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Published: October 5th 2009
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About to get dirty
Off roading on a borrowed DRZ, thanks Ian. And very good it was too. Trails were amazing, like the old days..Symon knows what I mean. Cyprus is a nice little island, quite a decent mountain range in the middle and a fair bit of history to it, There is also the best bar on camp with dirt cheap beer and brandy sours to die for, or at least get pickled with!
Was trying to get a container ship to take me to Israel, that was ok, but because iCame from Turkey it means it is now illegal to travel out via the south, crazy.
Jumped up little shit at the port customs was telling me how the Turks took his land, he forgot to say about the money that they all get as compensation,suppose it slipped his tiny little mind.
Had a ride around the Island exploring , said hi to Aphrodite and cast a wish and attempted to get to the Iranian embassy,but got called back as it was happy hour in the officers mess at 3.
Quick shower then to the mess where we proceeded to get pretty merry,jugs of brandy sour were the order of the day!!!! the harrier boys are in town all combat suits and shades, its just like top gun... but annoyingly they all seem like good kids, and kids
Messy night
Hmm i seem to be holding a drink in either hand.Who say men cant multi task? they are !!
On saturday we went to limmosoll water park and what a great time i had, hope i didnt embarrass joe too much with my whiteness.lol.
On sunday we went off roading for the full day , me on a borrowed drz400 and woody on his, shelley on a bmw 450x and another guy dave i think on a ktm 450. Warmed up on the salt flats and riding some dunes, met the guys for a memorial for a girl that got killed riding her bike on the road a few years ago whom worked at the base, then we hit the trails. Took a couple of tumbles in a quarry very frustrating, quite big and sharp boulders and steep climbs.After that the trails were sublime and went on for miles, we had a few good climbs to negotiate I am happy that i didn't make a fool of myself and that i cleaned ruths hill that someone who shall remain nameless took three or was it four attempts at..lol
We stopped for tea and chips at the regular haunt in the troodos mountain range, whereupon the guys returned home and me and woody continued getting extremely wet
water park
Me Symon Dawn and Joe went to the water park at limassol, rumours that frosty the snowman made an appearance were found to be untrue due to a thunderstorm high in the mountains, and then wet with sweat in 30oC at sea level, at the end of the day I ached and the memory of sliding around on those fire roads will stay with me for a long time.
Typing this lying in bed after a nice shower at a pension near to tasacu port.The trip from akrotiri went better than could have been hoped for, used the A roads to nicosia, a scooter rider shown me how to get to the checkpoint, altered a little bit of paperwork and that was it, into turkey again, no cost incurred. Got to the port and was planning stoping over at the ship inne but called in at the furgan agent and found a ferry about to leave, it was 40 lire more than the other way !!! Im sure they make the prices up at the time.
There was the normal port charge 6lire at kyrenia and when i got to tasucu there was another 20lire port charge but the sailing was calm and it was less manic and as i had some idea of the formalities it seemed to go more smoothly.Sailing started
Troodos
A view of the mountain range, 1900mts and unsurprisingly different to the coast at twelve, well boarding did , didnt sail for another hour, and we docked at around 9, another hour to get the paperwork sorted and was in the pension for 10.15.I can still picture the glisten of the full moon on the still waters as we headed for Turkey, was one of those moments that I wanted to share with someone.
Was going to stop in the hotel i used on the first visit here, but it was not that clean, this place is spotless and bike seems secure enough, wanted 40 lire so started to walk, and he said 30 so deal done then when getting the stuff off the bike I asked about a restaurant, he said sit done and his wife brought me out a bowl of bean stew, with bits of meat in it not too spicey. a bowl of rice and noodles, and a bowl of salad and a loaf of bread, on top of this a bottle of water and a cup of tea, and then they wouldn't take anything for it !!!!lush.
Today woke nice and early, had breakfadt at the pension and then headed south, took the coast road where possible
Final nights meal
Another good night, drunk? not us as its more scenic, downside is it takes longer. Got to checkpoint with Syria but found the coastal one is millitary only the guys were cool and had a little chat and I headed for inland check, found it and got through turkish checks all four seperate ones to find the Syrian tosser wouldnt issue a visa, could just wouldnt! Had to get back into turkey and then find a hotel. Tomorrow going to north where syrian embassy is.Did I tell you I had a little run in with the fuzz, a slight indiscretion !!!seemed to be almost going double the speed limit. So there are road laws here !!!!!
Journal Entry: Monday, October 05, 2009
Time: 10:06 AM
Right now im sitting in a little internet and copy shop in Gazientep on the Turkish Syrian border, the embassy will not give me a visa unless they get a faxed note from the British embassy at Ankara, This is what im waiting for...
yesterday was fairly mundane by my latest accounts.
A quite ride north, no police problems (but they were everywhere pulling cars over) and i didnt get lost to often.
got to the city where
Turkey
Imagine being a Greek Cypriot and seeing that everyday !!!
the embassy resides, whilst looking around found a bank to withdraw the money for yesterdays fine, grabbed a drink and some pastries from a nice( read posh ) shop next door, when i asked for directions and they new i was ahem lost! they wouldnt take any money off me, it warms my heart every tme this happens.
Still struggle to find the embassy even with supplied address so i stop at a police station, what a stroke of luck.
had tea and a long chat with a guy with a machine gun!! who introduced me to his boss who introduced me to the big boss, a major who extremely charming had a bit of a darkness about him,i thought it a good time to pay the fine, he phoned the big big boss who said forget the fine it was ok, enjoy turkey.....slowly.
He also told me there was a 60kmh flat limit for bikes!!! no wonder the fine was so high.
not only did i get that sorted but the major put me up in a police hotel for a couple of nights, it was cheap and secure, the bike was inside the lobby. but the room although
Nice
Its not all bad very old was clean it had the overriding pungent smell of a thousand sweaty bobbys that had used it in times gone by, but beggars cant be choosers.And you dont notice after an hour or two.
the nightlife is how shall i say, different, street vendors, hustle and bustle, food stalls springing up everywhere, clothes being sold from blankets on the pavement and very islamic.It is also dry!!!!!!!!! when i asked for a beer with my meal it nearly stopped the restaurant, settled for a coke.
Just now the chap here brought me a cup of tea and a table to put the computer on,typical of the people of turkey, why cant these people work at the embassies ?
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