Two bikes. Three weeks. Five countries. 5450 miles.

The curates egg.

Good in places.
Not so good in others.

So, from the safety of far away Laurence (Bin Ridin) put at hex on us. Motoring along at a fairly strong pace we were apprehended by the local constabulary or the Jandarma Traffik as they are known here. After almost an hour at the roadside we were presented with a ticket for 356 Tr Lr which equates to £100 (€120), pretty dear for an extra ten or twelve klicks. I think that the limit was 90kph, we would have been alright at 95 and we probably might have gotten away at 99 but at 108 reduced to 106 we had no chance, a fair cop as they say.

You see these home made machines everywhere.



I wasn't feeling great yesterday morning anyway, nausea to the point of light headedness and just feeling pretty crap and I wasn't really enjoying the ride anyway. The whole thing with the police and the fine did little for my mood. But on we went as on we must go.



Kids just love the bikes.





Village signs





The countryside today was stunning, huge landscapes with lots of crops and lots of scrubland too with mountains at each side of us. The temperature started to climb too and by mid-afternoon was 30C. Perhaps the weather is starting to turn to the better for us now. Please don't curse that on us too Laurence! Thanks all the same.







Chai stop.



On a happier note, my 1150 rolled over into 100,000 miles today.* Quite a milestone for any motorcycle. I bought her with less than 15k on her but the real celebration will be when she hits 115k.





Cappadocia is a fascinating place and is one of the top tourist destinations in Turkey but we managed to snag a room for €18 each which is quite reasonable for the centre of Goreme. A really good meal at a local eatery was followed by a Turkish shave. I can't see a barber at home still working at 11-45 at night. It was very good and pretty cheap at only £8.40.























David our financial advisor told us to damn the expense and go for a hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia in the morning but as it's his job to spend other peoples money, and at €120 each he can keep his counsel to himself. Instead we will do the touristy stuff on terra firma and keep our cash in our pockets.


311 miles

Not long after leaving Cappadocia this morning we ran into some wind, a vicious side wind from the south that hit our right hand side and battered us for a hundred miles before we dropped into some tight little valleys that gave us much welcome shelter.









Almost all of todays roads were dual carraigeway much to Jochens disgust. He had planned todays route using the map and basecamp to try to get away onto little roads. His map is sadly out of date I fear as we saw precious little single carraigeway. He was not happy.















We did see some great landscapes though and that went some considerable way in making up for the roads, for me at any rate. By mid to late afternoon it became apparent that there was no escaping the big clouds that had been threatening us all day.







And then we were into it. That was at about 4pm and by about half five we had had enough and booked a hotel for the night. As I write this it's almost 11pm and we can still see the lightning bursts in the night sky, although thankfully much farther away from us now. Indeed if we'd had this mornings’ wind the storm would be long gone by now.





You think about stuff as you ride along for eight hours plus a day. Today I figured out why, when we stop, people speak to us in German or ask us if we are German, well it's because I am fair and Jochen is grumpy.


315 miles

It started off well, we had a dry morning and no real chance of rain. The first ten or fifteen miles were dual carraigeway but after we turned off things just got better and better. The next 35 miles or so saw us on a great sinuous road that ran us through lovely scenery until we came to a lake, Ataturk Baraji.









From some distance back we could see a new bridge, but when we got up close we could see that it is not finished yet. But there was a ferry, due in just over half an hour. Chai time.







The ferry was a tired looking old thing, but she will most likely be retired when the new bridge opens. £2.25 each saw us deposited on the opposite side and straight onto three or four kilometres of gravel road. Deep joy.





The middle part of our day was mundane enough but the afternoon took a turn for the better as we motored between Besiri and Baykan on a mountain road that is being upgraded to the dreaded dual carraigeway. It was a cracking ride in temperatures of 31C until we arrived on the outskirts of Tatvan.













Yes please



Months ago I had sent Jochen a link about the Nemrut Crater, the second largest in the world and just outside Tatvan. It was time to go see it for ourselves. The roads up to and around the crater are all unpaved and are undergoing huge improvement, thanks to European funding no doubt, but the gravel was well packed and dry so I was happy enough. We climbed to just over 8100 feet then dropped down into the crater which has three lakes in it and spent a very short two hours riding the tracks. I'm glad we did as by next year it will probably all be sealed road. My pictures simply don't do the place justice, but I tried to capture it as best I could.



























Dinner was a simple affair tonight as we are both knackered. What a day!!!

So, that's us one week into our three week ride already and I thought that it is a good time to cast an eye back over the past week.

Some of you may be interested in the cost of doing something like this. Well, before we left we thought that we'd like to stick to a budget of €100 per day and happily, even though we deny ourselves nothing we are averaging €85 per day this week. Yes you could do it cheaper, but this is suiting us and ultimately that's all that matters.

True the weather hasn't always been kind, but as my Dad often told me "there's no point riding a motorbike then complaining about the weather". True.

The roads haven't always been what we have expected nor hoped for, but we have had some gems too, so we'll call that one evens.

People everywhere have been unfailingly kind and generous. In all the countries that we have visited so far, but especially here in Turkey. When we pull in for fuel we are brought chai at no cost and people are interested in us, in the bikes and why we are here.

So yes, it has been a mixed bag but we are enjoying all aspects of the trip. If the next two weeks are as good as this one then it's going to be a fun ride.





From Jochen.

Well put Aidan.

The weather has been a bit of a mixed bag as have the roads but all in all it's been a great week. And we're still talking so that's good too (I think!) ;-)

While the hotels haven't been 5* they've been perfectly adequate for our purposes. All have been clean & comfortable with the exception of the one in Canakkale which hadn't been hoovered & there was wierd shit growing in the shower. But the view from the balcony made up for it.

But more than anything I'm blown away by the people, especially here in Turkey. Romania was friendly but we weren't there very long (yet) while we blew through Bulgaria in a day. Everywhere we stop here people come & (try to) talk to us. Sometimes they have a little English or a bit of German but for the most part it's sign language. When they do have a few words, like the owners son in the restaurant tonight, after the initial 'where are you from?' it's questions like your name, occupation & sometimes even age. They're not shy these Turks !

The best indication of the hospitality was the other day when we pulled into a petrol station to have a quick tea while we pulled on our wet gear for the impending shower. We bought no petrol or anything other than the tea & when we were ready to leave they wouldn't take a cent or penny or whatever the fractions of a lire are. I know it wasn't a huge monetary loss to them, two teas are usually less than €0.50, but can you imagine that happening in good oul Ireland ? Not a hope.....

So, just over a week gone & 3000km done. Roll on the next 2 weeks !

Good man Aidan, enjoying yet.

Thanks Ger.

Leaving Tatvan this morning we were treated to another dry warm day. The road skirted the lake, then peeled away to rejoin later for most of the morning.









A first for me!!



Fancy bridges





The lake is huge, 74 miles at it's widest point and covers 1450 square miles. It took us almost two hours to ride along it, after which we stopped for a lunch of spicy fried lamb and fresh trout.







There are many different nationalities in this park of Turkey. Many have recently sought sanctuary from Syria as have many Iranians, Iraquis and Kurds. Indeed our host for lunch today was a proud Kurd and made no mistake in telling us that he wasn't a Turk.





The road from Caldiran through Dogubayazit (commonly referred to as Dog Biscuits) and on to Igdir runs through a mountainous area with each peak having a look-out tower keeping an eye on those pesky Iranians. It king of reminded me of my home in South Armagh twenty years ago with British military installations on most hilltops. Most of the route was in high mountains around about 8200ft asl and Kars itself sits at 1800m (5900ft) which although high for us hasn't caused us any problems at all.









Mount Ararat





Unfortunately we were turning left.









Looking down over Kars.



Tomorrow will hopefully see us into Georgia.


322 miles

We had a bit of a plan for today, cross over into Georgia then run to the Armenian border and hopefully get through it too and head for Yerevan, the capital where we would spend the night.





All was going well, it was a dry but cool morning understandable though as we were still at an average of 6000ft asl.







After about ninety minutes riding we had just gone a couple of miles past the little town of Damal when Jochen appeared alongside me tooting the horn. I pulled over straightaway to learn that somewhere along the way he had lost his topbox. He didn't know exactly where, but he hadn't done his usual regular checks on it so it could be anywhere along our route, over 90 kilometres of it.

We turned around and re-traced our steps back along the road we had just come, Jochen scouting one side and I the other. The whole way, right back to the hotel we stayed in last night and from there took the same road back towards Damal that we had ridden earlier. We both knew in our heart of hearts it was a lost cause, but we might just get lucky. There wasn't a sight of it to be seen. We'll never know what happened to it. It may have skidded away off the road out of our sight as we looked for it. Maybe a shepherd found it and took it home with him or maybe a motorist saw it fall from the bike, gathered it up and again took it home with them. In any event Jochen is down his waterproof trousers, his notebook computer and some other less valuable but still useful bits and pieces. A very costly day for him and no mistake.

There was nothing else to do but carry on and see where we ended up so we rode on towards the Georgian border. The roads rose again to around 8400ft before dropping us gently at the frontier but only after giving me another good dosage of gravelly roads. Indeed the last five or six miles from Posof to the actual crossing were all unpaved. Feckin great.

















Twenty-five or thirty minutes later the border official said “Welcome to Georgia Sir” and that was it, a very simple crossing and we are into our fourth country of the trip. Oh, and we gained another hour too, making it 4-30pm and putting us in the same time zone as Moscow, three hours ahead of home.

The Tourist Hotel in Akhaltsikhe is our home for the night at a pretty reasonable €20 each with dinner being another €8.30. Not where we had planned to be mind you but not too bad none the less.

Everything on the dinner table was home grown or home made, even the wine.




108 miles. Went up to 220 after our ride back

Jolly good, ole chap
But do hurry up and add some more....

Great read and cracking photos

It's beautiful in Georgia, really lovely scenery, but the poverty is very visible everywhere you look, well at least in this part of the country. The roads are generally not too bad, but then you hit some pot-holed stretches or whole sections of road that are just broken up or worse altogether just gone. It's always in your mind and keeps the hooning around bends in check. I can't imagine riding at night here, nor in any of the countries we have been in so far. It's an absolute no no for me anyway.

















The 115km to the border crossing into Armenia went smoothly enough but the crossing itself was pretty slow taking a good forty-five minutes to get us through. Still, when all was done we were heartily welcomed to Armenia. And away again we went. Country number five on our ride.





This was in a petrol filling station.



The poverty here is even more noticeable and seemingly more pronounced than in Georgia or even Turkey for that matter. Decades old Ladas and trucks of indeterminable age are everywhere as well as old Mercs and the clash with new wealth and new cars is very much in your face.







We rode on south along the Turkish border to have a look at Mount Ararat from the eastern side and were rewarded with a better view than we got on Saturday before swinging north towards Yerevan the capital of Armenia. It was surprisingly busy for 3-30pm on a Monday afternoon and at 34C unpleasant on a motorcycle but it was the only way to get to Sevan.





What a contrast to the rest of the country that we had seen so far, lovely architecture, clean, busy, there is obviously money about here but it seems to be staying in the city and not spreading out into the surrounding countryside. The bikes were overheating and not running great in the stop start traffic in a hot city so we were glad to break free of Yerevan and head on north to Sevan which sits alongside a big lake of the same name. Lake Sevan is the largest lake in Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is one of the largest fresh-water high-altitude lakes in the world and is situated in the central part of the Republic of Armenia at the altitude of 1,900 m (6,200 ft) above sea level says Wikipedia.









We rode down along the length of the lake, some 105km to Vardenis and then checked Booking.com to see what was available hotel wise. Jochen had had a look last night and said that there were three or four possibilities open to us. Not today there wasn't, not here anyway. You see, there are two places called Vardenis in Armenia and we were at the wrong one!!

So, we didn't see anything in the way of a hotelly type of place at all so rode towards the police station where we found three of their finest having the craic with a few locals. Once I got through to them what we were after they got the local lads to lead us to the place where we are now. It's a motel/guesthouse/B&B kind of setup and is pretty basic to say the least, but sure at €7 each it'll do the job alright.


317 miles

I was just checking my in Vardenis to see how much of each currency I had and what I would do with it. Any Armenian money would be used to top up with fuel as it is pretty cheap here with the remainder being changed into Georgian Lari when I cross the border.

So, as some of these currencies are unavailable outside their own countries I have taken pictures of the notes I happen to have in my wallet.

Armenian Dram. £28.80


Armenian Dram £14.40


Armenian Dram £7.20


Armenian Dram £1.44


Georgian Lari £16.90


Georgian Lari £1.70


Bulgarian Lev £0.80


Romanian Lei £1.85

Good bye Armenia and thanks for all the bumps, gravel, pot holes and broken roads. You get my meaning.

Our GPs route for this morning was charged with taking us up along the eastern side of Lake Sevan, but every way we tried was track. And bad track at that. Eventually though we got it sorted and found the main road which wasn't along the lake at all at least initially but a kilometre inland.







We were steaming along nicely until we reached the first section of broken road. Not too bad we thought after crossing it's 1.5km length that's us now. Afraid not. The next section lasted for over fifteen or twenty kilometres, that's twelve or thirteen miles of gravel which in itself isn't too bad, it's the huge ruts that really slow you down. Some of them are easily over a foot deep and in order to avoid them you try to slalom which ups your travelling distance. Another concern is not to go so fast that you break something on the bike. Assistance or recovery is not an option out here lad.











Elevenses was a can of coke and a kit-kat by the side of the lake. The little shop had a tank full of live trout, for sale I presume and inside had some lovely looking smoked trout on display. What a shame it wasn't closer to lunchtime, but on we ploughed again thankfully with the badly broken road behind us now.







A fish's view of an 1150GS.



After Semyonovka we started to climb back up into the hills on our way to the Georgian border. We passed through a long tunnel and emerged onto a steep mountain descent into Dilijan which was almost as good as any Alpine road. We certainly enjoyed the run down into town, it being a welcome break from the poor roads of the last two days. A quick top up of fuel in Dilijan and we were away through a lovely verdant gorge to the border where again less than twenty minutes saw us welcomed back into Georgia.













This past two days had saw us well under budget so we made an executive decision and booked a good hotel near the centre of Tbilisi for tonight. We have a deluxe twin room with balcony and have again, true to form, turned it into a laundry shop. The weather gods are not pleased at base layers and worse dangling from the balcony and have sent a thunderstorm to wreak havoc on our drying unmentionables.







We were going to walk from our hotel to Freedom Square and look for somewhere to eat but it started to rain so we hailed a cab. Hailed is actually a good word in this case as minutes later the rain turned to hailstones. In June? FFS!!

Dinner was a simple enough fare in a typical Georgian restaurant off the Square then we walked back to the hotel and took a few pictures of the buildings. Tbilisi is well worth a visit if you ever get the chance and the Orion Hotel is definitely worth your money.








185 miles

I'm enjoying this. Thank you for taking the time to post.

Excellent report, thanks, I know very little about these countries so this is a great little look at what they're like.

First thing this morning, after a lovely fried breakfast, jaysus but I missed bacon, we were off in what turned out to be a futile search for new waterproof trousers for Jochen. Not a chance. The local Yamaha dealer only seemed interested in 4x4 quad type things so we motored on.

Our main plan today was to ride in the Caucasus mountains then drop over to the Black Sea coast around Poti and find a hotel for the night. We were just getting to the interesting bits when we were stopped by the military police. It quickly became apparent that we weren't getting any further as we were told that there had been trouble in the disputed territory of South Ossetia following local elections. We saw a couple of EUMM (European Union Monitoring Mission) vehicles pass as we were talking to the police, but there was no way we were getting through.



We then decided to head southwest through mountains towards Batumi and set off in that direction. Around about lunchtime we saw a storm cell approaching and took shelter at a roadside eating place and not a moment too soon as the storm hit. It was lucky that Jochen has no waterproofs as the rain was so bad it would have been dangerous to ride further.



It was probably lucky enough for us that the military police didn't let us up into the mountains as the rain would have made a right mess of the unpaved roads. After and hour and a half delay we had a pretty uneventful ride on wonderful mountain roads to Batumi on the Black Sea coast. On the way we passed a German guy on a 650 Dakar who followed us into town and arranged to have dinner with us. A great evening's craic was had.

















We are now a day or so into our journey west towards Bucharest and home. Tomorrow should see us back into Turkey hugging the Black Sea coast as we make our way towards Istanbul. Inshallah as they say.


279 miles

Nice write up and interesting to see those places. Lotsa rain!! Nothing personal in that hex btw, but there is no one rides through turkey without at least one ticket!

Great report. Keep it coming. Loving the ride thru Turkey, but I am biased

This is making my recent trip seem a bit ordinary!
Enjoying the write up.

Most interesting reading about your travels in places I have very little knowledge off. Liking it liking it a lot. Looking forward to the next instalment