The Tortoise

And today ... nothing of note happened !

Left Kastamonu trying to take a few photos on the way out, but rush hour and impatient Turkish drivers prevented that.

Straight back onto the dual carriageway with all good roads & great scenery, all the way to Trabzon.

Nice vista.

and again.

"Uh, hello, hello ... can u hear me... there must be something on the line"

 And then for 12 km, the GPS wanted to take a short cut, so I complied .... come across what I thought was dung in the road.  Then as I drew closer ....

Dung ?

 It was a wild tortoise crossing the road ..... slowly.  And a bus was fast approaching !

.... very slowly.

 So, I put the bike across the road, and made the bus go around.   Ah, that's my good deed for the day.

Then the road turned to gravel.

... then a brand new dual carriageway that followed the coast for 100km or so.

Tunnels galore.

In the evening, met up with Jeremy, and we planned a nice meal with a glass of wine ... oh, Muslim restaurant, I forgot.  OK, I'll try the 2014 Chateau neuf de Fanta than.  I heard it was a good year.

And I hate to say, but Jeremy brought the rain from England, so after 16 days of sunshine, I had to get the wet weather gear out for the morning.

Onwards to Kastamonou

400 km planned today, and suffering from a lack of caffeine ....

More pipeline .... must Google it later.

Mountain roads = mountain views

Eventually the roads improve

Selfie, with some cows.

Lunch was taken at the Nil Cafe .... I can only assume the Nil refers to Nil Alcohol available !

There was no English menu, so it was a case of point and hope for the best.  I managed OK, until I got a coffee without milk, and making "moo" sounds with my hands for horns, still failed to break the communication barrier.

Had to revert to the "Picture Book"

Success

The owner insisted on taking pics of me for her Facebook page, so I grabbed one back.  Had a good laugh, then was on my way.

The afternoon roads were a lot better with decent dual carriageway into Kastamonou.

Kastamonu is an ancient town, and the hotel I stayed in was a old stone built affair, full of ornate furniture, high ceilings, and soft beds.  Excellent ... I needed a good nights sleep.

And after checking in, I spotted a old Haman (Turkish Bath) opposite.  Built 500 years ago.
So that was it, do as the locals... went in and had 16 days of road grime scrubbed of my body ... urgh !

I had a gander around in the evening, and have to say I wish I had more time here.  There's loads to see and I just caught a few glimpses.  I should have taken more photos, but I'm sure you could find them on the web.... start here Google Kastamonu

Another 400 km in the morning, so bed by 10.30, really !

Know your ferries

Today was one of those days that turned from Plan A, to B, to C...

The original plan was to avoid Istanbul and its traffic, and cross the Bosphorus River, north of the city, using a local ferry.
.
A moments lapse of concentration and I missed a turn, and was getting sucked into Istanbul itself.  Found the first exit, and just happened to stop outside a big Harley Davidson dealer.  Thought I would buy another inner tube, but all they sold were bikes and expensive riding apparel !

They directed me to the Honda dealer that was on my way back to the ferry I was originally aiming for.  Once they said, "keep the sea on your right, and you can't miss it", I knew I would.
So, I did miss it, but found the ferry ... Guess what ? Passengers only ... how did I cock that up ? I'll blame the GPS, it routed me that way.

I then had no choice, Plan C... through the city and across the bridge.  I took a scenic way back into Istanbul so as not to retrace my steps, then in fairness the traffic was not as bad as I thought.

View of Istanbul

The GPS redeemed itself by taking me through without a missed turn, and then I was on the bridge ... but gridlock.  Again, after a few minutes a local came riding past straight up the side of the lorries on the hard shoulder .... so I followed him !  I'm sure I should have payed a toll, but somehow the opportunity never presented itself.

The rest of the morning was spent doing some fairly nice roads until my stomach signalled a lunch break was required, so this backwoods diner fitted the bill.

   

Shish Kebab was all I knew in Turkish, so that what I got.

Plus a customary cup of tea at the end.

Shooting on, the roads got steadily worse as I got closer to the sea, ending up with the last 25 km being just a dusty gravel road.  There is a massive pipeline project going on here, and as the site was deserted, I had a little "play".

Not quite the same as in the "Italian Job"

Got to Kerpe about 5 pm, and checked into my first "hostel" accommodation ... The Danube Surf House.  It conjures up images of a evening around a camp fire on the beach with a load of Turkish Surfer Dudes.

In reality, I was the only one there, the place was 10 mins from the beach, and at the end of a housing estate.  The owner, while pleasant enough, had a couple of tiny dogs that growled, yelped and whined, every time they spotted movement.  I asked about breakfast .... "oh, about 9, or 10 dude" (in a Turkish/French accent, but you get the idea).

9 beds in this "mixed" room

So the next morning, I had the last laugh ... and while he was still asleep on the outside sofa ... I set the dogs off !  Left at 8am, minus a breakfast.

Entering Turkey

Wanted an early start as had a good days riding planned, plus the unknown entity of the border crossing into Turkey.  I have heard some going straight through, while others had their bikes practically dismantled by customs.  3 hour waits were touted as typical.


So on the road by 8am, and as soon as I was out of Burgas, the road became an exceptionally smooth and practically empty affair, all the way to the border.  It twisted & turned through the forest and was a great start to the day.

Stopped at the last petrol filling station in Bulgaria as the fuel is 25% of the Turkish prices, and filled the Trannie to the brim.

The border is 1 km further on, but first it makes sense to change your Bulgarian Lev into Turkish Lira.

Round the bend you hit Turkey customs, and its the usual affair of officials smoking outside the building with no-one to ask for help.  So tried one window, and got pointed to an office.  Was missing a stamp from the Police, so onto their window next.  Back to the first guy in the office ..., oh I need insurance now, and that's from yet another booth outside.

Pulled the Insurance agent off the smokers bench, as was relieved of about £30 for a months insurance.  Back to the first guy, who then directed me to another window.  This chap simply wrote my registration number in my Passport ... back the the first guy for the third time, but he was back outside on the smokers bench.  I noticed he was clutching his stamp with his packet of fags, so I sidled up to him hoping he was still "on-duty".

"Welcome to Turkey" he says, as he stamped my passport using his knee for support ... resulting in a faint, smudged, bareley legible imprint.  Border control - its all a big joke sometimes.

The road from the border is first class, and I over-ruled the GPS wanting to short cut a section out, by sending me down a goat track.

Stopped for a Red Bull around lunch, where the bike inevitably draws interest.

Super-size me !

Made good time to the hotel in Kilyos, but staying here was a bit of a mistake ...was supposed to be an idyllic beach cum fishing port on the Black sea.  Firstly the hotel was a dated wreck .. I changed my first room (as it hadn't been sterilised from the last smoking resident), only to be given one with a broken toilet, breathless a/c unit, and patchy wi-fi.  It overlooked the beach so I wandered down .... seemed you had to pay for access.  Being stubborn tight, I saw a few kids were swimming in the fishing harbour ...  it seemed clean enough, so took a brief dip there.

Now its time for a beer ... looked hard for a suitable establishment, only to find the place is full of Muslims, and they don't serve alcohol.  Just seems ironic that eventually I found a can, in a shop, right outside the church (or mosque, whatever they call it).

Back for a surprisingly good shower, then walked out a bit further this time ....followed some girls who didn't have a headscarf on, which led me to a decent bar.  Penne Pasta, good WiFi, and numerous Efes beer finished the night off ... nearly.   Walking back, got allured by a sign saying Ors Disco, open until 4.  Despite the sign, it wasn't open to me ... some "Magilla Gorilla" type said something like "hamster jam", but the crossed arms and spread legs made it obvious my custom wasn't wanted.  Guess I'll never know why.

Bed then ....  I'd run out of options again.

Burgas rest day

Not too much to say about today ...

Treated the bike to some tlc

Then had a walk around the mall above .  I have come to the conclusion that everywhere in the world that pleads poverty, well there's always enough people with the cash to support designer shopping malls....

After the obligatory swim in the Black Sea (a first for me),

hit a beach bar, and ended up chatting to a retired Butcher from Manchester.

He put me onto a safari themed sand sculpture display that apparently could not be missed. So, later that evening, I trekked about 20 mins to take a look.

The photos don't do the quality of the work any justice.

Back to the hotel by 9, packed my now all clean & dry clothes, and hit the sack at 10 pm as I wanted an early start for the next days infamous 3 hour wait, border crossing into Turkey.