Special Agent Nancy

Ankara and a Good Muslim

2011-08-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Asphaltmueller from ADV invited us to stay with him in Ankara.

Amy Luna a friend of mine recommended the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

So when Ozge offered his place, well his place was too crowded with his full family, he then dropped us off at Ilteris house (left front) who promptly took us to a great area and a good lunch with cocktails!

Finally got a decent drink here, mojito.

This place is known for the chicken.

As we crested a rather high hill to see the city below, he proudly announced, 'Welcome to Ankara! The ugliest city in Turkey!"

Compensation, great Turkish ice cream. Pistachio and Chocolate.

Found a Kryolan store and had to stop for a photo. I got my make up here for my Avatar Halloween costume last year.

Cute area for street shopping.

Damn those Turkish pastries!

My room.

So another thing that makes Ilteris a good Muslim was the promptly opened a bottle of French wine.

And when the Mosque next door (literally) broadcast the prayer over the loudspeaker from the minaret, he would blast any classic rock at 50 decibels.

Apartment building hell.

Oh then if that couldn't top the last quirk, he BBQ Bacon! Paul you need to hook up with this guy if you ever go to Turkey.

Enjoyed a wonderful backyard BBQ.

Excellent homemade food!

The 3 stooges

The next morning a drive around the old city and the citadel on top of the highest point in the city.

Then a covert operation to get to this lake owned by the university.

Some cool bars that night.

Ozge doesn't fool around with his beer glass size.

I had an excellent time in Turkey once again and finishing off the trip with this wonderful hospitality made it perfect. I will leave my new friends with something I found on the menu of a restaurant recently...

"Mailale Amor"

Which translates to : For the Love of Pork!

Next stop Istanbul

Riding Pillion

2011-08-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

Manish and I had a moment about riding pillion.

As most of you know, I ride in full gear 99.99% of the time. It's all or nothing to coin a good friend's phrase. We camped at this dump that I compared to the backwater area's of Alabama where 1st cousins' marry and it was about 1 Km from town. I put a helmet on and then the debate started about wearing gloves, and boots, and jacket....imagine this is after a long day of riding, my favorite dress dropped in the mud during my outdoor shower, i'm hungry, it was the perfect storm which turned into no gear, no bike and a miserable walk to town in the sun and heat.

So we lightened the mood the next day with this funny photo and didn't argue about pillion for a short distance again.

Carla Punch, this photo is for you! (my personal trainer) I got this nasty bruise fighting with a gas pump.

Arrive Cappadocia and had fun in these small doorways.

Found my favorite restaurant, Old Cappadocia where Luke took me last year.

Finger sized stuffed grape leaves just like my father loves.

As if Cappadocia wasn't hot enough already!

The hard to beat Manti!

Funny Bug and VW Bus combo (people ignore no parking signs)

Andy our host in the area was flying this very balloon which passed right over our camp in the morning.

Goreme Valley

Ventilation hole or way to get rid of unwanted guests?

Underground cities, not for the claustrophobic or those with a sensitive nose, the 3 day old sweat smell was positively revolting. Only video if anyone really wants to see how scary this place is.

Clever red arrows to show you the way out, a real Disneyland maze.

Andy rode us around the area for some great on and off road tracks.

Andy's beloved Africa Twin.

Went to their favorite dinner place for guess what! Manti!

Next stop Ankara, the most ugly city in Turkey!

Konya and some awesome Pide

2011-07-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

Left Anamur after a horrible horrible night which involved mediocre food for 100 TL, my keys dropping down a Turkish toilet and a sweat drenched night without sleep for a gorgeous mountain pass ride to Konya.

Hardly any cars on the road, twisties to satisfy the most discriminating rider.

Arrived in Konya and unfortunately didn't meet up with Bontoa from ADV Rider who invited me from my blog last year....but did find a very nice hotel for 120 Euro's a night that gave me a 3 bed room. The luxury was quite welcome. We were not impressed with Konya on riding in but later walked about the city and found what was so special about it. The people.

For you Phoenix friends, my room number...307!

This adorable boy walked nearly a KM to show us where a special Mosque was instead of just pointing in the general direction and speaking to us in Turkish.

Found this nice man to sell me a set of mirrors (one busted off the day before at a gas station getting off the center stand) and a skweek skweek horn for the handle bars

Next stop Sultanhani...Caravansarai

...Before the tour buses arrived.

Installed my new horn.

Not BMW approved.

Next stop Cappadocia!!!

Hell, this is definitely Hell....

2011-07-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

Now I knew it would be hot. I expected it, last year it was pretty miserably hot but dry and you know what, for all those annoying quips of "but its a dry heat" well it really does make a difference.
95-103 F heat is nothing without the humidity....So the ride along the Aegean and Mediterranean, although beautiful have been exhausting.

Just standing still in the shade I will be drenched in my own sweat in less than 10 minutes and forget sleeping. It's a sauna at night.

But in spite of all that, it's been heaven too. Left Kas for Mt Olympus and the famous treehouses.

View of rocky mountains all around from my hammock.

This is my treehouse, I was rather disappointed there really weren't in the trees but merely built with trees.

Meals included and this gorgeous shaded area.

Now the dinner here was the BEST! It was all homemade food, and one of my favorites; cabbage rolls.

It's rare to see them on a restaurant menu, it's a homemade thing and since this place hyped the 'homemade' food we chose it and were not disappointed.

This plate is all vegetarian (GASP!) and so colorful, it was more dazzling than an impressionist painting.

The Treehouse place is run by 2 brothers and this one sister and she showed me how to make Menemen!

First, start with white onion and banana peppers or Anaheim chilies.

Then add diced tomatoes, a little tomato paste, pepper and chili flakes.

Last add a few eggs and voila, heaven in a plate.

Manish and I wanted to go see the naturally occurring flames coming out of the top of Mt Olympus so we packed up on the bike and rode there (I just could not ride in a van packed full of French kids)

Of course, it was at night, in sweltering heat and within a couple minutes were completed drenched in our own sweat. I felt so stupid doing this hike at night before a 300+ KM ride the next day, I stopped partway there and Manish continued alone.

And it's a good thing too, the next day we woke, packed up and started along the coast. Now everyone we told, insisted we not take the coastal road to Anamur Castle but instead motorway....I started to wonder, is there massive construction? An insurrection? Or a conspiracy to keep us from one of the most beautiful spots in all of Turkey?

It's reason #3.

Check out this roadside secluded inlet with SAND...that's right, real sand, not a lot of it mind you but enough to skwish through your toes and feel like you are on a real beach (it's usually rocks)

Had a great lunch then swam in the water and napped for a couple of hours then back on the road to Anamur, the road everyone said not to take.

Nothing but Amazing twisties and valley's with villages and a little construction. The equivalent of Hwy 1 in California but with Turkish flags flying everywhere. (Thanks Mert for suggesting it)

Arrived in Anamur as the sun was setting and stopped at Camp Pullu, where hoards of yellow shirted staff stand around and try to look busy. Even Manish was disgusted with their indifference and slow service. Checking in and finding a campsite was like going through security at the airport.

It was a miserable night. We got scammed with a 100TL dinner (about 75 US) at a roadside restaurant that should have cost around $40 US....and it gets better!

I dropped my keys in the Turkish toilet. I'll leave it at that.

But got up early and visited Anamur Castle for free, got there before the ticket seller opened the kiosk.

Next stop Konya where I hope to hear from Bontoa on ADV Rider in time for some Turkish Hospitality.

It's my Birthday!

2011-07-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Woke up and thought, today has to be better than yesterday and boy was it ever.

First stop, in an ultra hot valley near an abandoned Greek settlement now a Unesco world heritage site. Kayakoy (oops I spelled Kayaboy by mistake first.....yeah I did have a nice date with a boy the night before)

Then rode along the Mediterranean coast along twisty roads with gorgeous blue inlets like this one below.

Found Kas Diving Campsite and pitched tent in 103F with 99% humidity.

View of bay from the tent

Went for a cave dive and had the same stupid problem with my mask filling up with water. This time I didn't panic, kept clearing it and finally figured out the problem and enjoyed the rest of the diving.

Oh yeah and I didn't have enough weight, finally ended up with 12 kilos in my jacket.

DickyB in Kas came to have a drink with us.

20 year old scotch.

Notice the huge blue yatch in the background?

And finally found my favorite meal Manti!

Found out why its so darn good here, she makes it fresh nightly

Love these little rest areas and trying to brush my hair is not an easy thing.

Stealing from the local orchards; figs

And Pomegranate

Went into town and had a San Francisco juice drink

Manish bought goggles and we made fun of the instructions....

Wandered around looking for the famous Kas night market but never did find it.

Compensated ourselves with an excellent meal of stuffed peppers, eggplant and lamb, soup, yogurt.

All for 34 TL

Went back to the Kas Dive Camping and this is the view from my tent!

And the next morning before everyone is up.

Got on the bikes for another short 100km ride to Mt Olympus treehouses.

Stopped at this roadside pastry shop and gorged ourselves on all kinds of pastries.

And I'll leave you with this funny photo!

Pamukkale (throw in some Fear, Relief and Panic too)

2011-07-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

Pamukkale was not on the trip plan, well it was a hopeful stretch but since we've been riding hard every day (300-400km) we fit it in.

Limestone and calcium sediment coat a whole mountainside

Feels like school chalk

The entrance to the park is comprised of stepped pools of cool water and goowey silt, we made it before all the tourists so got some great photos and had a park guard following us around telling me to take off my shoes. Oops

Neat set of 'drums'.

But I jump ahead, the night before we stopped at this great camp/hotel and decided on rooms for the price, except that laundry (2 loads) was nearly as much as the hotel and the best part is I did it myself!

It's a hell of a racket.

$15 per load. (final price, started at $20)

You load

You put your soap

You take out

You hang to dry

You fold

Then we went walking around town and ran into 3 BMW riders all on 1200 bikes with Turkish flags attached.

2 Germans and one Turkish rider. One Mechanic, One Translator and One Princess.

Local "Margarita"

OK back to the next pile of historical rocks.

Neat Lycian tombs

The creepy necropolis. Play hide and seek here in the middle of the night.

Lovely orchid looking flowers here.

Next stop was Bodrum where I found this man making a beautiful tiled mosaic (in 100F weather)

Downtown was full of restaurants and they all heckle you with "Yes Please" and shove English translated menus in your face...but this little pizza place had no such nonsense and it was full. Then I sighted the HANDSOME man working the place and turns out he's Kurdish (reminds me of my very handsome friend Anton)

And the cook. BTW the food was fabulous. I had spaghetti bolognese and it was delicious with a Turkish (or should I say Kurdish twist)

This town had loud music thumping from bars shoved next to each other with dancers contorting in frightening positions that I suppose were to appear sexy.

Got a little turned around, my GPS stopped working but we eventually made it back to camp where the falling letters on the entry sign tells it all! (it was a semi-dump)

Filled with trailers, I think people park them here and leave them all year and just come here for a month or two for summer holiday.

Again, next morning up before the hungover revelers and enjoyed the place

And that my friends is the Ferry to Datca we did NOT catch.

I was ever hopeful and stayed to the end trying to convince them there was room (and there was) but when the main man in charge started talking on his walkie talkie and I heard "problem" I decided to eat breakfast instead of go to jail.

So we were faced with a long hot ride through never never land but fortunately found one of these roadside fountains. I had no idea what they were for and only struck me as an incredible waste of water but boy was it refreshing. Now this is minutes after some maniac in a mercedes crowded me from behind in a very dangerous way, then when I gave him the sign to not stick so close he started to crowd me more (if that was possible) so I gave him the universal sign of stupid and he got even stupider. It was a heart thumping moment....but strangely whenever the drivers are real jerks they are always in expensive cars.

Finally had good gozleme at this place and took a nap to the cacophony of locusts.

Then on to Caunos for an expensive boat ride that had to have a single cylinder like my bike. (sounded like a lawnmower)

I found out I don't have a zoom lens but if you click on the photo and blow it up to 200% you might be able to see the carved out tombs or if you are lucky of the kid puking off the side of the boat.

Next stop Fethiye where Manish and I got separated. We bypassed the tunnel for the winding road through the forest and when I came out on the other side I didn't see Manish waiting for me as he usually does. There was a nasty single skid mark going right off the edge on a hairpin turn so I started to wonder then told myself to relax and just keep going.

From this point the story turns rather nasty but let's say that he's fine, I'm fine and I had this great dinner with some new friends I made on a dive boat.

Hard to see but 2 turtles playing next to the boat.

Headed out to do some diving.

I've been diving for 4 years now, never one problem, always been complemented on my technique, skill and buoyancy. Not today.

I think the exhaustion finally got the best of me, we were going down and at about 30 feet got a lot of water in my mask (it was too loose) then was fighting a too heavy weight belt and felt the world closing in around me. I have never felt so scared. Good thing I was diving with the instructor who knew exactly what to do. He saved the day and possibly me as I was beside myself with panic and fear.

The second dive went much better but the water and marine life is quite disappointing, don't think I'll dive again on this trip. I've been spoiled with Belize and Thailand.

Next stop Kas

Food in Turkey (oh and historical sites)

2011-07-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well not yet officially but in one day.

Many of you know I"m a foodie and eating here is always somewhere between good and excellent.
Usually baked, stewed or boiled but rarely fried or greasy. Truly healthy.
This photo is of Menemen which is eggs, tomatoes, banana peppers and probably crack. Highly addictive, difficult to kick and a must every day.

So I had to stop at the city sign of Menemen to mark my love of this dish and it was a good thing too since it helped me get the grumpy hoteless in Pumakkale to make some for me instead of trying to feed me the 'tourist' breakfast which consists of a plate with artistically assorted jams and jellies in small plastic containers and a couple sad olives and a slab of cheese and white bread. Yuck!

Our "Cancun" hotel was awesome early in the morning...everyone asleep with the beach to ourselves.

View from top of the city.

First historical site (remember we skipped to ridiculous wood Trojan horse) and pressed on to Bergama.

Ancient Roman amphitheater.

Hot Hot Hot

Stopped for refreshing soda water with cherry where one of the locals pitched me in French about the dreaded carpet seller...

Next on to Foca. Harbor town.

Oops, I skipped Yenifoca. So the travel book touted the excellent campsites along the water. Pffffttt! Is all I have to say....rabbit excrement, dog excrement, sheep excrement....going to the bathroom without stepping on a bomb was not easy. There's still rabbit poop attached to my shoes.

This Turkish symbol around the BMW emblem was genius.

He showed us to the downtown area where we had breakfast....

....with lots of kitties.

Heart attack on a plate. I think this is whipped butter and honey.

And another kitty on Manish's leg.

Charming cobblestone grape leaf shaded streets.

Now I'm not sure what the obsession with bank card machines but this gas station topped off the guinness book of world records.

Stopped at a roadside fruit stand to get nectarine juice all over my chin and neck. Neat cabins for eating in the shade

Next stop Esphesus. This is a Roman milestone, in ancient times they were created with the Emperor's name responsible for building the road and when a new Emperor was crowned they would 'flip' them and put the new name, rotating the old to the ground.

The most famous part, the ancient library without tourists.

Mobbed with tourists and one Special Agent Nancy, on left side near column in the shade. 103 F

Ah, another stop and dip in the water after a long day of riding.

Next stop, Pamukkale.

The Butterfly Killer Rides Again

2011-07-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

It’s prime butterfly season here in Bulgaria and with my rock/sun shield on the helmet, well let’s just say I’m the equivalent of the serial killer for butterflies. Here’s one wedged in my helmet. I’ve managed to remove the others but this one is stuck well enough to make it back to San Francisco.

Here’s a photo of my bike, packed and ready to go (in less than 2 hours) and Manish’s bike, stripped down completely. Why am I always ready before men???

Now no trip would be complete for me without Luke’s amazing cheese sandwiches. Its Bulgarian cheese, hearty multigrain bread, more butter than any person should eat in a week and a Panini press machine and voila, yummy grilled cheese.

Got Toilet Paper?

Much as pilgrims will travel the religious trail each year as homage to God, so will I ride the potholed Bulgarian roads to see Mama Zarka, some of you may remember her from my Eastern Europe ride 3 years ago, she and her Grandfather nursed me to health after crashing and hurting my shoulder badly.

But not before a stop at a favorite off the trail restaurant where you wonder what kind of meat you are eating with all the taxidermy here. This man knew a little French and even lived in the states. FYI, the belief that foreigners hate American tourists is really not true. I’ve always gotten big smiles when I say I live in San Francisco. They are just generally happy to see people making the effort to visit, especially remote areas like this one.

Zarka made amazing food once again, stuffed peppers for dinner and this cheese, egg, milk pastry for breakfast. She even packed some to go for us. The food always costs twice what the lodging does but that’s all right by me. I finally slept a good night’s sleep, of course the local “brandy” aka moonshine, helped to send me on my way. It was rather impossible sitting at the dinner table with a bunch of local guys eating and drinking and eating and drinking some more to not do shots with them.

The next morning Manish and I started towards the Turkish border. We visited what the locals call Devils Throat, an underground cave with 300 stairs. I made the tour guide laugh out loud when I sampled Kung Fu Panda (which seems universal) with the statement “My old enemy, stairs!!!!”

Neat Shrine....

Local Honey...

Later Manish got stopped by the police and they were all snickering when I pulled up going a reasonable speed and said they didn’t need my papers. Crossed the border in record time and they didn’t mention the 270 TL ticket I got the year before, who knows what the penalty is by now. And since I realized at the border after I left Bulgaria that the woman sold me Bulgarian money and not Turkish money, that was lucky.

Stopped at a Turkcell kiosk where they sold me a sim card and told me to try it tomorrow….well it’s tomorrow and it still doesn’t work. However I will admit, I did have a blond moment and had put the stupid thing in reverse but even when I figured that out, still doesn’t work!

We finally made it to this camping site, thanks to Eagle Eyes for spotting it where we enjoyed the sunset and a swim in refreshingly cold water. Meat is the main part of a meal here, I feel a little bad for Manish being a vegetarian…well not really, more for me! I just thought of my nickname for Manish, kinda Native American, here goes; Eagle Eyes, Slow Feet.

My dreams that night were mainly of roving packs of wild dogs that would not stop barking. Yeah, even with the ear plugs I was minutes away from taking my 1 Mil volt stun gun to a couple of them.

We Stopped at a gas station to eat and found this ‘petting’ zoo behind it. The sad state of the animals was heart wrenching. And what the hell is a Smurf doing here. Strange coincidence I was wearing my Smurfette socks.

Woke up the next day and spotted my first supper Hottie on a motorbike. The cutie gave me his number and he’s Turkish.

I spotted a shop where Manish was able to find a replacement turn signal and rear view mirror from his crash the day before. What luck, as I stood there waiting for Manish (again) this funny Bulgarian man on his bicycle pulled up selling pizza’s and we chatted it up.

Took a ferry to Cannakale and road along the coast. Got to Troy and I felt like Bugs Bunny in that cartoon where he complains about paying 10 cents to go through the Panama Canal and would rather walk first. We both felt 15 TL was not worth the site and pressed on but not before a Japanese tourist bus pulled up!

We got to ride on marbles, and in potholes, and gravel and sand, but the marbles were the most “fun”. Basically it’s like chewed gum on a metal surface in the sun, with 1960’s roof white rocks stuck into them. As you ride over this crap it’s Poing! Ptink! as they ricochet up to hit your legs and watch out when a car is coming towards you the opposite way. Stopped to chat with a local goat herder.

Rode through some coastal towns to Behramakle and were nicely surprised by the historic hilltop ancient city where after a long day of riding in the heat was about to knock some boy's head off when he insisted I could not park in a spot but had to instead turn around a 400+ lb bike, down a steep grade of cobblestoned street to park not 10 feet away, Manish came to his rescue (and helped me with my bike)

We then came down the hill to what Manish called “Cancun”. I had no idea it was a major tourist spot, I had picked it from the photos online. Ate a fabulous dinner again! (I got something better for Manish than cucumbers and tomatoes this time).

Got to take a dip in cool water, boy did that help bring the swelling down.

Each day I put my feet in the boots....and at the end of each day, someone else's swollen, marshmallow toes, elephant man feet come out of them. It's scary.

Home for the next 12 hours. Neat white fabric tents on the beach, just like in SOBE, only a lot cheaper.

Next stop Bergama!

Mariposa & Mud

2011-06-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

It all started around a campfire in Santa Barbara....

We sat huddled for warmth with our backs to freezing cold (literally)...
when Bernie announced that he was opening his 5 acre plot in Mariposa for Memorial Day Weekend to our group of F650 riders.

Here is Bernie's place.

So Bernie and I posted on F650 (the definitive website for the BMW F650).

Now Bernie warned me he wasn't internet savvy....nor has he done a windows update in years but we finally managed to get the photos uploaded and the details for anyone interested in joining.

My riding group from the Bay Area was Paul and Jeff, semi-famous on ADV for a post called

"How I nearly killed my friends in Baja"

And Paul, well Paul is my personal mobile mechanic and he makes some darned good ribs too!

We stopped off at a place off mines road where I had the worlds nastiest chicken nuggets.

Wild pigs roam the prairie...well not this one anymore.

By the look of glee on Jeff's face, I should have ordered the heart stopper burger

Arrived at Bernie's after some stinky crisscross riding through the valley (by lots and lots of cattle yards) and met a familiar (and talkative) face Jay - let me also add that Jay was the only one to help me get my Big Red back up out of a good mud pit. Thanks Jay!

Now camping in a large group of guys can be challenging. Er rather, lumberjacks with all the heavy snoring. Paul was considerate enough to camp off to the side by himself.

No motorcycle off road weekend would be complete without a little roadside wrenching. This was a busted chain. Thanks to Eddie and a spare Doug was riding again the next day.

So there's this group of guys all watching the repair work....and I see this double rainbow (which became a triple for a few minutes) and they couldn't have cared less.

One of the best parts about weekend rides like this is the food.

Always meat (lots and lots of meat)

Usually cooked on a grill by an expert

And as you can tell by our empty plates just delicious

And it would not be complete without a little monkeying around...I asked Bernie (said computer whiz) to take a photo of our table and voila!

Now most of us have been through Boy Scouts, or Girl Scouts and learned to build a fire.

Then there are those kids that well somehow just never made it and only know how to poke a perfectly great fire and send smoke and ash over everyone. 'Nuff said (you know who you are)

Now like I said sleeping around a bunch of lumberjacks can be tough, even with 28 db ranked ear plugs I can still faintly hear the rumbling around me, but what is really funny is I didn't hear all the bikes start up in the morning for breakfast at Pop's and they all left me behind. That's OK though, I got revenge.....my breakfast came out first.

Our first trail took us by an abandoned gold mine

Note to self: show Manish how to take a photo with me and the scenery...course I didn't want to step back!

Next a mountain top stop

So no one got my mud encounter on film but here's some proof.

And more good food!

And then more food....Paul making ribs.

I'm starting to get excited about Turkey...only 6 weeks away!

No. No, not one more beautiful tiled harem room please!

2010-09-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

If any of you reading this has ever been or even more amazing, ever driven through Istanbul you know the traffic is indescribable but I will try.

Everyone drives bumper to bumper at incredible speeds. Julia got some awesome footage of us crossing the Bosphorous Bridge. You can see me ball my fist in the air with a hearty "right on"!

There are 3 lanes.

Right, slow, large trucks 50mph-70mph

Middle, for passing the large trucks on uphill. 70mph-100mph and get the hell out of the way fast (back into the slow lane)

Left, FAST, usually cars going 160-200mph. Cars whiz by us like we are standing still when we use the middle lane to pass slow trucks.

Believe me when I say no one dares drive slow in the fast lane here.

They don't bother painting lines because no one pays attention to them.

It's like playing ice hockey riding in this traffic and you are the puck.
The shortest measure of time is between when the light turns green and the car behind you honks.

So it was with some terror that we approached the city one more time.

At night but during the dinner hour.

We cross the Bosphorous bridge, it's like a small Golden Gate and affords the best views of Istanbul and is the most beautiful of bridges.

Back in Istanbul where I had a few days to rest....a lot of sleeping in a very comfortable bed with A/C, soft sheets and pillows!

So the sightseeing was easy this time as last year I was escorted everywhere so I could easily find my way around. Found a new place where there was an Egyptian obelisk.

And this time based on some advice visited the Hagia Sofia

Wandered around neighborhoods where I saw shops that each specialized in a different type of item.

Starters and Alternators. (I'm such a gearhead)

Then went to the spice bazaar to get ripped off but found Istanbul Rose oil that is exactly like the primrose oil that was discontinued years ago at the Body Shop that Monica and I were crazy about

What does $240 dollars look like?

Enough Turkish delight to keep me busy for a while.

Found a gaggle of Asian tourists taking a break from the noonday sun and heat.

Met up with the cyclists we met in Sinop and had a drink...Cuban rum!

I call this spot hotel and restaurant row.

Then went for dinner at a restaurant recommended by the hotel Doy-Doy with a rooftop terrace overlooking the Blue Mosque. Of course EVERY restaurant has a rooftop terrace here.

Had a "Konya" Pizza that was delicious and cheap.

Today, my last day in Istanbul, we visited the palace that was closed the last time I was here.

At the end of the day I was saying, oh no, not one more gorgeous tiled harem room!!!

Gorgeous windows.

Wow, even the tourist ramps have the % incline.

That's the Bosphorous bridge I was terrified to ride

This was an awesome felt hat shop.

Went to the Galata tower which affords a spectacular, although cramped view of the city.

Then we had a steep hill to climb to Taksim square so I suggested we stop for refreshment and a big healthy tabby came and snuggled up with me.

Saw a blow up tank art exhibit, kinda weird to see after all the real ones.

As you can imagine the smell walking by these vendors was nauseating.

And this blog wouldn't be complete without showing our lady friend who says Ciao! (in the wee hours of the morning)

And I could not finish my last blog on Turkey without honorable mention of Giacomo's stinky boots! (excellent theft deterrent)

Goodbye Turkey....

kebab me to death

2010-08-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Sinop and based on the recommendation of the owner of the seaside camping went to a seafood restaurant on the water. This is some cold dish of mixed vegetables and tons of garlic. It was very good.

This is the black sea fish that everyone eats, unfortunately it was not fresh so I had to order another dish...lamb. They gave me two tiny (not worth photographing) pieces of lamb and tons of rice and french fries so I decided to go for some baklava and found it made with chocolate.

Our campsite, being Ramadan there was no one, we had the place to ourselves and just mere meters from the beach.

Luke was trying to describe to me that there was Turkish ice cream (dordurma) but we could never find it but finally here I found a lemon flavor that was similar to my toothpaste. It's like a sorbet.

Next stop BAR. After 2 weeks of hard riding and no alcohol (or often food) in sight we found a bar where they poured a huge whiskey. I had mine and Luke's :)

Along our route we encountered a group of Turkish riders who were a support team for a bicycle tour.

We had 300km along the coast, beautiful twisty roads with hairpin turns and some dirt and gravel where I saw this little critter slowly making his way across so I helped him along.

We stopped in Cide before our destination of Amasra and finally found something other than KEBAB!

It was a stew of potatoes and meat, some young beans in broth, Kofte and excellent Turkish coffee.

Amasra at sunset.

We found an apt where we all had our own rooms and it was right in town so we walked around a little

Beautiful roads lined with trees and blessedly cool

Next the historic city of Sanfranbolu where Ottoman style homes are everywhere and people still live in them.

Even the sugar is in a tiny replica of the traditional houses.

Notice the rusted satellite dish, some homes are vacant.

Very old Minaret under renovation.

These kids were laughing and giggling and just fun to watch....they started to talk to us and of course it sounded adorable but they were probably saying "hey stupid tourists give us candy..."

The 5 Turkish Lira menu.

The Turkish coffee is presented inside a handcrafted silver canister.

This building was in the center of town and it's where the caravans on the silk route stopped for rest and re-provisioning. I'm at the table below.

Another 500km to Istanbul. Motorway. ARRRRR but again we were lucky and did not get separated and found the hotel that thankfully Volkan booked us. It was perfect!!! Thank you Volkan you have made our trip so much easier by helping translate.

These are for the hookahs which we found everywhere, we are staying in the old city.

It was a bit of an ordeal of moving cars but we got the bikes up on the sidewalk in front of the hotel where they are monitored on camera. My bike is being held up by the wall (I could not get the kickstand down)

Luke leaves today for Sofia. while I will stay on for a couple days and leave at 3am Monday morning. The Italians are here with me. I just had breakfast on a rooftop terrace overlooking the Bosphorous and intend on going back to sleep. The bed was so soft and comfortable it gave me a crook in my neck!

Today spice Bazaar for mom's spices and REAL Turkish delight and tomorrow the palace that I missed last year.

100 shades of green and Sumela

2010-08-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

So I waited to post this photo of a Saudi man that we met after leaving Istanbul at the beginning of our trip because he suggested a route that was built by the Russian military invading force around WWI to get into Turkey. He described that it was a road with sheer drops....he didn't mention that it was going to be a really challenging road...this happened to be the one road that I picked and wanted to take. Little did Luke realize I would choose the best route of the whole trip!

Remember the last photo of the wind holding me up? Well this was the valley after that. First it was a slow incline up dirt roads. Barren and dry but you could see a cloud of fog covering the valley we are about to enter. (and there weren't Hurricane winds to stop us either)

One of our first turns in the fog...jagged rock outcroppings.

Decent trail but sheer drops....no not here it gets worse.

Below the heaviest fog layer we could start to see the valley. Mert described the Black Sea area as having over a 100 shades of green, I think we found it.

OOPS

Sheer drops start.

See that hairpin turn well there were probably 50 of these. Oh and plenty of mud.

Greek influence here, the people look different than the rest of Turkey.

These two girls were just adorable. I was happy to have the hello kitty treats to give them.

It was like the Swiss Alps but in Turkey.

And these pictures just don't do this ride justice. Stopped in a little town to eat some fruit and see the women unload full trucks of hay while the men watched.

Now I did love this ride but after 3 hours of narrow, dirt and rock hairpin turns with sheer drops I was so happy to see pavement I kissed it.

The locals probably thought, oh how sweet, she's praying...but she's not facing mecca.

Our first glimpse of the Black Sea

Next Sumela Monastary

Beautiful fresco's

View from one window.

And guess what??? Big Red Bulgaria found a date!

Another F650, 97 just like mine....we met the Italian couple riding it on the way up but later regretted not getting their number or trying to stay in touch or ride...

Got back to town and met this nice man at a restaurant where we ate grilled meat (AGAIN)

He invited us to stay at his house for the night and we decided to accept.

He let me cook my emergency macaroni and cheese in the kitchen...4 days of stomach cramps now but Kraft cured them.

After dinner we followed him to his home; at night, down an unlit dirt road, beyond the city...we were both freaked out. Not to worry, it all turned out OK.

Well that is after he showed us his rifles and handguns (see it in the corner?, that's the room I slept in.)

Then we set off the next morning and due to a lost item snafu met up with the Italians from the day before at a gas station! What luck!

So we rode 500KM together and finally made it to Sinop where we found a camp ground right on the beach and finally took a swim in the Black Sea.

Turkish Baywatch.

Kackar Mountains

2010-08-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

Stayed the night in a dumpy hotel that had one saving grace....a washing machine! I have discovered that they are very hard to find. Everyone washes by hand here...makes you wonder how clean the sheets are in hotels. Like I said, I would rather sleep in a tent in my own sleeping bag.

We left the next morning and rode by this very cool wavy rock formation.

We ride along rivers a lot, there is an abundance of water here and the Turks use these cable "cars" to move things and people over the river since there are no bridges.

Stopped in a town to eat lunch. Ramadan means they only serve bread and water during the day and what they call pizza. (It was disgusting)

Our destination was the Kackar Mountains. Tourism is not a big thing for this country but this is one of the few places that even Turks will visit. Twisty narrow roads with blind turns.

Then disaster struck. My shift broke. (Paul, you didn't think of that part)

Thank god that the man who owned the Pension where we stayed the night had the equipment to weld it back on.

45 Turkish Lira for this AWESOME room and....

This awesome clean bathroom with lots of hot water...ahhhhh!

These were the cabins we stayed in.

Now we have been eating an insane amount of tomatoes. They should have a tomato on the Turkish flag instead of the moon. They are always very red, very sweet and extremely juicy.

This menu was scary...Fleshy Foods (???)

This was the typical river crossing to get to the homes.

Don't even think of doing anything.

But it didn't say I couldn't do a little "watering", so I did.

To bad this turned out so dark but a beautiful stream on the way to this Armenian Monastery in excellent preserved condition.

All through the Kackar mountains are these villages going up on the valley walls.

Old wagon turned into a dining area.

Oh and if my cowboy hat looks mangled well it is. Everything shape shifts on a bike.

Cute little village, used the timer for this photo (as usual Luke is way ahead) so I didn't really get a good shot of it but hell great photo anyway.

So here is the village I tried to get in the above photo.

These lovely flowers are everywhere.

See the little pink head in front of the girl? This is a very old woman carrying a huge amount of brush and grass on her back. What was somewhat insulting however is when I wanted to photograph her, the two younger women who weren't carrying anything but letting the old woman do it said no.

An overloaded truck of hay is a common sight.

This is a famous spot for the Turkish motorcycle riders, they often post photos of themselves on their bikes then add a woman in a bikini standing under the waterfall with them.

Stopped for some ice cream and skipped the disgusting pizza.

This kind man sitting next to Luke offered us a place to sleep and eat for the night free, we realized later when we could not make it through the pass that we should have accepted his kind offer.

The wind was so strong it is holding me UP!!!

We rode 200 KM of dirt, gravel and rock today. White roads on the map are a crap shoot.

Tomorrow the Sumela Monastary.

Van Lake, Mt Ararat and Ani

2010-08-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

We often get lost in the back roads of small villages because of the massive road construction

This is the typical crap we ride through, we had not planned on so much "off road".

Luke was worried about finding restaurants that would serve food, not a problem so far...this kind man opened his restaurant and cooked us lunch.

Kebab of course...

Finally made it over the pass and found Lake Van (large salt water lake)

Luke then took us to an ancient military fortress that was built 800BC with a nice view of the city of Van

And this nice man Murat kept me company in the shade while Luke hiked in the heat

Then on to this old fortress near, shoot I have no freakin idea!

Found the toilet...

Was pelted with bugs...went through a cloud of them...check out the reflection on the right side of the mosque behind me.

We have passed near the Syrian border, then Iran then Armenia, everywhere there is a large military presence.

We gorilla camped again but this time at a gas station and we shared it with a litter of puppies.

The homes here have these solar power looking things on the roof, probably to heat water and probably not much more effective than a radiator.

Rode by Mt Ararat 5000+ meters high and off limits, snow year around.

It's said that every 3rd street in Turkey is called Ararat. :)

These roadside fruit and vegetable vendors are everywhere....fresh everything especially the tomatoes.

Stopped in some small town and had this bread stuffed with cheese...made Luke very ill, me well I had some stomach cramps. Everywhere I go, I drink the tap water, eat street food and that's the worst that ever happens.

Took a slight detour based on advice from a local and found this gorgeous lake.

Next Ani, another ancient city that was Armenian and in fact a home run baseball throw from the Armenian border.

They are "renovating/restoring" the outer walls....not sure how I feel about that.

One of the main gates into the city.

An Armenian church and a secondary church in the background that is said to have housed a fragment of the True Cross.

Inside the mosque overlooking the river.

The other side is Armenia...ancient bridge.

Toppled Minaret and the stairs that led to the top.

And in closing I'll just mention that the trash cans are TINY!

The danger signs...

2010-08-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

-I stopped using my hair brush days ago and I am considering the same with my toothbrush

-I don’t care whether there is or is not toilet paper in the bathroom anymore

-I stopped using the pictures of animals to ask what kind of meat I am eating

-I had the happy realization that my gear weighs 20 lbs (without the helmet)

Hotel lobbies have scales in them (???)

Decided to head for the highest pass in Turkey where we stopped in a village and everyone came out (AGAIN) and this kind person advised us to take the 3000 meter pass instead of the higher one.

Found one of the most GLORIOUS rides of my life thus far.

Winding twisty, potholed roads and villages along the way.

The moon is getting fuller.

Rode along a stream for a while.

-I prefer gorilla camping in the middle of nowhere

and taking a bath in an irrigation stream rather than a “Grand” hotel. (in fact I’ll just stay the hell away from anything with the word “Grand” in it.

The next morning we had a breakfast of figs, well fig jam now...

-Large bugs don’t scare me anymore but stray dogs still do

-However there is more to fear from boys in small villages than stray dogs…they either wave hello or heft a large brick or stone and throw it

Now this one will make many people laugh out loud;

-I am a magnet for Turkish boys.

How hot is Turkey in August?

The pavement melts. In the U.S. usually a bike will ride in the tire track but here it’s the opposite, it’s safer to ride in the middle where the oil drips from cars. Why? Because in the tire track the pavement melts and it’s the consistency of crunchy peanut butter but a lot less fun. (the black track on the right is melted)

Riding through 107 degree weather is like having 50 hair dryers on hot blowing at you and passing a fully loaded truck belching black smoke trying to go uphill is like a blow torch. Your nose and eyes are always dry and lips chapped....MJ even you would use chapstick and M&M's melt.

Lots of fresh water ponds where we cool off.

Went from 104 to 54 degrees from the Eastern plains to the Black Sea region.

Had some fun with my Spot. Took a dirt road and hit enough bumps to finally wear out the industrial strength Velcro…I had a feeling of where it flew off and I also suggested to Luke that some boys we passed had it. Sure enough they hit 911 and the local Jardarma, border patrol (we were on the Armenian border) AND the police all used my GPS to track me. It was impressive!

These guys are from one of the three units who found me...

We have visited so many archeological historical sights now I can't tell you the names anymore but here is another one, cave homes.

And an ancient bridge

Heading towards another very high pass today....

Dam and Damn

2010-08-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning earlier than Luke again to a cacophony of animal sounds; cows, goats, sheep, roosters and one donkey.

Being hungry with no one else up and all the coolers with food in them locked I decided to forage. The trees were full of green and black figs.

Mount Nemrut next. Luke offered that I ride with him, I accepted since it was full of hairpin turns with that oh so fun gravel. 2800 meters high, you could feel the sun cooking you.

A new kind of payphone, just connect your cell phone and place a call from here (no cell phone service from the peak)

Mount Nemrut. I forgot to bring my Teva's so I hiked up to this barefoot. Luke tried to comfort me by saying it was therapeutic since important nerve endings are in the feet, I can barely feel them anymore, they have cooked inside my boots.

Cool wall of stone, they cut out a grove in the bottom stone and place the tall wall stone in it but the earthquakes knocked them all down.

And this one is my favorite.

Sun just coming up over the man-made pyramid of gravel, the sonar/radar readings show an open cavity underneath so they are excavating to get to it.

Back to camp for a feast again *sigh*. Fresh figs, olives, this egg, tomato, chili dish called Menemen (sp?) and honey to die for oh and don't forget the fresh cheese.

Took a ferry across the vast lake created by the 4th largest Dam in the world, Ataturk Dam.

I parked on the right side of this truck and as you can see the sides are very high, the truck was rocking back and forth a lot, come to find that it's full of cows.

Forgot the floaties at home for the munchkin...no problem, just tie a bunch of empty soda pop bottles together.

Controlled Chaos getting on the ferry.

So I thought of a little trick....wet my body armor and let the wind dry it, sort of a cooling vest so we stopped here at this gas station in the middle of nowhere and the kind attendants cut a watermelon for us and remember they can't eat or drink all day. Turkish Hospitality.

Of course it could be that they felt bad for the poor girl who tumbled to the ground as soon as she got off her bike. :) 102 degrees

Tried to find the famous fortified walls in a city on the way to Mardin and everyone came out to help....

This was our primary destination...Mor Gabriel Monastary. Fortunately the guide book was wrong and we made the last tour...

I was not feeling like a Grecian Beauty but I could not resist posing in this alcove.

So this is the second Damn. Found a hotel that I was hoping would be nice and for the money $100 US, it should be but it's not much better than a Motel 6 and this is the pool we cannot swim in until all the Muslims finish gorging themselves on food, post sunset. I totally blew a fuse in the lobby...

But I'll end this blog on a funnier note. These door handles have built in anti theft systems....they are so squeeky and noisy that the neighbors can hear you going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Sheep and Gravel

2010-08-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Woke up early to see all the balloons launch and packed up the bikes to go on to Mt Nemrut. Yes, more long dusty straight hot roads which this time included a herd of sheep crossing the road.

Luke surprised me with a great mountain pass that turned into a beautiful dirt road that snaked through some rural villages. The houses were made of field stones and wood, very primitive looking with munchkins running around everywhere.

Stopped for lunch and had the best soup.

Now the only thing that makes some of the riding difficult is the Turks love gravel, on the paved road, oh yes, I can almost see my rider friends cringing. It's very difficult to see and you usually don't know till you are on it, add to that some sharp turns and you have yourself a white knuckle ride.

I will also add to that this is not only the month of Ramadan but also the month of massive road construction.

The roads here (other than the deadly gravel) are very good and they are building at an amazing rate.

Now you all know how much I enjoy my BMW but the side hard cases are a royal pain, they keep flying off so we stopped at a garage, grabbed a drill and zip tied them back on. Also took a photo in the shop of the tools they are making.

Now I've got some respectable bruises, the count is 4 so far, this one is the best.

And the bug bites are weird, always two little dots. Mini Vampires?

Luke also did a great job of scaring me about the sheep here, there are blood sucking parasites on them that can attach to humans. Ekk

Finally arrived at our campsite.

Freezing cold water in pool Check

Surrounded by Turkish men half starved in more ways than one staring at me in my bikini. Check

Washing machine is a tub with some soap. Check

Figs and Pomegranate growing wild...ruined my appetite.

Then had a FEAST (again) and he said it was beef but it tasted more like goat but who cares.

Tomorrow Mount Nemrut.

Cappadocia and a Hot Air Balloon Ride

2010-08-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

So the long haul was in order to get to Cappadocia and have 2 nights with one full day....it was well worth it.

We arrived very late, in time to see the moon rise and hear the call to break the Ramadan Fast, just in time because I was about to expire from hunger. (Luke is now past amazement at how much I can eat) Our camp site over looked the valley of cave dwellings.

We met a couple travelling by motorcycle from Italy and had dinner.

Eating more interesting food and an excellent Moussaka.

We decided to take a hot air balloon ride that did cost a lot but was well worth it.

We asked this guy to take a photo and he had us going there for a minute because as you can see from the photo he had the camera turned backwards (on purpose).

Dressed warm, high altitude.

It was glorious....all the hot air balloons lifted at the same time over the Cappadocia Valley at sunrise.

Probably 30 or so, our operator was Graham, a British bloke who lives in Colorado.

These guys picked me up and threw me on top to push the balloon back in the bag.

Then Luke and I went for 2nd breakfast. :) where the check arrived in this neat little box.

Walked back to camp around 9ish, went swimming and napped.

Finished up a perfect day with some riding, this time I rode as a pillion. ???

And of course we had to eat again, he's starting to understand this.

Guzleme.

No trip would be complete in a tourist mecca like this without a visit to a dreaded rug shop but thankfully I got out of it with a $5 key chain since I did not want to use the zip tie anymore.

700 KM in a day...

2010-08-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

700 KM in a day and nothing to report.

700 KM of this crap.

Hot
Long
Straight
Boring

ARRRRRR!!!!

Zip Ties and Rocky Roads

2010-08-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

So we set off from Sofia to go to Trigrad where my Bulgarian Mom lives. Via the route that I crashed on last year. We took a slightly different route to get there...found all of these wonderful public fountains along the way where Luke often replenished his thermos while I goofed off.

We were on some nice then not so nice twisties up in the forest and two BMW's roared by us...turns out Luke knows one of them so we stopped to take a break, they drank beer and fed the Hobbit.

The area is full of Gypsy's, here's one of their homes...now I know it looks abandoned but one of the men walked up to it after I took this photo.

Nature is pretty amazing...things can grow out of the harshest environments like sheer rock but when I saw a small christmas tree sticking up out of a huge pothole well I realized that some kind motorist that probably lost his rear axle from it decided to alert the unsuspecting next drivers.

Next stop; destiny. Now I decided to dedicate this ride to a colleague of mine Linda who is an inspiration both personally and professionally...Linda I did it and you can too.

Underground Goat Rodeo Adventure Posse look at this freaking "road"!!!

Now Luke explained as any good host/tour guide would that this 20 km off road trail is now a refuge for wildlife. How wonderful so the bears and other forest animals have a home, however he also explained that for the correct fee one can enter these areas and hunt. ?!?!?!?!

Yep big rocks, ruts, sand, sharp turns and soon a steep uphill...where the bumps were so big that I lost the right hard case.

So while Luke (bless his heart) went all the way back to find it, I decided to photograph bugs only slightly comforted by the fact that I have a 1 million volt stun gun that might, MIGHT just disorient a bear enough for me to run a little ahead of it.

So when Luke got back we zip tied the cases back on...

Back in the canyon of Trigrad...just beautiful here.That's a cave tunnel to get to the village.

We made it, reunited with Mama Zarka.

The villagers were making a homemade tomato sauce and jarring them.

Next it was time to lighten the load and dole out the gifts and the most important one was an American made pocket knife to my healer.

Where we ate first dinner.

Then second dinner....

Now I'm not complaining, Monique would say I ate like a linebacker but let me tell you that after these two meals all I could do was lay down.

Next morning we did it all over again, this was pretty cool, some kind of thick sweet syrup with baby pine cones in it.

This is a very old traditional house

Next was pretty miserable, we had planned to cross into Greece for a while and catch the motorway but were turned back at the border because they could not allow a US passport through that station. It added 100km through some windy, low valley area that was hot as hell but we had a stop and goofed off with some cows.

After a few more hours of miserable riding about 30KM from the Turkish border we stopped for watermelon, it wasn't that good in terms of flavor but it still tasted devine!

Now these stork nests are everywhere and I finally photographed one with the bird in it.

Now came the white knuckle ride from hell. We stopped about 80 km from Istanbul to call Volkan who kindly offered his hospitality to us to tell him we would be late...then Luke suggested I take off and he would catch up with me. I got on the TEM and hit 120KMPH expecting him to pass me pretty soon.

10km went by, no Luke.

Another 10km went by, still no Luke.

Finally got to 40KM from Istanbul and stopped to check my phone and he happened to call me. He was convinced he was in front of me, I thought differently. What made it so difficult was that I was stuck on the highway, I could not exit and with the trucks passing we could barely understand each other.

Finally 22KM from Istanbul, panic started to set in. I had no GPS, no way to reach Volkan's house and the traffic although Luke said was light seems pretty challenging to me.

Within 3 minutes of stopping 4 cop cars were surrounding me, all speaking Turkish, it was a freakin nightmare. Now it's dark too...

Get's better, we were finally reunited then I hit reserve on my gas tank, signaled Luke and continued to stick to him like industrial strength velcro. No gas stations so I finally ran out of gas and we were almost separated again.

Had to siphon gas out of his bike to mine...on the side of the freeway.

I think we finally made it to Volkan's house by 11pm. We did everything I didn't want to do

1. ride through Istanbul

2. do it after a long day of riding

3. do it in the dark

But we made it.

And his 5 month old girl

We ate a feast prepared by his lovely wife and then tried to sleep a sweat drenched night....I've just been woken up by the prayer reminder to wakey wakey to eat before sunrise, Ramadan you know!

Over The Limit

2010-08-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

Thank God I was early....one bag to check in with all my gear; boots, knee pads, jacket, pants, armor, side hard cases, frame, cot, tent (had to move the stakes to the checked bag, deadly weapon you know....I could if provoked sufficiently (which I was by the Indian woman sitting in the seat in front of me on my first of 3 flights) stake someone down to the cabin floor.

The bad news; 68 lbs (18 over the limit) the even worst news $150 excess weight fee. Luckily the helpful check in person suggested I check one of the hard cases as my second bag for $55 instead. Yes, I was that annoying person who hogs time at the check in desk to the ire of all waiting in the Disneyland line behind me.

Visa credit card beginning to trickle blood...

I had fun with the poor folks at the security checkpoint screening. I watched carefully the face of the woman tasked with viewing my assortment of tools, tent poles and helmet through the X-ray machine. It was a odd look that conveyed "you've got to be kidding" and "no way in hell".

After a grueling 2nd flight I landed in Paris and to ease the cramped neck and residual sharp pain under my left shoulder blade from last week's riding (thanks Paul and Andy) I found this Thai woman with a grip like the Rancor from Return of the Jedi.

Then I found a real Cafe Au Lait and the most awesome bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne ever. It comes in it's own insulated sleeve. The croissant was blessedly greasy and crumbled nicely on my black shirt.

Last flight to Sofia...where I passed rather quickly through customs and saw Luke's smiling face which was only slightly less exhilarating than seeing my luggage make it.

As we left the airport we drove through the Gypsy quarter where horses roam freely

and apparently children too.

This is the driveway to Luke's house...

Tomorrow we leave for Trigrad and that fateful road where I crashed last year. I'm going to enjoy myself the way I was meant to and will take some great photos. Then on to the village where my shoulded got put back into place by a kind soul and fed stuffed peppers to die for by my Bulgarian Mama Zarka!

Turkey, here I come!

2010-06-14T14:00:00.001-07:00

Bought 2nd BMW F650 Funduro in Sofia Bulgaria $1450 CHECK

No I didn't insist it be red but happy it turned out that way.

Bought repairs, tires and gear for the bike $700 CHECK

That last one is a seat cushion that saves you from getting serious monkey butt.

Bought RT plane ticket (SFO>SOF) $1422 CHECK

Bought travel insurance with astronomical pay outs and helicopter rescue option $150 CHECK

Bought SPOT personal GPS tracker to find me in the middle of nowhere so helicopter can get me out $50 CHECK

Annoying expensive annual contract required for SPOT to work $150 CHECK

The best part of this gizmo is that you can follow me real time on Google Maps!!!

Credit card bleeding profusely. CHECK

So the long wait is over. I returned last year from Eastern Europe a little banged up but completely head over heels in love with Istanbul and told everyone that I was, without a doubt, returning to Turkey the following year and it's official now.

The dates are August 11th-31st. The riding part will be about 2 weeks with possibly a week in Istanbul on the way back unless I get pinched between warring factions near the Iranian border.

Here is the general route

Sofia>Istanbul>Cappadocia>Van Lake> Ani> Trabzon>Samsun>Bozkurt>Zonguldak> Istanbul.

Generally the eastern and north black sea region.

We are fielding interest by locals to join us on a couple rider websites.

http://www.advrider.com

Great website for photos!

and a local site run by my new friend Akif on the East Coast.

http://www.moto-park.com

This time I made sure to book during hot weather, I'd rather be dripping sweat than chipping snow off my face shield. So I'll bring this bikini thanks to my friend AmyLuna who unfortunately won't make this trip.

Until August 11th I'll be doing a lot of riding on the bike to get in shape for the trip so send any enthusiastic riders my way.

Austria - land of freezing rain & snow

2009-10-14T00:47:00.000-07:00

So after 5 days in Buda Pest and my last night at a movie theater where they didn't sell popcorn but you could buy a banana I was ready to head on to Austria, my last stop and which came to be the scariest part of the trip...but let me talk of happier times.

I headed Southwest to a region where there is a large lake that most people from Budapest vacation to called Lake Balaton. This is the Ayers Rock of it.

See the fortified castle on the top left of the photo...and those dark ominous clouds? That's where I'm headed.

Here is a close up.

The back side of Ayers Rock

Stopped in a town called Bagot and found a cute inn. The lobby was full of drunk men...I was nervous but then again since Romania I've been nervous around groups of men.

They fed me well, I have to say that Hungary was the most disappointing in terms of food but here they made a honeyed chicken with onion rings, fried potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, peas, green beans...ah hell just put everything on the plate for the starving girl.

I pulled my bike into their garage and the cheerful (and drunk) man who helped is a hunter.

Next the next morning to cross over into Austria. These huge crosses are in every town.

The border

had no one there so I blew threw and it started to get cold and of course, raining...

Now there is a photo missing here....of HOOTERS in Graz. Yes, that's right. I saw the big orange Hooters sign (which said 'an American restaurant' underneath) and no I didn't stop. I was pretty tired, cold and wet and just wanted to get to Leoben.

I went through a 9km tunnel, it was blessedly warm inside.

There were these signs at the turn outs, slightly to the right was the distance left going north, in this case 8km.

I actually *gasp* bought plastic bags in Budapest and wrapped my feet in them hoping to stay dry....when I finally reached Leobon Austria, cold and miserable I got a hair dryer from the girl and it took 4 hours to dry the inside of my boots.

This was a cute town. Raining and cold. I walked most of it. Not a lot of people...so I went to the mall and found pineapple toothpaste!!! And a very nice girl in a cafe who spoke French so I could finally get a real hot chocolate milk. AHHHHH...

What I didn't know is that the worst part of the storm was to come. I was hoping to get some distance the next day but it was not to be. View of river from my room. It's 32 degrees so there's snow falling too.

You can see the snow capped peaks. In Europe everyone is in an uproar over the sudden dramatic change of weather. This is very unusual for this time of year.

This is the last shot I got out of my camera before it froze (on the inside of my jacket), it got a lot worst from this point on.

I made it another 60 or so km then stopped at a truck stop banging on all the truck drivers doors hoping to find someone to get me and my bike to Linz or possibly Prague. No luck.

This was one of the scariest rides of my life. I finally had Radek from Prague come get me with a van. It was just too dangerous. I sat in a big rig with a nice man from Serbia...we labored through language barriers to talk of Rakia, his bambinos and how smoking was bad for him.

So I am home now...safe and warm in 75 degree weather, jet lagged and doing tons of laundry to get the ashtray aroma out of everything. This trip was amazing, truly. It had its many moments of euphoria and extreme fear. Already planning the next trip to Turkey.

6-8 Hungarian boys - Essay by Nancy Girouard

2009-10-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

6 to 8 Hungarian Boys with the bluest eyes...dedicated to my friend Tran Peoples

Essay by Nancy Girouard

I am no David Sedaris but be prepared nevertheless to laugh possibly with tears in your eyes.

After over one month of roaming the Eastern European countryside by motorbike like a rich gypsy it is time to reflect upon my experiences and lament my intense desire to wake up, just for once, in my own bed.

It's not that the food here is bad but something chemical perhaps calls to me from the cheese powder packet inside a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Or perhaps it's the true homesickness that kicks in when I go to the bathroom to find sandpaper staring back at me.

But I digress.

6-8 Hungarian boys. Truly. They do travel in packs of at least 4 (never have I seen less) and up to 10. Of course to even the odds, the girls travel in large numbers too. At first I worried, does this mean the streets of Budapest aren't safe? After having braved some long, dark and desolate streets after the opera at midnight I decided that this was not it.

Does this mean that they need someone to always have the torch burning so at all times a cigarette can be lit. No, cheap plastic bic lighters abound and they crush out one but not until the next is burning like the Olympian torch. Perhaps I long for a look of disdain when anyone even so much as thinks of lighting up...

Perhaps it is to have equal numbers for a match of pick up when said male band of brothers encounters giggling gaggle of sisters? Yes, I think that's it. One girl for every boy.

I live in an IKEA fun house. After snooping all over my apt, found the universally known “drawer of manuals”. Everything here was bought at IKEA, the furniture, TV & DVD player, washing machine and stove, heaters, rugs, sheets, light fixtures. I should think anyone wishing to stay here should be given an Allen wrench attached to the key ring. Heaven forbid you rattle the bed loose with your house guest who speaks no English.

Generally I find that when travelling abroad and faced with a menu in a language I cannot decipher, I find it relatively safe to ask the server what their favorite dish is...safe in the assumption that they know good food.

However after paying for two very expensive meals that were incredibly salty, I wondered if they had come to my apt to take salt from the only two bags of it in the pantry. I passed in front of Gundels, considered by most, the best restaurant in all of Hungary and laughed out loud as I passed thinking to myself, oh no, not again.

But do not despair. I finally had a great meal...and it came from a jar. Bolognaise sauce to be exact.

There are so many little luxuries that we have such as drying machines that make tigger look cute again. Quality soaps and detergents compared to the dollar store quality of the products here. Massive 64 oz bottles of conditioner and shampoo because let's face it, Americans waste.

But what makes a trip truly memorable?

Easy. The people.

Were it not for everyone I met, it would never have been as amazing as it has been. Taking a shower with a heated pot of water from the stove and a cup. Seeing men hauling through the house bags of hand picked grapes to a hand crank press.

Finding yourself crying from a pain level you have never experienced before being inflicted on you by a man old enough to be your grandfather without a word of English...and blessing his name and family the next day over the remarkable improvement in the mobility of your arm that you were ready to saw off.

Relaxing in the capability of exceptional hosts who take care of every detail and leave you wondering if they are mafia being so well connected and seeming to always know just the right person to fix things at border crossings.

Marveling at the probability of finding two people in a city of 15 million then later meeting one special person to show you that there is more to a baked potato than bacon, cheese, chives and sour cream.

Having the perfect traveling companions who are like a warm dry bed after hours of riding in the freezing rain.

Of all these experiences, the growing intensity of my dreams of my friends from San Francisco make waking up every morning a bit more difficult. It's people who bring us to tears and laughter and we are nothing without them. I can't wait to see you all...7 days and counting to some good champagne and macaroni and cheese. Amelie wine bar on Polk starting at 6pm Oct 17th until Nancy can't lay down without holding on to coin Dean Martin's favorite saying.

Should any of you wish to trace my final ride, it goes a little like this:

From Budapest, 100 KM SE to Kecskemet to see some horsemen and hopefully unload all the Rakia I have to drink. Unless it rains, as it's forecasted to which means I will skip that and head straight to the lake region of Hungary on my way to the Austrian border.

Veszprem then Balatonfured for some lakeside twisties and hopefully find a campground where no film crews are hiding.

Zalaegerszeg, say that 3 times fast...heading towards the Austrian border.

Graz then Leoben to find the hills alive with the sound of music.

Steyr, nearing the Czech border.

Then Cesky Krumlov, Hilary's favorite city (wait, I thought she hated cities...) Then Prague the 15^th eagerly packing, drinking their local champagne which as I mentioned before is quite good and wearing something NEW!

Buda Pest

2009-10-09T02:46:00.000-07:00

So Budapest is actually Buda on the East side and Pest on the West (pronounced Pesht)

I found an apt rental company that thankfully had their outgoing message in French! I was so happy to reach Kinga when I arrived in Budapest by phone and after riding through some construction areas and earning the ire and some laughter from the workers found her office.

This image is painted on the window across from my door.

Where is tigger...

The sun was setting and with a dark face shield I was getting nervous if I could get to the apt, then get the bike to storage before dark. With her helpful directions and kindness it all worked out. She even took me grocery shopping...where (drum roll please) I found LEMON toothpaste.

Now those of you who know me well also know I hate brushing my teeth...not anymore. I love this stuff and as you can see, I bought 4 tubes of it as well as other essentials like laundry detergent.

My huge bedroom..tigger is looking mangy again. damn this keyboard has the z where the y is and vice versa. I might just say the hell with it and start tzping weird. See what I mean?

First stop, get an opera ticket. Since I was too drunk on Champagne to enjoz the one in Prague, I got M Butterflz and a verz nice box seat too, right above the stage on the right. Most expensive seat in the house.

This is the opera house.

Juggler in the street...he was fun to watch.

In front of one of the MANY famous churches in Budapest.

Why bother? Just get a car ding dong

All the old train stations have been converted into indoor markets where there is plenty of helpful men behind the counters that would rather follow me around than work.

Everywhere you look it is beautiful here.

My first bad meal in Budapest. Expensive and salty. The next day I decided to pack my own lunch and it was much better. Now Dad, are you sitting down? I ate an apple. GASP. I got tired of finding banana puree in my bag so I have opted for more pratical fruit. (Julie I giggled thinking of you)

The interior of my apt building. Notice the detail in the iron work railing. Gorgeous and quiet.

Found this cool cave church like the one in Lourdes France

View of Pest from top of mountain where I walked...up some stairs, just a few

This is real

I think this is my favorite bridge of the 9

The next day I set out to visit a park that is on an island on the Danube between Buda and Pest

Found some cool grafitti

Definitely Fall, the trees were raining leaves like drops of water

The park had these busts of dead men everywhere

Beautiful gardens of flowers

And ponds

Stopped for lunch...at least there is no salt.

Cross another bridge and found these old Roman ruins

and composed my essay 6-8 Hungarian boys

Now I am never sure if I have the correct bathroom...but unless men change the diapers I think this was the right choice....there was even toothpicks!

Found some thermal baths that have techno nights....arrived at midnight and left at 3am...feeling a little like the photo.

Leaving Budapest tomorrow....ready to move on to Austria

Serbia - Land of angry nuns and RAIN

2009-10-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

So after a white knuckle ride on the highway through the lower part of Serbia, I finally found Hilary and Johan in Nis. Fucking miserable day. Pouring rain, even my boots had water sloshing around inside. I was freezing. We finally checked into a hostel and this market was behind...

Lot's of peppers...

This guy loves his job...we were trying to decide where to eat

Serbia is the land of meat....these shops are everywhere.

This is quite possibly the worst meal of my life. I have no idea what the hell it even is, pork, beef, goat, chicken. It was disgusting and expensive.

Neat castle along the Danube...

Every turn was just gorgeous

There was a scary looking stairway down to the water inside

These signify a wedding. I found them everywhere. They even put a rolled up towel on the side mirrors of the car to signify that they are driving with the wedding party.

When I finally arrived to Opovo where Goran's parents live, I found this nice man to bring me to their house. Turns out he went to school with Goran's sister Mira.

I drove 500 km this day...through some beautiful back country and along the danube to finally reach Opovo. Milorad his father, Angelina his mother and Mira his sister. We ate and ate and drank some rakia.

Mira's room. I was so comfy!

The next day, Johan and I went to Fruska Gora and saw this tower, probably bombed in the war and not repaired.

Neat signs in national park

Beautiful twisty roads through national park

We came upon some horses, they ran with us for a while.

This nun was angry that we drove in front of the monastary

Another one where Johan desecrated holy ground.

Stopped at Novi Sad castle for a quick snack before a long boring ride back to Opovo.

Milorad makes his own Rakia...in 50 gallon jugs.

Drinking on the porch. Electricity went out, no problem, just have another drink.

Stuffed cabbage leaves...so yummy!

Angelina wearing my boots. She braided my hair in a french braid before I left.

And gave me this rose that lasted until Budapest

Cutie at the gas station that deserved a return visit.

Next stop Budapest!!!

Macedonia / Land of Massive Men

2009-10-08T06:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Macedonia...land of massive men. Seriously though, every country I enter there is no welcome sign with the flag of the country...just the local road rules. Don't these people have any national pride.

Our first stop. Luke has a business meeting, this is where all the young gorgeous people hang out and well, people watch. No one rides motorcycles here so we were the main attraction.

Had moussaka for lunch. Depending on the region, it can be made with either potatoes, eggplant or zucchini. The restaurant had about 6 things on the menu *out of 30 dishes listed*

Meet Tiny. Now you all know how I can put it away, this man ate 3 times as much as me.

And another massive man...they are all huge here.

This was on the way to Skopje....really it's amazing that I can get these photos. There is always the smell of something burning in the air. Usually to clear the land for the next crop.

Now I've clocked 5000 km and I still have no idea what these mean...not that I follow them anyway.

And I think this ones means I CAN pass.

Nice hot bath after another long day of riding. 250 km max per day my ASS! Thanks Larry for the Airhawk!!!

View of Skokje at night...started raining so the roads were like someone spread butter. Wait a minute! Did Goran's mom get here first

Goofing off with the timer...

Almost a full moon now.

Went to a Kafana. This where people eat like pigs, drink like pigs and dance on the tables...everything on that plate, including the ham is wrapped in bacon.

Another Kafana...see my nose is red already.

At any one time I have a minimum of 4 currencies...Euro, US, the country I left and the country I am in...

Our gorgeous hotel lobby, see all the water behind me, a day of riding in pouring rain to Nis in Serbia awaits. I am smiling but very nervous.

Wish me luck.

Istanbul

2009-10-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

After the longest bus ride from hell (well Burgas) finally arrived in the massive bus terminal called Otogar to this welcome face. Aleaf is Simin's sister and treated me like family.
Here she is the next day helping me get the GPS fixed.

After that got underway I stopped for my first photo of Istanbul.

Fishermen with poles as long as a bus....

Catch these itsy bitsy fish.

Next the station where the Orient Express used to start.

Turkish delight ( of which I ate way too much)

This helpful man educated me on the cheap stuff that is mostly marshmallow and gelatin and the good stuff made with honey. I bought some of course and he treated me to a tea with them.

Blue Mosque. I enjoyed sitting on the carpeted floor gazing at the ceiling and lights and smelling thousands of stinky shoes around me.

Inside the underground water cistern. French woman could not get me and the Medusa face...come to think of it, I kinda have a weird look on my face.

This is it.

Next the Grand Bazaar where I was pursued with utter abandon even though I had my ipod blaring.

Gorgeous ceramics

And A huge place, easy to get lost.

There are 15 million people in Istanbul...and I found the two people I met on the bus the prior day there. Irfan and Anna Lena both from Germany, although he is Turkish.

After I finally made my way out, I Stopped for Turkish Coffee and did some people watching.

Then on to the Spice Baazar where I bought the hotest chili for Leo. Get ready!

Crowded as usual. The sheer press of humanity in this city is overwhelming. I even did the rush hour commute with the locals both mornings.

All kinds of nuts...got some wonderful Turkish pistachios that Mert introduced me to.

All kinds of spices...they smelled divine.

Next after picking up my repaired GPS I took a Bosphorus river tour by boat.

These pool size flags dot the landscape. The Turkish have every reason to be proud of their city.
If I took Paris, Shanghai and Buenos Aires and lumped them all together, they still could not compare to Istanbul. I completely fell in love with her and decided my trip next year is to live here for a couple weeks (or more) then motorcycle the whole country.

How the other half live. These villas are 250+ million euros.

Musa (my other Turkish delight

helped me find some yummy pastries for breakfast

Here he is buying me some roasted something or other...

Stopped off here for more coffee!

I told him 3 times we could not cross here, so I decided to make it known to the world.

Palace doors won't open. This is the road where there is a center lane that literally suggests you play chicken or king of the road with the opposite direction traffic.

He took me to a bake potato place where they put anything and everything on it, including peas, carrots and ketchup. YUCK

27 year old Chemistry student working on his Masters. He told his classmates I was a professor visiting from MIT....

Buying Baklava...and it was heavenly....with more stairs...I swear I must have muscles in my butt firemen would be proud of by now...

I asked for hot chocolate...mmm miss would you like milk with that

Took the bus from Istanbul back to Burgas at 7pm. Broke down and eventually arrived in the middle of nowhere at 3am. Fortunately the hotel Laguna Beach was able to pick me up. I was so happy to see Nina waiting for me.

The next morning I woke up at 5am and rode 500 km to Sofia...yep that's right I had a big mac, fries and coke for breakfast...dad, I know I will never hear the end of this.

Crashed & and a Bulgarian mom

2009-10-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

So it happened. I crashed.
Now a crash, according to Hilary, is when either the bike or you are harmed. In this case both.
Sparing you the gory details, 5 days later and it still hurts to move my arm and I have bruises on my hip and legs most men would be proud of.

Our first stop...this is a lake at one of the highest points in Bulgaria.
We've added Luke's Nephew from Australia on the left.
These damn road repairs are treacherous! They cut out rectangular sections (hundreds of them) then I guess fill them in later. Only don't get stuck in a few of these at 100km an hour in the dark.

Cute cub who sold me some honey...or should I say honey that sold me some honey. :)

Stopped for another huge meal...

Bulgaria. The meat lovers country.

Now this is my Bulgarian mom Zarka. I arrived after a very painful crash in tears. She runs a pension in the village of Trigrad in the southern mountains of Bulgaria. I ended up riding out of the forest on the back of Luke's bike, too hurt and shook up to ride myself. Here she is making a rice poultice for my shoulder.

Her pension...local crafts. When you get married everyone gives you gifts of wool blankets and let me tell you that they are necessary!

That's her son sitting up on the pile, very shy but he warmed up to us by the end of our two days here. Showing him how it's done.

This was so much fun. There is a video of it in my photo albums.

Typical country scene.

Performance our last night. The young people in these remote villages go to special schools to preserve the arts.

This is my Bulgarian mom Grandfather. He fixed my shoulder. We have local village doctors like this in Quebec and let me tell you I would rather go to him than any hospital...She took pity on me because of how much I cried when he did his magic.

Here she is on my bike. Apprantly there is a big off road event here in the Fall that riders come from all over to participate in. I can't recommend this place enough. At 10 euros a night for a comfortable, clean and special experience...stay at Mama Zarka's in Trigrad.

They call this the small Grand Canyon. My first time seeing it since I arrived in the middle of the night.

As I passed through cities I found that the word "super" is not the only universal word known to all cultures here, "sex shop" is also as widely known.

Another amazing meal...eggs, cheese and sausage. Watch out, piping hot.

Now I didn't get a photo of this, remember 110 km an hour, but women in Bulgaria have rather interesting hairstyles. Remember that poofy poodle look of the 80's well it's here, in abundance.

Arrived in the black sea side town of Sozopoy and this is my much welcome Rob Roy.

Here when they say yes, they nod no and vice versa. It's very confusing. So when I asked, can you make a Manhattan, he nodded yes and said no.

Luke took me for a late night tour of the town. Traditional wood houses. Gorgeous.

Churches could not be higher than a man on a horse.

Phase of the moon, halfway now. Two more weeks of this fun.

Next stop Istanbul.