Three months around Europe

Istanbul to Kusadassi

One of the drawbacks of travelling in a group, even if it is only two bikes is that it is harder to meet the locals. When you travel alone you have to make contact, but in a group you can sit back and let someone else do it.

Roz, on pillion, would be our initial contact for hotels and camp sites. John preferred to be more organised , booking ahead and having a daily destination rather than my more makeshift approach of searching for somewhere to stay once I finished my day's ride. Both methods have their pros and cons and really the best just boils down to your personality. John felt a strong responsibility for his pillion and as someone else was happy to do the organising, my natural laziness and vow to avoid any kind of responsibility let me go with the flow.

We headed along the Black Sea coast to Asmara- climbing out through the coastal ranges, hugging the B roads until we hit the coastal highway which allowed us to open our throttles and let the breeze cool us down. I noticed my bike was handling a bit sluggishly and checking the tyres noticed the rear tyre had dropped pressure. Looking closer I found a large nail embedded in the tread. The tyres had done about 16000 km and still had plenty of wear and trying to get a replacement would involve a considerable wait as big bikes and their tyres were few and far in this neck of the woods.

I found a tyre shop and we pulled out the nail and plugged and patched the tyre. The shop refused payment and it is testimony to their skill that the patch lasted me all the way back to the UK – a distance of more than 5000km- though I did keep a careful check on pressure. Apart from replacing a head lamp bulb that was the first issue I had with the bike in over 40000 km – aside from maintainance work replacing the chain and sprocket

From Asmara we headed inland, cutting across the plateau of Central Turkey and rode into Cappadocia in the first rain I had encountered in over two months.

We spent three days in Cappadocia. I bought more jewellery and some ceramics. Roz and John splashed out on a turkish carpet . We bought it at the carpet weaving university.

This university is an initiative of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and for the last 20 years has taken girls from the country and taught them weaving techniques and sent them back to their villages to establish and run co operatives. The Ministry audits the product and sells it direct cutting out the often voracious middlemen.

The University head told me: “ It has been successful beyond our expectations – we can maintain tradition and quality, offer a guaranteed return to our students, spread the skill level and give the village ladies a vocation and purpose.
“It has also helped in speeding emancipation – the girls leave here with a strong sense of purpose and ambition and that has proven to have positive effects on the life of many villages.”

So if you are looking for a Turkish carpet at a fair price, then try the University in Cappadocia.

It seemed as though the whole of Turkey was under construction. Roads were being widened and resealed, bridges and tunnels constructed. The work was being financed largely by petrodollars from other Islamic States anxious to see Turkey, which seperated State from church when the new Republic was formed by Atatturk in 1923, come closer into their sphere .

After leaving Cappadocia and its cave houses and churches we headed south to the Med. and made our first aquaintance with the D400. This road runs along the coast and is undoutably one of the best motorbike roads I have ever ridden.

For much of its distance it occupies a space between the coastal range and the sea. There are few beaches here ,the mountains just tumbling into the sea with pine forests fringing and overhanging the road. There is considerable reconstruction work going on but the engineer in charge obviously had motorbikes in mind in his road design. We could ride as hard or as soft as we wanted. There was little traffic and plenty of room for passing. I remember cresting one rise and seeing a ribbon of dual carriageway stretching downhill for more than 20 km with gradual, thoughtful curves, ribbon smooth surface and only one other vehicle. I just opened up the throttle and enjoyed.

The route took us through major towns and pretty fishing villages, now open for tourism but in a laidback, hospitable manner. Perhaps we had caught them just in time.

It took us seven days to ride the 1500 km from Cappadocia to Kusadasi . We spent our nights in quaint hotels costing around $25 a night each, tasting the local cuisine, and sharing our thoughts about the wonderful days ride we had experienced.

We arrived in Kusadasi with a purpose. To find the jewellers shop , that John and Roz had their engagement ring made. But Kusadasi was now a major tourist port, with cruise ships calling regularly and disgorging their passengers for a five hour Turkish delight- would the shop still exist

They knew the shop was close to the seafront, so we started there and bingo we found the shop. However, now it was a major swish outlet, like a Michael Hill on steroids – but run by the relations of the jeweller who made the original ring. They loved the story of our journey and the quest to find their shop, poured over the ring and its original bill and gave Roz a hearty discount on her new purchases. Job done.
Even though Kusadassi was a tourist town, we all rated it highly. The merchants were not pushy and often displayed a lovely sense of humour firing back quips if you gave them a smart alec response to their invitation to see their wares. Great fun and no pressure – great for my flat line responsibility curve.
Even as I write this a few weeks after leaving the D400, I can still enjoy the lovely ride and challenge it gave us.
Who said road engineers don't have soul.