see many large fish
jumping out of the water. Kastamonu was the next city and here it was
recommended by an architect that we stay in an old architectural hotel.
Were there any tourists in this town? Very few. Who would come here?
Who would know about this place? It is north of Ankara and there is a road
that goes from there through Kastamonu to the coast, but it is not the main
road. It is places like this that one meets the "real Turkey".
ISTANBUL:
What report of Turkey can be complete without some mention of Istanbul. It
is a big city, full of crime and slums, to be avoided. True, but is it
any worst than any other large city? We had intended to go there first on
our trip but made a last minute decision after entering Turkey to turn south
to Gallipoli. At the end of our trip we would be tired and wanting to do
tourist things. We actually had a good time in Istanbul seeing the sites
and found that it was as nice a city as Rio in Brazil, of course, the
clothing the women wear are a little different. In getting there we took a
wrong turn and ended up on the eastern side of the Bosporus in a little
suburb. It was too hot a day to enjoy anything but thinking about if we
would like to go back and see those areas never visited by anyone but lost
souls. Istanbul is only one or two flight hours from the rest of Europe,
which is a fact many of us forget. So there are many western tourists
here.
ROADS: We were told by a motorcyclist who had been in Turkey several
times in the 80's that the Turks were much better drivers now than then.
Not so much passing on hills nor curves. We assume because they eliminated
themselves, along with the innocent. But because of the colder weather, in
the mountains one can see damage to the roads. This leads to needed
construction and repairs. Since repairs take place in the summer, expect
a lot of dust and dirt. Frequent visor cleaning is suggested as a
collection of insects, made possible by the agricultural nature of the
country, are a problem. The main roads are in a poor state, even the tolls
roads are somewhat uneven. We were told that the head of the highway
department was a descendent of Cyclops, which is why the roads were so wavy.
Sometimes we felt like we were on a ship rather than a moto. The roads
are not as good as in western countries but are generally paved and
passable at lower speeds.
TRAFFIC HAZARDS
In addition to the tourists, one finds RADAR. On a secondary road, going
90k an hour in a 70k zone in a remote area we were stopped, along with many
others, including a tractor, and given a speeding tickets. None of us were
happy, including the tractor driver. We might have ignored this and added
it to our souvenir collection along with those four from Russia, Bulgaria,
Canada, Australia, Peru, and Argentina, except the officer also wrote it on
our customs form. And if we did not pay, the fine would double from 100
Euros in 10 days. So two days later we went to the town police, the
highway police refusing to accept any money, and paid. When we left Turkey
they did check this document and looked at us like "you bad boy." And we
were not the only ones to receive a ticket. Later we met a German who had
also received a ticket for speeding but they did not charge him as much.
We asked a Turkish motorcycle friend about this problem and he sent us an
informational email which will be placed on our website.
In Turkey often one finds sheep or other livestock on the road, especially
in the northern part of the Cappadocia area and in the east where there are
sheep dogs call Kangus. These dogs can weigh 150 lbs to 200 lbs and have
canines like a puma. Their weight is an estimate and based on research as
we do not carry scales with us. We rather preferred to keep moving and not
have any contact with sheep. Don't get between these dogs and their sheep.
One time we saw three Kangus up ahead on the road and it appeared that
they were attacking a car or at least the car slowed down. We were too far
behind to see exactly what happened but the car driver and the sheep herder
exchanged words. When we got there the dogs were under control.
We also met two bicyclists from Holland who said that this was a problem for
them, especially north of Cappadocia. They carried an electronic device
which the dogs did not like. We decided to get a video of these attacking
big dogs, but of course then we saw none close to the road. When you go
there please take photos of attacking sheep dogs for us, the closer the
better.
In Germany they have Green Ice, in Texas, Black Alligators, and in Turkey,
Red Slime. Along the more or less lonely south coast road, and in other
places inland, there are many tomato trucks. Of course, these are heavily
loaded, over loaded, and on the Coast Road along the Mediterranean, the
roads are hilly and curvy. Once we came upon a curve to find two tomato
trucks had turned over. How this happened to both was not evident but
fortunately they turned over downhill away from the road. Otherwise the
road would have been covered in slick red tomatoes. And we often saw
places where some truck had spilled a box or so of tomatoes. Another
reason not to ride at night. Avoid the Red Slime. But when served on a
dish these are delicious tomatoes, the are real, not the kind served in the
west.
DANGERS.
Another encounted was with a Swedish motorcyclist on the road leaving
Cappadocia. We met him again later farther along. He told us he had to
cut short his trip because of theft. In the Black Sea city of Samsun,
he stayed in a hotel on the third floor. While asleep someone broke in
from the roof and took his money and some other items. He had just been to
the ATM. He did not awake because he had his radio on, wearing ear phones.
When he reported this to the police they thought that they knew who it
was, a drug addict of some reputation. After 24 hours or so looking for
him the Swedish motorcyclist left to return home.
We had been warned in Greece by a motorcycle friend of the money problem in
Turkey. There, they still use the old system of millions of dollars
(liras). So ten Euros or USD is about 20,000,000 or so. And it is easy
to confuse the 1,000,000 with the 10,000,000 lira note. (You have to count
the zeros!) Our friend said that a taxi driver tried to short change him
once, claiming that a ten was only a million. Once we made the mistake of
giving someone a ten million note thinking it was one million. The
shopkeeper pointed out our mistake. Then again, we once gave a ten
million lira note to a shop keeper and by mistake gave him two. He gave
one back. However, neither of these transaction happened in Istanbul.
The Kurdish problem has diminished but still in the east there are some
military stops. They only checked our passports, never our panniers. We
often saw the military patrolling the hills. We were told that most
officers speak English. The one we met did.
Are carpet shops a danger? No, but the salesmen can be quite annoying.
There are so many shops in some areas one wonders how any of them can make a
living. One shopkeeper said he quit selling carpets and opened up a
different kind of shop. The carpet salesmen always have something to say
to you and want to invite you into their shops for tea. We also learned
that saying that one has a moto is no deterrent. Haven't you heard of
Mail, UPS, DHL, etc.? Also, many of them have connections outside Turkey.
One of the dealers even has it on his card "All around the world. Door to
door delivery. We have a branch in the USA." We met another who had
married a girl from California. So if you want to buy a Turkish carpet
made by an old lady in the hills of Turkey, on her death bed, needing money,
please contact us and we will have the carpet man drive his truck to your
door and sell you that carpet. And, best of all, we get a commission.
Fortunately, we have built up a sales resistance over the years and only
purchased five carpets while in the country
BORDER CROSSING
The southern border crossing is quite like any other. Open 24 hours a day
they do insist on the correct documentation. As stated earlier, we had
some problem with the fact that we had a laminated copy of our moto title,
not the real thing which is kept back home in the safe. There is not much
of a town on either side. However this border site has plenty of
Port-a-Potties and one shop/cafe. We also saw a truck with ADAC on the
side, bad sign.
The northern border, which we took going back to Greece, where we stored our
moto for another adventure, is much more relaxed. It is not open 24 hours
but from about 8 am to 4. pm. And, there are few services here such as
exchange houses or green card insurance agents. Neither the Turkish nor
Greek guards would not let us take pictures of the country signs with our
moto. These two countries no longer engage in war, although we saw many
soldiers, but must be engaged in a battle of signs. But you will not know
since we have no photos. At the Turkish side is the historical city of
Edirne (Adrianopel) and a small town on the Greek side.
MOTORCYCLE PROBLEMS:
Not being fashion conscious, we drove a used 1992 BMW GS moto into Turkey.
There are three BMW shops in Turkey that we know of and we have tried to
train our moto to break down close to a shop. But this time we were out of
luck. At the sign of the first problem, an electrical one, we disconnected
the headlight to avoid drain on the battery. Later, in Kastamonu, a city
of about 100,000, we saw a 1985 BMW 650, a rare sight. So we stopped for a
minute to look at it and the owner came out of his TV repair shop. One
thing led to another, and although we spoke no common words, he and other
gentlemen, who had by now gathered around, as he tested the battery, made it
clear that something would happen if we went with him for 2k. What? So we
did and found ourselves in a run down moto shop. But they knew what they
were doing and after taking out the rotor, indicated that it needed to be
replaced. There couldn't have been any BMW rotors within a hundred plus
miles. But our new friend left saying he would be back in an hour. True
to his word he returned with his English/Russian speaking niece and a used
rotor. Where they had found a used rotor in the middle of a non tourist
area, only Allah knows.
By now we knew 2 words of Turkish, 10 of Russian, having been there 3 times,
and about 250 words of English. So there was some communication, especially
about the price. The used rotor was installed and off we all went for
dinner of a specially prepared meat. Cooked in a five foot hole. It was
somewhat odd that first they asked if we were vegetarians. What kind of
motorcycle people had they met before? Then after dinner we went to the
home of our new friend who, like Gail, is a bird lover. Later and after
midnight on to the rural home of his friend who had two motos, neither of
which were BMWs. But he had some BMW parts.
Later in the trip, just before we got to the northern border crossing with
Greece, we heard a funny noise. Well, it wasn't funny, just very oddly
familiar. The nearby police called a moto mechanic. We were taken to a
local shop. Another rather questionable hole in the wall place. There
they took out the drive shaft. Two years ago the rear joint had failed in
Spain, this time it was the front one. They said wait, rode off on a moto
and an hour later, just as we finished lunch, returned with a new u-joint
installed. Where they got it only Allah knows, but one must put their faith
in God, by whatever name, or in mechanics, wherever. We have chosen the
latter, and have been well rewarded. They do provide moto miracles and tea.
Last year as we arrived in Athens to leave the moto it seemed to develop an
oil leak in the oil cooler, or so we thought. When we returned to Athens we
found that our helmets had been stolen, which you can read about in the
story on Greece. But the oil leak had been repaired, they said. After a
few days on the road the leak reappeared. We put a Coka Cola deflector on
the cooler so the oil would drip down and away, not back on us. Everyone
wanted to fix this but we thought that it best to take it back to the
mechanic in Athens. On a previous trip in NZ, we found that if we kept the
oil level at "add oil" it would be no problem and not leak much oil. So it
bacame a very slow leak; why we don't know but if any of you mechanics out
there know the secret, please send us an email. This procedure did bother
many motorcyclists.
FOOD
The food is not has good as say in Brazil. But expect to drink a lot of
tea. The Turks use it as a form of courtesy and in fact seem to enjoy it.
Once we were in an industrial complex, and found that they had a speaker
system set up where they would simply speak into a two way system and the
tea boy would deliver. We asked about this and was told that most
businesses have an account with a tea shop. The tea is delivered on a tray
with three handles held from the top. Keeps it from being spilt as they
scurry thru the crowds.
Apple tea? Yes, you food connoiseurs might know about this but it was new
for us. Instead of making tea from tea leaves this tea was made from dried
apples. This was a welcome relief from the standard tea as neither of us
are big tea drinkers. Perhaps in other countries they have other special
tea such as banana tea or plum tea. There are many roads we have not
travelled, many things we have not seen and now we know that there are many
teas we have not drunk.
They also have a special form of ice cream. The difference being that
this ice cream has dried orchid root in it. It is so thick that it can be
hung from a meat hook. In Turkey they produce good honey but we did not
bring any home. Once, as an emergency ration, we took some canned
sardines and on the bumpy roads of South America, they sprung a leak. We
had sardine oil on everything. So we decided not to take a chance with a
jar of honey.
The bread here, like all breads are much better than at home. We were told
that consumption is 2 loaves a day per person, just as in Russia. They also
have Cola Turka.
ACCOMMODATIONS
We are only interested in accommodations that are motorcycle related.
These seem to be few.
Jacqui Whitta, and Trent, who are travelling from England back to New
Zealand and whom we met on the road, twice, more or less, sent us their list
which will be found on our website. The most important of these is Hotel
Akay in the city of Izmir. They did not stay there and we did not stay in
the city, but they met the owner as they were leaving. The owner, Ethem
Akay, evidently has an African Twin and is very motorcycle oriented.
We spent 30 days in Turkey and saw 10% of it? We had no problems with the
people, just the German item we brought with us (BMW). Probably a good
idea to go there before Turkey joins the EU. The western part is already
European enough.
We hope that you have enjoyed this report as much as we enjoyed travelling
in Turkey. We didn't mention many of the little things that make a trip
special to each individual. For us, the niceness of the people, the travel
writer riding a bicycle from Iceland, the cats with two different colored
eyes, the ruralness, the carpet moto panniers, the way in which we learned
that there are 2000 similar words in Turkish and Japanese, the people living
in caves but with TV, Harley Davision riders who spoke and those that did
not, what happens when you get gas and then discover that you have no more
money, the 102 carpet salesmen and 861 cups of tea, the French motorcyclists
that was rear ended in Istanbul, the history of the country and people as
this is an old land, and a thousand other things that affected us each day
that made our trip special.
Eric and Gail Haws
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