Getting around without a GPS can be quite stressful ( I would swear at this point but this is a family blog so I wont) A few more wrong turns later and we were in Prague.Rode from near Tarp in to Berlin today. Only a distance of 350 or so klm's but took a bit out of us today. We got into the outskirts of Berlin and searched for a camping spot on the GPS as per normal practice. The GPS finished up taking us quite a few kms through traffic, and heavy traffic it was to a non existant site. First time it has done that , but 2nd site was ok, all up about 40-50kms of riding to find the camp spot took it out of us. The countryside in this part of Germany is rolling hills and pretty flat. Some nice forested areas and quaint little towns dotted everywhere.
Staying at a campsite near a river and there are barges carrying cargo up and down the river. There is a forest on the other side of the camp. We are staying between Potsdam and Berlin.
We had a big day out. Had to get a front and back tyre for the bike as well as brake pads. Yes i must be a bit heavy on the back brakes at times. The journey for tyres took us all over town. We ended up doing about 70kms in city traffic for the day, thank god for the GPS. The brakes alone meant a journey of 18kms. Along the way we saw lots of Berlin, It is a big congested city. Lovely in parts but after being in the Scandinavian wilderness for a few weeks it was tough. We saw a few sights along the way. The Brandinburg gate, the Zoo, various other monuments but the traffic leaves us a bit cold and we are wondering whether to move on to more natural surrounds.

25th
We headed of this morning towards Czech. Road down to Dresden via autobahn then onto A roads into the Czech republic. It was amazing the transition into Czech. The building are much older and more original here. It has a real character about it, the road signs are reasonable, thank christ coz our gps hasnt got any more relevant maps on it till India. Now we have to go back to manual navigation and our maps are pretty poor. See how it goes. There are heaps of forests and the other thing I have noticed is the birds sounds are more prolific and louder, its lovely. We have free camped tonight even though it is relatively cheap here, the reason is we resolved that when we saw the camping park where we would stay the night we would ride 2-3 kms up the road to see if there is a freecamp, tonight there was. So we are camped on a river in a valley in another lovely spot.
New tyres are good but make the bike handle a little differently.
The other big transition today has been the prices of things. In Norway an icecream was around $10 aus, in Germany it was about $4, here it was $1.20. Havnt got much else to compare with so far so will see. Hopefully we have gone past the more expensive places now and are in the low cost countries.
Weather was perfect today, not much wind, temp around 25deg C.

26th saturday Prague
Slept in this morning. It was so nice. We payed the consequences though. first we had a visit from the local sheriff. He sort of told us that we were illegally camping and wasnt impressed. I just smiled lots and said Australia lots and he left us with a terse message that we should camp in camp grounds ( at least that is what I think he said).
Then came the visit from the local writers guild. It seems where we camped was across the river from where a famous author wrote his books. The whole bus load were very interested in our trip and hung around for quite a while. ( they were waiting to be moved across the river by boat). the price you pay for sleeping in.
Then on the road towards Prague. We took thee scenic route to Prague some of which was meant to be some of which was accidental. Getting around without a GPS can be quite stressful ( I would swear at this point but this is a family blog so I wont) A few more wrong turns later and we were in Prague. Absolutely beautiful and we have only touched the surface.We found the tourist information then headed for a campground. Another stressful navigation process to the campground and I am completely over this navigation by brail. I think some more maps for the gps is in order, and quick before I have a total meltdown.
These times are when I realise the long term effects PTSD has had on me. Not so long ago I had a wonderful ability to look at a map then follow the route I plan in my mind, Now I go around one corner and feel totally lost. I cant remember route numbers from minute to minute, I turn the wrong way and have to do U turns, I have even stopped without thinking and nearly had a car up my clacker, so something needs to be resolved with this soon.

Spent the arvo just sitting around camp. Couldnt bring myself to riding back into town just yet. Maybe a tram into town tomorrow.

Sunday 27th

Woke up to a hot tent. What a wonderful feeling (sort of). It is a lovely sunny day in a beautiful city. We decided to have a rest from navigation (on the bike) and catch the tram into town. We walked into the main town square and took a tour of Prague by bus just to get a picture of the historical city. What a place, gives a lovely impression from every angle. Sure some of the infrastructure is ageing but it gives a really nice feeling of strength of character and beauty mixed together. I love it, it is a gorgeous city in so many ways. After our tour of the town we found an internet cafe and updated the blog, finally. It has taken awhile but we acheived it. Then the banking etc, etc.
Then walked around town for a few hours and back to camp for tea then went for a walk to botanical gardens for a look around.
Looking forward to seeing James and Anna tomorrow and hopefully sorting out GPS software for archos and maps of area from here through Turkey.

From germany to istambulPrague
Packed up from the campground and rode into town to catch up with James and Anna. James fly’s home tomorrow, so we just wanted to say a quick hello/goodbye and quickly download and install some GPS software for the GPS. Well, what is it they say about plans,
Caught up with James and Anna for lunch then took Anna for a ride on the motorbike then went back to where they were staying to quickly download the maps and software we needed. We didn’t realize it was A 2GB download and it was going to take forever and when it completed James computer would freeze because the 2gb we had downloaded would fill up his computer.
We did achieve some stuff but 11pm was getting a bit late and it was only on Anna’s pc that we resolved most of the issue. Anyway they had a lovely night (they did go out and leave us to resolving the computer and gps problems) and they looked happy when they came back.
We were fortunate because there was a little hotel just down the street from where James and Anna were staying and Bron organized that and carted all the stuff in while I played with computers. Oh, I just love playing with computers.

TUESDAY 29TH

Bitov -Czech

Travelled from Prague today after staying at a lovely little hotel just down from where James and Anna were staying. Had trouble sleeping, think I got a bit stressed yesterday coz downloading and installing GPS software didn’t go well. It was an easy pack up, the hotel provided breakfast ( continental ) in the $50 aus room. So as we did not resolve the gps issue we decided to ride down south of Czech today and this meant navigation without gps once again. We resolved to not get stressed about it. The ride out of the city went surprisingly trouble free. Even though we were lost we knew if we rode in the one direction long enough we would come across the ring road that would lead us to the Autobahn south. Got on the Autobahn (I think we were supposed to pay) and got out of town and down south nice and easily , with a stopover for an arvo nap. Headed out towards Anna’s castle (James Czech girlfriends family home) and we are staying the night in a camping park not far from the castle.
The scenery on the way down here was lovely green rolling hills. Some forested, but mostly farm land. Some really nice architecture along the way particularly in Znojmo.

Wed 30th june Bron and my 4th anniversary of knowing each other and 1st wedding anniversary.

From germany to istambul

Woke up very late, we had been smart enough to setup the tent so it would be in the shade in the morning. So once we had sorted some more gear (another 2kg to send home) and packed up it was 12 midday. We headed straight to Anna's castle and had a meeting with Anna's dad.

From germany to istambul

From germany to istambul

It was really lovely having a chat with him ( via a guide that acted as an interpreter) we both have a similar feeling about James and Anna and their relationship. I felt a real warmth from him and really enjoyed how he was. He was really caring and passionate about Vranov nad dyji castle. Then we had a lovely tour of the castle and chapel from 2 guides that were also very nice. We said our goodbyes and then we headed towards Znojmo. This is the central town to the area. We spent some time here and the buildings were some of the best architecture I had seen outside a capital. Around every corner there seemed to be a large church or building. Makes me wonder how much things have changed here since Znojmo peak as a district capital.
|From there we headed the short distance to Vienna where we are staying the night in a pension near the centre of town (quite reasonable at $70 aus with breakfast). Vienna is a georgeous city with some amazing architecture that seems to me to be outstanding in everyway. Bron and I had a nice horse and carriage ride and went out to tea to celebrate our anniversaries. Then we walked the streets for a couple of hours and then retired to our rooms to write our diaries.

1st june
Vienna to Leoven
We had a reasonable start this morning, didnt have to pack up much stuff. We thought we would visit a small piece of the Austrian alps today before we headed east into Hungary. So we headed up the mountains on a tourist road recommended by our Europe map. It turned out to be a wonderful choice. The road through here is generally a motorcycle paradise. There are some really rough bits here and there, but the rest of the road had some of the best alps scenery, with steep rocky mountains, some small villages and some mountain streams/rivers of an amazing turquoise color with clear fresh water, thrown in for good measure.
We only did a short ride today because I have a bit of a health issue that needs a bit of time to resolve and the alps roads are not the perfect place to resolve anything to do with health.
We didnt have any hairy moments today although I was tempted to get into it, lots of times. There were heaps of boy racers getting stuck in and it looked like they were having good fun, I resolved to just enjoy the scenery and get through the trip upright.

From germany to istambul

We are staying in a tiny camp ground tonight. It took ages to find it because it is hidden behind a motel.

02/07/2010
Rode from Leoven to the Hungarian border on the Autobahn. Then just settled for A roads. The transition from Austria to Hungary was more marked than the one from Germany to Czech. The buildings here in Hungary are not as cared for as the Czech ones near the border. The towns are generally cleaner and in Czech and there seems to be more gardens and better infrastructure in Czech. But the Hungarians seem very helpful and friendly. They make a real effort to communicate and help wherever they can. I think I have seen more smiles here from the Hungarians in a day than I have seen in a day anywhere else. The countryside here is pretty without being startling. We have seen lots of agricultural land and rolling hills. The crops seem really healthy and there is lots of corn being grown.
We havnt sorted our gps yet so we are navigating manually but the road signs here are good so far. There is lots of roadwork going on so sometimes the progress is slow, the weather is quite humid and hovered around 33c all day today which is quite hot when you are stopped in the sun.
Tonight we are camped near a very large lake about 100kms south of Budapest. I think that most of Hungary are here, because there isnt much space left on the side of the lake we are on. The campground we are in has a train line running about 30metres from where we are camped, since I have been sitting her (20 min) about 8-10 trains (passenger) have gone past. Hope that doesnt continue.

From germany to istambul

3rd July 2010
Traveled into Budapest today. Another scorcher over 35deg c all day. I didnt get up till late, had a couple of waking moments when I thought a train was going to run over us. The ground was vibrating and the sound was tremendous. Then another then another, gee the train lines here are busy right through the night. Lucky we slept within 10 metres of one, we wouldnt have known that otherwise and we wouldnt be able to pass it on to you guys.
We got somewhat lost again, (no gps)and didnt go down the tourist route we had chosen the night before. Couldnt find the road that took us there.
Tonight we are staying in a camp in someones backyard, next door there is a hall and in there there is some people playing traditional Hungarian music to a group of locals, it sounds wonderful. They are celebrating someones birthday. All of them are singing along with the group, lovely. They are singing Hungarian songs that they all seem to know as well as some western classics such as que sera sera, this is sort of in English, but only just discernible as English.
We have downloaded a free GPS software program that hopefully gets us through until the one we purchased works.

4th July
Today stayed in Budapest and looked around. First of all though I called Cal and James to say hello, then a call to dad to keep him informed about our whereabouts and to check up on him. Then we did a quick pack up and moved camp ( there were a bus load of 16yo kids coming to this one and it was only a backyard).
Setup at the new camp the of to look around and do some tourist things.
We travelled into the centre of town then along the Danube and then up to the “statue of liberty” on a hill next to the castle. All very pretty, but very run down and in need of some tlc. Everywhere you go in Budapest there are beautiful buildings and monuments. They are mostly in poor condition with some having had a recent repair or facelift. This place would have been absolutely amazing in its hay day.
We chose to have an early day because we are both a bit stuffed from the last few nights with poor sleep due to trains and people around us.
We caught up on some washing, and sorted some photos on the computer then had tea went for a walk then write diaries.( its the routine now when we are camped like this)
Weather was nice today, late 20s early 30s all day, not as muggy as yesterday. We are still acclimatising to the heat.

From germany to istambul

5th July
Late start again, getting to be a habit. We were in 2 minds whether to stay around and do nothing or pack up and ride up along side the Danube. We did the later. But due to GPS difficulties we missed a turn and did a few extra kms again. Danube was nice but not as pretty as some of the other rivers we have been along. We turned inland and headed east to find a camping spot after a late lunch, this turned out to be harder than we are used to. Rode for 100kms without seeing or finding a camp. We stopped and asked people but none knew of any in the area. So we ended up moteling it, I was buggered and I was starting to get fatigued so we took the soft option.(still hard enough to find a motel). Had a really nice tea and we are sitting back relaxed in our room tonight.

Headed to the south of Hungary and found a town just inside the border that has a reputation as the healing town of Hungary. It has hot baths, a turkish fort in the middle of town, and is generally a lovely town. We found a good camp ground aptly named Marks Camp. We chose to stay for 2 nights but the 2nd day it rained most of the day and we read and lazed around and changed the oil on the bike went for a walk for the day.

Next day crossed the border to Romania. First real border crossing. Where they bother to check anything. They wanted the papers for the bike but were very nice and helpful with everything.
Onto the countryside we first noticed that the roads had improved (not for long) and the towns seem further apart. We are now heading towards a scenic road that leads us to Bulgaria and the Horizons unlimited meeting.

Scenic road rough but amazing, with snow

From scandinavia south to istambul

From scandinavia south to istambul

lost again
Unfortunately we were unaware that to get from Romania to Bulgaria we had to go through Ruse. We though we would meander down the road that looked like it continued across the Danube. But when we got there and asked where and how to get to the other side we were told we had to go through Ruse. This meant another 2-300kms of rough road. It was interesting riding along the rode next to the border. It was friday afternoon and all of the local villages were full of people out on the streets talking with the children playing on the road. The occasional horse and cart about to add some visual impact to what we were seeing. It was a lovely scene, such simple lifestyles, no supermarkets, nothing other than corner stores (milkbars) such a simple life these people have yet some of them probably yearn for “a better life”. I wonder.

We got to Georgiana on the Romanian side of Ruse and there were no signs to say how to get to Ruse, amazing. After asking a multitude of people and riding around in circles a couple of times we managed to find our way across and into the border guards clutches for half an hour or so then onto Ruse for a hotel room for the night.

From scandinavia south to istambul

Staying in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our first posh hotel. ($40 aus with breakfast). It was nice but Ruse was a bit run down to say the least. A hot night, hot and muggy.

Getting to Horizons meeting
Got up late and had our breakfast, (average for a posh hotel) then off down the road towards Idilevo. The amount of police on the roads was unbeleivable. Seemed like they were everywhere, if only they could reallocate them jobs fixing roads, and putting direction signs life would be heaps better. We had another tough morning navigating, we got into the town where we had to turn right and the roadwork people had blocked the main road through the city as they were working on the roundabout in the middle of town. But no-one had thought to tell you how to get around the roadwork and back onto the main road. We did about 10kms trying to get back to that damn road and ended up in woop woop on a road that felt like more of a 4wd track. (lovely scenery though) Finished up getting back on the main road then there were no signs telling us where we had to go. It seemed like we road around and through that town for hours. After 2-3 hours we completed the 120kms and got to the “motocamp bulgaria” in idilevo. It felt like a haven from all of the ills of everything that had gone on for the past couple of days. We were fortunate to meet Doug and Poly (who run motocamp Bulgaria) and also Grant and |Susan Johnson from Horizons unlimited. (more about that later)
It was a fantastic meeting, we got there a bit late and missed some of the talks but the talks we heard were great. ( tyre changing, ergonomics, Dougs trip through Russia, Turkey trips, Women only) The horizons video's were going as well and it was fantastic to watch them again as I took so much more in as the information feels more experiential for us now. It was fantastic to meet some local Bulgarians, such a wonderful lot of people. There were other travellers there, some from the UK ( Anita (brons lost twin) and partner Mathew) a couple from Iceland ( on Vstrom 1000, and 650) a couple from Switzerland on bmw r1200gs's

We had a fantastic time there and I am sure we will meet some of the people that were there again. The camp was a real haven in a foreign land. I suppose it is because there are people there that you can speak freely with in english so it makes it all so much easier.

12/07/10
We rode Idilevo to the border with Turkey.
Some lovely scenery, some really nice little towns and tonight we stay in a nice little town full of lovely gardens and really nice houses. Bulgaria really has some contrasting places, from places as stark and run down as Ruse, to great countryside around Idilevo, to thick forests near the border it seems to change with every turn.