Had a typically late start to our first day riding. Got out of bed around 10am and on the road by about 12. Lightening quick really. Getting out of the city prooved an adventure in itself. Traffic was bedlem, each driver seeming to take joy in trying to get as close as possible to me and the trailer of death and then swerving out of the way, somtimes into another car. The poolution was pretty bad as well. Due mainly to an Iranian institution called the Paykan. A tiny sedan that for some reason is allowed on the road. Its main [View Full Entry]

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So inspite of my near undie staining thoughts at the turkish iranian border we passed through unhindered. The Iranian customs didnt even check our bags, dang if only we had decided to smuggle that fifteen litres of Jack Daniels across the border. On the Iranian side I was greeted my snowcapped peaks leading down to a small border town in the valley of the mountains. It really felt like the start of a new adventure. I was pretty pumped. We scored a bus ride to Trabzon. Firstly our new friend Feriboz insisted on shouting us lunch, vein were our efforts [View Full Entry]

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The wait, ohhh the horror and the wait. Now lying in bed in Dorbygzat I was now only 40 or so km's from the Iranian border. My mind wandering in all sorts of directions, I couldnt believe that after all the waiting, planning and dreaming I was finally going to get to Iran. Just had to hope that the Turkish border guards let me out of Turkey, inspite of my visa being 5 days expired..... (the reassuring words of the Erzerum police "it will only cost ten us dollars as a punishment" were ringing hollow in their intention). Saddled up and [View Full Entry]

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Not going into too much detail on our timely but somewhat meloncholy departure from Erzerum. We bade a fond farewell to "Ayran alley", walked along "overhead bridge" road once again, and finally strolled pass "piece of shit car" path. All these places having been given these rather odd names due to spending way too much time in Erzerum. Ahhh, how many hours did we spend discussing the relative kebap attributes of the half dozen kebab houses along Ayran alley. "well, kebab house a put on some extra salad yesterday" "hhmmm good point, but house b does the creamer ayran. you [View Full Entry]

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After a great spell in Bulgaria, unfortunately we had to head back to Turkey. It was a sad farewell as we boarded a bus from Plovdiv to Istanbul. I vowed a return trip to see more of the country and of course more of Sophia (there are still a couple of pubs i need to goto). The bus ride was pretty uneventful. That was until we had to arrange tickets to get from Istanbul back to Erzerum (another 20 hours away) We got off the bus at the heaving Istanbul otogar around 9pm and straight away got down to the business [View Full Entry]

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As the anethisis of healthy good living long distance cyclists we decided on a whim to head to Bulgaria for a week. This rather random decision came about due to bearacracy! We sidled up to the Iranian consultate in Erzerum pretty much as soon as we got to town. To be told that we would have to wait 10 days for a response on our application. The main reason that Bulgaria was chosen was that the capital Sophia was the only eastern european city on the Lonely Planet Turkey map. After a good stint on the bike and leading a lifestyle [View Full Entry]

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Photos now. Words later. Sophia rocks! [View Full Entry]

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We woke the next day, feeling somewhat seedy after no having showered for about 5 days. Our mission was to get cleansed at a Hammam- a Turkish bath house. Firstly we took a merry stroll around the city of Sanilurfa. The town has seen many people of religious significance both Muslim and Christian pass through its ancient streets. It is claimed to be the birthplace of Abraham and apparently Jeasus dropped in at some stage. Dominating the town is a massive citadel perched high on a hill overlooking the city. When we were there its grey walls that ran about 300m [View Full Entry]

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It was a genuinely sad goodbye to our hosts this morning. Kahleed seemed pretty bummed that we couldnt hang about and eat and have tea. And I reckon I would have obliged if we werent so keen to get to Turkey and onwards to Iran. Rode towards the border. Stopped in a small town and had some fellaffells with our last Syrian pounds. Sure enough we were invited to have tea. Of course we obliged. Got to the border. And here the fun started. After some broken communication I was told that I couldnt cross the border to Turkey as my [View Full Entry]

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As we woke the pump was definately there! Nice blue sky and no wind. Saddled up and in about twenty minutes the clouds came in. Dang. Rode on and on crap headwind to contend with and the occasional patch of rain. Well I spose we had had a good run. Pulled over for an early lunch and by the time we finished you wouldnt believe it....the sun was out and our enthusiasm came back! Cycled on and on. Flat road, sun was out and we were aiming for Turkey. As the day drew to a close we had a chat and [View Full Entry]

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