We didnt feel like we could have all of this criteria met coming into a small town on the eastern most region of Turkey, but we always try. Well we arrived in town and asked a local where a hotel was. He organised for a motorcycle escort to the hotel which we followed through a myriard of streets. We go to the hotel and were immediately surrounded by 10-20 people. As is the normal course of events, Bron goes inside and finds out about the accomodation while I stay outside this time with the mob. Bron gave the ok but we didnt have lock up facilities for the bike but the hairdresser next door to the hotel offered his shop to lock the bike up in. Well we were taken back but thought we would have our first haircuts of the trip to thank him for his generousity. We entered Turkey with mixed feelings. Motocamp Bulgaria was such a haven and what were we letting ourselves into by leaving that haven and heading to Istambul and unfamiliar territory. As we moved into Turkey things started to feel familiar, maybe because it was more European but maybe because I had high expectations of Turkey.

Getting to Yetsin and Orsan's place
Before we got to Istambul and Turkey I had contacted the Istambul Horizons group for some info on accomadation and where I could get some parts for the bike. I got an answer back from 2 people. Bora I will talk about later but the other reply was from Yetkin. He offered to assist us with where to get parts and servicing done but also offered for us to stay with him and his flat mate Orsan. I discussed this with Bron and we thought that we would give it a go and if it didnt work out we could always move. Well we could not have asked for a better welcome to Turkey and Istambul. Yetkin and Orsan opened their house to us and we couldnt have asked for two nicer blokes to spend time with.Yetkin spent time showing us around and took us out to see some of the Istambul nightlife with one of his friends. He also took us around the Istambul motorbike shops and he even organised for the Vstrom to get a wash. I went along to the Turkish Vstrom club meeting and it was fantastic to be welcomed along by so many people. They were all so interested in what we were doing and all had really interesting stories around their lives( as much as I could find out in the few hours I was with them)
All up it was so wonderful that Yetkin and Orsan put us up for the 5-6 days we were in Istambul. When you spend time with the locals you learn so much more than when you are relatively isolated in a hotel room or campground. Yetkin spent time with us discussing all matters from working conditions, religion as well as discussing a wonderful conversation peice with any Turk, Ataturk.

Having the local knowledge that Yetkin has he was able to tell us how to get into Istambul by local transport and get around without having to get taxi's. It was good fun using the local transport once we got over the first day.

Staying in Istambul
I really enjoyed my time in Istambul, It is almost crazily busy 24 hours a day you can hear things going on, horn blasts, the call to prayer, the sound of the city that are more constant and overbearing than anywhere else I have been. I dont think that it is a city that ever relaxes, it has a feeling that if it relaxes it will get bowled over by some crazy in a taxi or bus.

The building workers
At the rear of the building where Yetkin and Orsan live they were building a new block of flats, nothing unusual about that just the work went on 7 days a week from early morning until near dark. And looking out at them they were working in 35+ degrees, going flat out, working in conditions and doing jobs that in Australia we would pack up and go home. It was so different watching them compared to watching workers on building sites in Aus.

The ferries
In Victoria we dont catch many ferries but I have been to Sydney a few times and seen how the ferry system there works, Well the ones in Istambul are amazing. It is like the traffic system, pushing each other out of the way and when they do dock it is everyone off (either across the 500mm wide gangplank or jump of the side onto the dock. So much more simple, less structure and it all seemed to work really well, and it was cheap.

The oh&s of Istambul or should I say all of Turkey.
After spending 4-5 weeks getting around Turkey I have seen some sights that have horified me from a occupational health and safety standpoint (also from a paramedic standpoint) There are holes in the road, the footpath, the rough terrain that you need to cover to go anywhere, even tourist attractions, major walkways roads, roadworks etc etc they all have what we see in Australia as major hazards to safety yet here they are a part of life that no one seems to take much notice of. But after the time here I see that people actually look for these things and take responsibility for seeing where they are walking and they expect these "hazards" so they dont fall in the hole. It is a different way to look at health and safety.

The drivers
Oh the drivers. At home, when I get out on the open road I usually unconsciously relax a little. I keep scanning ahead and behind but generally relax. Not here, not for one second do I or can I, the second I relax there is someone up my backside wanting to pass, coming from a side road, just pulling out, or changing or wandering lanes without looking out for someone in the next lane. I have been on full brakes, with back brakes locked up countless times here and when we are in the big cities it gets worse. There are lanes painted on the road and some people treat them like they are pilots and should have the line under the middle of the vehicle, others treat them like they should have the line under the driver. Even when there is a vehicle coming the other way, or if they are passing you on a freeway this rule seems to stick. They seem to be in a crazy hurry to pass, doesnt matter if it is on a blind corner, if the vehicle in front isnt going fast enough that is excuse enough to pass. You have to watch it on mountain roads because they run wide on every corner. Even when you are stopped at lights they squeeze in beside you toot constantly and take of before the lights turn to green.
There seems to be one rule for the rich drivers here and that is do whatever you want whenever you want, the people in newer BMW's Audis' and Range Rovers all seem to sit about 40-50kms an hour over the speed limit and be inches of your tail if you are not doing the same. They will drive within millimetres of the side of you with two wheels in your lane passing you going twice your speed.
Crazy
The amazing thing here is they get out of the car and they are wonderful people again, there is no malicousness about how tthey are driving, that is just the way they are.

The buses
There seems to be 4 types of public transport in Turkey.
The Taxi usually small to medium size yellow cab. (crazier than our cabies)
The Van- like a big taxi that has a destination and people get on if they are going that way. (works well but drivers are still crazy ( if it is hot they leave their side doors open)
The small Bus.- This is like a cut down about 1/3 size real bus. They drive along certain routes and bip their horns and they stop anywhere, anytime to drop off or pick up passengers. They drive within millimeters of other vehicles. They are quite cheap and run a great service.
The big bus- seems to work in a similar way to a normal bus service in Aus.

Looking around Istambul
It was like I had never been here before in some ways. The visit to Istambul last time was like I blinked and saw a very quick glimpse of some sights of Istambul. This time it was like we were somewhat absorbed into Istambul. ( thanks to Yetsin and some maturity I think) I saw a completely different place. It still is a beautiful place with so many wonderfull sights but I feel like I saw the people for the first time, I saw some of the workings of the place, I still love it but it was an eye opening experience. The nights that Yetkin took me out to the Vstrom club and then to central Istambul at night I saw the constant hussle and bustle of the city, at midnight it was still as busy (if not busier) as during the day.

The night with the Turkey VStrom club let me see how some of the people here in Turkey relate, and helped me see that they have some wonderful ways of relating that we in the west have lost in some ways, we are generally far more reserved in our affection towards each other yet they are far more expressive in that way. I love the way they are.
Getting around/learning the ropes (riding behind Yetsin)
Yetkin showed me where to get some parts for my bike and get the bike washed so I followed him on around for a while riding behind him. It was a good chance to learn how to ride like a local and see some of the techniques he uses to aleiviate some of the hassles that riders seem to have here.

We took leave of Yetkin and Orsins as we had a 5 day wait until ourr Indian Visa were due to be picked up and we went up along the black sea.
Yet more and more GPS hassles,
We were able to finally get the gps program running on my phone but the next hassle was/is that whenever the phone got hot (over 40deg) it went into a reboot cycle, which meant that it became useless as a GPS. When it was working it was great but everyday here seems to be over 35c so in the hot sun after a short time the phone/gps becomes unworkable. More stress, I cant beleive that it has taken weeks to get the program running and when I finally do the bloody thing doesnt work.

Staying on the Black sea coast – (Erigli)
It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Istambul for a while and spend some time on the coast. But our eyes were opened again to the fact that Turkey has a large popu;ation and they seem to love the coast. People everywhere.
The next thing that struck us and continues to strike us is the rubbish everywhere. After the weeks we have spent in Turkey now, we can see the problem is everywhere here. Its not just a bit of rubbish here and there it is an enourmous problem here.

Safranbolu
turkish architecture
We stayed a night at Safranbolu so we could have a look around the town. It has some beautiful old buildings, a caravanaserie and a turkish bath. We made the same old mistake of picking a place to stay on a hill near a road so the tractors and trucks could wake us up nice and early.

Yes we are looking after our work boots.

The camp ground from hell
(Agva) 20lira
We though we could do with some time at the sea side and have a nice swim in the black sea and thought we had come across a nice little campground on the coast that looked nice and seemed quite. The beach turned out to be full of rubbish, the water was lovely, the showers were a garden hose strung over a tarp, the toilets were a hole in the ground with a bit of concrete on top. For some reason the bloke plonked some people who turned up later right next to us and they seemed to like their music really loud. What a place. It seemed cheap but the next morning we learnt that there was a problem with interpretation and 3tl became 30tl.

The next day we had problems with the GPS again and we got lost went round in circles and did some 4 wd work in 35 deg C and nearly ran over chooks, All the navigational problems are doing my head in.

We headed back into Istambul and picked up our Indian Visa and along the way we had a decent downpour. The first rain we had seen for a couple of weeks. But did it come down, it was sure a heavy duty downpour and the highway became a waterway. Still as can be assured the Turkish drivers continued on their merry way driving like there is no tomorrow.

Instead of riding the 2-300km trip to Banderma to get tyres we took the easy way out and caught the ferry from Istambul. So easy compared to tackling the roads out of Istambul again.

We had organised some tyres to be put on the bike in Bandarrama or Urdek. This was done through Bora who I had contacted through the Horizons Istambul group. This was another wonderful experience of what Turkish people are like. He couldnt do enough to help us. He organised fitting and balancing, found us a camp site, and brought us lunch. He was a really nice guy to chat to, he showed us through his photos of his bike trips and couldnt do enough for us.

Galipoli and camp Cum.
I had checked whether Camp Cum was still in existance near Anzac cove and from what I could find out it was still there. When we arrived there, it had gone out of business about 5 years ago and has been replaced (like so many things in Turkey) with a resort. They had camping but only for campervans and thir hotel rooms were 200tl per night. Blood rip off. We went up to another campground and they were booked out so we free camped at Cape Helles for the night. It was a lovely spot and a nice secluded beach. Probably better than most other beached around there. It was a funny feeling to camp where so many thousand people had died. They may have been English and French but we were still camping on a battle ground.
Looked around Galipoli and the Anzac graves the next day. It has changed so much since I was here in 1986. Some of the changes are good but the most seem to be to cope with the influx of visitors on Anzac day. The Turkish seem to take quite a bit more interest in their side of the story now as the battlefeids and graves on the Turkish side stand out far more now.
I left Galipoli with really mixed feelings. It has such a significant place in Australian and turkish history but the loss of lives, of people the age of my 2 sons, the waste is so much, and what for?
And this mixed with the realization that the Turkish people are so lovely and welcoming and I wonder why we just didnt come as tourists in 1915 and take over that way.

Then we caught a ferry to Canakkale and rode down to Troy, bloody hot and expensive.

The next day we travelled to Ephusus this place is amazing. It was stinking hot 42deg C and was quite expensive but worth seeing as one of the better preserved Roman ruins around.

From Ephusus we traveled to Pamakale. When I was here 24 years ago this was a wonderful natural wonder but now it is something that typifies the western part of Turkey. I know that the amount of tourism that the western side of Turkey gets means that some controls need to be put in place but mostly what has been done I feel is ridiculous and seems more about ripping of tourists than any real control measures.

From Pamakale we traveled to Uzunyurt. We stayed at S Camp on the Beach. Nice spot but we walked to the "beach" and it was a rock ledge that had some big breakers going over it. We did feel like a swim after the km hike down the big bloody hill but didnt consider that it was worth risking our lives being smashed against the rocks.

The next camp was after travelling the day on shit roads with big stones. But we seemed to be attracting noise wherever we go. If it isnt tractors and trucks its Disco and dogs. At least this place had a beach that you could swim at.

Egirdir
Next stay was on the lake at Egidir. It was a nicer campground but was a bit squezzy as it seemed that all of the Turks that couldnt afford to go to the coast go here. I enjoyed watching the interactions amongst the elderly and the younger people.

From Egidir we travelled toAnkara organised our Iranian Visa. Ankara is a spawling city that seems to be stuck in the middle of barren and dusty hills. Once we got into the city it is quite nice but all around it is Barren. The camping here was also pretty Barren. We tried 3 different spots whilst we waited for the visa to be issued and all were lacking in basic facilities. So different from what we expect in Australia.Once we got the visa I felt an elation, we could acheive the dream I have had for so long. The overland trip was go ahead.

From Ankara we travelled to Capadocia and Goreme. Looking back this is where the "real" Turkey began for me. Even though Goreme is a tourist town it has a different feel about it. Not as developed and destroyed as along the west coast. We did experience a Dust storm here, it just blew up in minutes and it was hard to see a few feet in front of you, but within 30-40 minutes it was all over and time to clean up the mess. The next morning we went on the obligotory balloon ride. First time in a balloon and I see why it is so popular. What a wonderful way to see this place.

The cave houses, churchs and monastery were interesting to wander around. If only we could catch a video snippet of what it was like when people lived in some of these place.

We then travelled to Karaduk near Mount Nemrut. Mt Nemrut is the 8th wonder of the world. It was a bloody difficult ride getting up there, The switch backs that were on full lock on the bike with the obligotory bloody pothole well placed on every corner. Still well worth the effort. Again it would be great to have a snippet into history.

The campground we stayed at had a great international feel about it. |With 2 french couples an Italian couple and a couple riding world on push bikes, They were from Spain and Brazil. It was a nice discussion then the Albanian busload arrived. They were doing some sort of tour of the "Albanian part of Turkey". We found out from them about some of the history of what they said was the worlds first genocide of the the Albanian people in Turkey. Since 1945-50 the border with Albania has apparently been closed and only recently been reopened. These Albanians were visiting places where their families had come from and "reclaiming' the land for their ancestors.

We travelled to Pertek the next day. Some bloody tough roads, bloody hot and some tough ferries.
Yes I did say tough ferries. The two we had to travel on were front loading. Not drive through. This means that all drivers must reverse on. Well this creates absolute mahem. There are cars everywhere trying to reverse onto a ramp that is at right angles to the access road. And we are stuck in the middle of it on the bike. Then the controller ( haha)gets us to get on last. This means the bike and I sitting on the ramp all the way across to the other side. I was watching the cables of the ramp very closely.

The crazy drivers were as normal in Turkey, absolutely fantastic lovely caring people once they got out from behind their steering wheels. They couldnt help enough and gave us some advice on great places to go and places to stay. Then when its time to get of back in their cars and watch out because mahem is back. We sent another 4kg home to bring the total to 9kg sent now. Bike doesnt seem lighter or easier to pack. Dont know what is happening. We ended up with a lovely freecamp with veiw and water and dung beatles.

Next stop Macca. Here the surprises in Turkey keep on coming. There are wonderful big mountains with what seems to be a constant change of scenery, snow covered mountains, rainforest and tea plantations are some more surprises that Turkey keeps throwing up at us. Macca is the home of a Monastery of Mother Mary set within a rainforest gorge on a cliff face, amazing and beautiful.
We travelled along the Black sea coast to more Tea plantations and the town of Ortakoy.
The road to the tea plantations in Hempson was one of the most beautiful we had been on. After you pass the rubbish tip on the side of the river it narrows down to an amazing gorge with tea plantations and sheer cliffs on either side. The road became a bit steep for us so we didnt get all the way along.
From the coast we went inland on a huge road through mountains. They have been building new dams for a Hydro electric scheme here and the works that are going on are huge. Due to the extensive road works we free camped on river that was another lovely spot that was very much a similar landscape from some parts of the Kimberly region of Western Australia. The colours and gorges were every bit as spectacular s what I had seen there but being Turkey there was a bit more population and a bit more development than in WA.
Then onto some silk road ruins of the Kaz fort and the Ruins of Ani. Both were amazing historical places from history that are in surprisingly good condition. To get there we travelled on roadworks all day.

It seems that Turkey is a place that is under construction. It will be totally transformed over the next few years, I dont know whether for the better or not. The Stone buildings with grass roofs acres of hay all done with scythes and pitchforks will be a thing of the past. This area is what I consider the real Turkey. Wonderful people, happy people, caring people.
Absolutely amazing scenery, living the way they have for many years (buit with cars trucks and machinery, and internet) Geese, hundreds of geese everywhere. So this is where all the sleeping bags come from. Grass plains, Alpine scenery. Meadows all within a day. Some of the best scenery that Turkey has to offer.
We decided we needed a hotel for the night. We have criteria whenever we stay at a hotel, the criteria is
1/ lockup for the bike
2/ clean with hot water
3/ quite
4/ Wifi if possible.
We didnt feel like we could have all of this criteria met coming into a small town on the eastern most region of Turkey, but we always try. Well we arrived in town and asked a local where a hotel was. He organised for a motorcycle escort to the hotel which we followed through a myriard of streets. We go to the hotel and were immediately surrounded by 10-20 people. As is the normal course of events, Bron goes inside and finds out about the accomodation while I stay outside this time with the mob. Bron gave the ok but we didnt have lock up facilities for the bike but the hairdresser next door to the hotel offered his shop to lock the bike up in. Well we were taken back but thought we would have our first haircuts of the trip to thank him for his generousity.
As it is Ramadan he had to go home after he had cut Brons hair but he led us to a nice restaurant on his way home. He came back to the salon after dinner and did my hair. We finished up with the bike and 12 blokes in the shop whiles he was doing my haircut. After the haircut we sat on the computer talking ( all 12 of us) about Australia, and about some political issues within Turkey. It was a wonderful night, Bron wondered where I had got to.

We said our goodbyes at Kagizman and made our way to Dogubayazit or dogbiscuit in english. The scenery in this region is breathtaking and the road towards dogbiscuit is no exeption here. About half way along we caught our first sight of Mt Ararat. It is such a beautiful mountain. With amazing scenery all around and snow covered peak even in mid summer.
Dogbiscuit is the last city before leaving Turkey and it seems like a real frontier town from way back. This is the border between the old Ottoman empire Persian empire and there are Forts and a palace to shown its history.
We say goodbye to Turkey with some sadness as initially we were looking forward to moving on from the business and crazyness of the western side and now we are moving on from the absolutely beautiful, breathtaking scenery and warm loving friendly people. Although the people all over Turkey are wonderful, the people of the Eastern side are generally more open welcoming and friendly than their western counterparts.

The whole country reminds me of a poem. "I love a sunburnt country"