First real border crossing into Turkey
Slept very well in the truck cabin and pretty long as well. Had breaky with Dave and Lenny in the restaurant. Took quiet a while to get going. Not sure if I just was hesitant to about the border. Hmm not sure. Anyway took a group shot with the bike and one of the trucks.
Just have to say thanks again to Lenny and Dave here and have save drive…
So the border into Turkey was a doddle in a sense but it still takes getting used to. Just not used to it any more when you travel around Europe. So Greece side no checks to speak off. Then Turkish Customs first. Then police check which I kind of missed because in the lane I was in was nobody at the cubicle so I pulled forward to the next cubicle where I was told that I needed a stamp from the first cube. Grr. so back I go. Pull up at the second cube again to be told I needed a green card (insurance) which I didn’t get from the Irish insurance. It was not valid for Turkey anyway. So had to park the bike and then head into the duty free shop to get an insurance for Turkey. A wopping 5 Euro valid for 3 month. I doubt it is actually worth the paper its printed on in case I really have an accident. So drove about 30 miles to Kesan where I stopped to get money out of the ATM and had a tea at a small cafe. Watched four guys playing this rather confusing game. Anyway continued to Tekirdag where I tried to look for an internet cafe. But with the heavy bike and the town being packed with sunday afternoon shoppers it was just mayhem. Not used to the Turkish traffic yet and still hesitant to park the bike anywhere. I will have to get a lot more ruthless regarding parking and driving.
So headed out of town and found a camp ground a few miles down the road. Stopped there and setup my tent etc. An hour later the boss man came said “ok” and was gone again. Seemed most of the poeple there were actually just picknicking there. Hmm, strange. Tentioned my chain again and by now I’m worried that the extra set (chain & both sprockets) will actually not last to Vladivostoc. So I will have to try and pick up an extra set in Istanbul. To my horror I also found that one of the “heavy duty” brand new spokes had broken. Kind of regretting my choise to get new rims for the bike. Pretty expensive to get them centered in Germany and now a broken spoke and I have not been off-road yet. Not sure if its the heavily loaded bike, a material fault or this one being tentioned to much. Anyway so have to get that one as well.
So boss man comes around again telling me he is leaving and he will be back tomorrow 11am and if I want to leave earlier I will have to go around this drums & chain thing. I say ok, eventhough I can not really see me getting around with my bike loaded up. Anyway will deal with this tomorrow morning. Off to bed.
Day 18
3. May 2009
Start: Feres, Greece
End: Tekirdag, Turkey
Miles today: 162
Miles total: 2548
Odometer: 8510
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