Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 5

We had breakfast overlooking the pool and the Black Sea. What an outlook. Breakfast was one of the better ones we've had too. The tardus like stomachs of my travelling buddies defies reason, I don't know how they do it and then ride straight after. We got away at 9am, no hurry today as we only have 45kms to ride into Istanbul with a 2pm check-in, plenty of time. Our ride out of Kumkoy is uphill, not too steep to start with but then it turns uphill viloently for almost two kilometers averaging 14%. None of us can get to the top without having to have a break. We regroup at the top and continue on to the town of Bahcekoy and then turn towards the Bosphorus River. Considering the climb we had just done it ... read more

We found a great place for dinner last night which meant we ate way too much, I also found somewhere that sells halva on the way back to the hotel so we all enjoyed some with a coffee back at the Hotel. Breakfast was a bit meagre this morning but considering we didin't realise it was included I guess we can't complain. We did manage to get on the road by 8:45am which was good considering the distance we have to do today. As soon as we left town the undulations began, up and down, up and down. Eventually this takes quite a toll on your legs. The scenery today was much more interesting. Up and down means lots of spurs and gullys. We are in an area that is mostly forested which provides for a ... read more

As we walked back to the hotel from dinner last night the thing we all noticed was that the temperature had dropped and the wind had picked up. When we looked out the window this morning, if anything, the wind had gotten stronger. We got away from the hotel at 8:30am after a good breakfast. I think The Plaza might just have been the best hotel we have had on the trip. Getting out of Edirne was hectic. The road we left on was extremely busy and in very bad condition with no shoulder at all. We had to be on our guard the whole time until we exited the city. We were then on a smaller road with no shoulder for a while, but much less traffic, until we turned onto the D20. This was ... read more

Before we left this morning we all plugged in our destination, Edirne, into our route app, MAPS.ME (M.M). Those that follow the blog know I've been having issues with M.M and it was doing it again this morning. Jeff was the only one who get get the App to route along the course we wanted into Greece, Tom led us off. We had to back track a little way to go over a bridge and swing down into Greece. At this stage M.M gave me a route that was much shorter than Tom had for the back track, so we followed that and duely ended up on barely discernible dirt and grass tracks for about 2kms. Eventually we hit the main road and the "short cut" had cost us about 15 minutes. Not happy, Again! What ... read more

I have recently changed roles and the new project requires a lot of interaction between various offices, so I traveled to our office in Ankara, Turkey to meet the team and see how they intend to complete this project. They were sooooo incredibly nice! They definitely spoiled me by taking good care of me for two days. It really reminded me of my old office in Ventura, California and I got a little nostalgic and even homesick. It was quiet and easy paced, and everyone seemed to respect and value each other. Though they work fairly long hours! The office was located in the older downtown area near the embassy, with great views over the city. However, they have a new office that is being completed and will soon move there, out of this area instead. ... read more