We left Frankfurt Airport shortly after 19:00, right on schedule. Hearing all the announcements on the plane in German and Turkish confirmed that we were indeed headed for an adventure of a lifetime. Up to that point, the whole departure for Turkey had seemed surreal in the hussle and bustle of one of the world's busiest airports.
The plane was not full and we were given a 3 seat row all to ourselves. We saw the light of Antalya right around 23:00 and landed at 10 after. The first people encountered were the Visa sales agents. They did not speak english or german, and I was unable to tell them that we actually wanted multiple entry Visas - as we would be exiting Turkey and re-entering. We settled for the single entry one and will buy another Visa at the Syrian border in a couple of weeks. We then proceeded to passport control, the officer looked us up and down and stamped our passports without saying a word - then cracked a smile when I said "Teshekur" (Thanks) as we left. Again our bags were among the first to come out on the conveyor. The entire terminal is a passenger
only area, security screening is at the door, I guess you can have people wait outside when the warm mediterranean breeze blows year round.
As we exited the terminal, there was a small mob of tour operators waiting and holding up signs... no Pat and Erin sign though. Pat had a brief moment of concern, probably thinking back to the German style punctuality he had grown acustomed to over the previous week. Erin reassured him with a gentle "oh just relax, we're on vacation". And sure enough, within 10 mins, our new best friend, Ali, showed up with the motorcycle rental fellow. We were taken in the darkness to our hotel, after making a stop at the rental shop to finalize paperwork and checkout the bikes.
Pat had asked for 2 honda Transalps, sadly, one had been crashed by a previous customer, they substituted it with a Yamaha XY 660 R. Not a bad bike, but not as cool as the Transalp. It is also taller than the Transalp, so Erin got to ride the Honda...
We got to bed around 02:00 and woke up at 07:00, as we had 640 km of riding ahead of us
to get to Osmaniye. Foolishly Pat had figured that this would take us 8 hours or so. We shall talk more about that later.
We had our first Turkish breakfast at the hotel with Ali. It consisted of bread, olives, tomatoes, cheese and of course, tea. We then packed our gear and were off! The view from the hotel was awesome. Right on the coast. We headed east along the mediterranean. The first 200 km or so were on a highway that made its way through coastal cities and towns, and was dotted with resorts. As we followed Ali on his brand new 105th anniversary edition Heritage Softail Classic, we got our first taste of Turkish driving. The rules of the road here are but a suggestion. Speed limits are an abstract concept. We honestly stopped looking at the speed limit signs as we rode on. Turks are also very enthusiastic about the use of their horns. It takes a very finely tuned ear to distinguish the honk that means "get the hell outta my way" from the one that means "welcome to Turkey my friend".
We stopped for lunch on a Terrace just after 12:00. Here we
got to know Ali a bit more and decided that we really liked this guy. He warned us that the road to come would be a little more curvy. He was not kidding. The highway gave way to a narrow single laned road that twisted and turned through the mountains and cliffs that form this part of the coastline. In some spots, the fogline had crumbled into the 200 foot abyss that led to the ocean. There were no guardrails on most it. Truck traffic made it necessary to pass frequently, and this got done regardless of whether the centre line was solid or not. Those lines are also mere suggestions in Turkey.
For those of you who don't ride, note that motorcycles are a peculiar vehicle, in the sense that they will go in what ever directions the rider happens to be looking. On these roads, it was crucial to maintain this eye lead as we negotiated thousands of turns and switchbacks. It was exhausting but incredible. We averaged 50 km/h throughout that stretch. We passed villagers selling nuts, vegetables and tea on the roadside while their cows and goats grazed in the background.
One of the
most popular forms of transportation here is the scooter. We saw hundreds of villagers heading home from their fields with their wives riding side saddle wearing long, intricate dresses. All helmetless of course. Helmets are a rarity here.
When we were finally done with the coastline, we rode on a 3 lane hıghway that easıly compares to the German Autobahn and rolled up to Osmaniye just after 23:00. We were met at the edge of the cıty by the deputy chıef of polıce and hıs wıfe. Both friends of Ali. He led us to the polıce house, which ıs actually more like a hotel. Basıcally, there are a network of these houses across the country that members of the natıonal polıce can stay at. It was located ın a fenced and garded compound that was also patrolled by members of the specıal forces carryıng some type of machıne gun - who now own SPS hats by the way.
The deputy chıef had made arrangements for the staff to stay late and prepare us dınner, by thıs tıme we were starvıng. We had lamb, salad, bread and Efes beer...whıch from what we can gather ıs as popular here as
Canadıan ıs back home. We also learned that the road we had just travelled from Antalya ıs consıdered to be one of the most dıffıcult ones ın the country, and the deputy´s wıfe was very ımpressed wıth the fact that Erın rode the whole way.
We eventually got to sleep around 02:00, wıth a 8 AM wake up call awaıtıng us...
We have a few more actıon rıdıng shots to post, but they are on Alı´s camera, so they wıll be posted after we get to Istanbul.
LunchBest gas station lunch ever...much better than the Husky
Turkey's Flag
Map of Turkey