London............ made it!

Wednesday 16 July



Rode on to Calaise and jumped a P&O ferry to Dover. Was expecting the local by-laws officer to be waiting to collect the £50 parking fine that I received on the way thru a few weeks ago, but got thru OK.
There were about 30 bikes ( groups of between 3-6 mates) waiting for the ferry, mostly big tourers with all the right gear. Serious tourers, some had been as far as southern France, one group had even been to Spain. They were shocked to realise that the old Aussie on the battered 1000 quid XJ had made it to Damascus and back in only 5 weeks.


Back to riding on the left side of the road came back much quicker than learning to ride on the right! I only had a few scares in Europe.

Rode on towards London and found a grotty B&B in New Eltham, near Greenwich which had off-street parking for the bike. Only 30 minutes into London on the Metro.

There's been a bit of interest in the bike on eBay.



I guess 'The Big Ride' is done.

I hope to catch up with Rob and Andrea in the next few days and get back to The Lordship to pick up my bags and do the final clean of the bike ( and replace the broken flasher that happened when the bike 'fell over' in Greece. Well, more of a slide than a fall. Lack of concentration on a fast downhill bend can do that!

Sedan and onward.............

Tuesday 15 July

Left my charming motel and headed west towards the Somme where I wanted to visit Viller Bretoneux, site of one of Australia's greatest battles in WW1. On the way I went thru several other famous battle sites such as Marle and St Quentin. This part of France may not be the most picuresque, but the villages are just beautiful and simple. There's a real pride in the way the towns are kept. Service stations are generally well down a side street, so not to spoil the look of a place.

Got to Villers Bretoneux and the place is adorned with references to Oz. Avenue Robinvale, rue du Melbourne etc. There's even a school funded by Victoria in the town. Good to know that we're still thought of highly somewhere ( well, the Turks like us as well!). Went to Corbie, another battle site. all good!

Pic of town hall at Corbie. The picture quality is dropping off, the camera has been thru a bit of rough treatment lately.

Delayed leaving Wallensdorf...........

Monday 14.

Packed the panniers and snapped them onto the bike. The sun was shining and breakfast ( hard boiled egg, rolls, cold meats, coffee and great German jams) was wating down stairs in the basement. Incidently, there were a number of strangely locked doors down there and I kept thinking about that nice Austrian father who loved his children.

I thought I'd check on the eBay auction and discovered I was locked out of the system. eBay had picked up that I ( or some imposter) had accessed my account from Germany and placing an ad for the UK. I took me 2 hours to sort ( via the net to Oz) to sort it. I then had to redo the ad. So it wasn't the early start I'd planned.

I freewayed into France to make up some time and headed to Verdun which was a terrific little town. Stopped for coffee, spoke to some French bikers who told me that the road to Sedan was a beaut. So I headed off.

The road was great ( ie., not many cars, good sweeping bends and no sign of police) and went thru, strangely enough, some nice little French villages, Mouson being my favourite. I know the pic's just of a river, but I know where it is!

I was right in the centre of the Ardennes, great farming area criss-crossed with canals.

I continued on the Sedan and went thru the usual panic of finding a decent place to sleep. This place had no pensions....... really weird. So I stayed at a crappy motel on the edge of town. Showered and rode back in for a good meal at les Halles restaurant. Had a great local beer as well.

Covered about 380 miles, a good day.

Exit Prague, enter Germany

Saturday 12

Found my way out of Prague quite easily.... must be finally getting it! As I approached Germany it started to drizzle. stop and on with the wets. Then it rained and rained. Its not long before the rain has seeped right up to my chest. Miserable ride. After a few hours and not enough kms travelled, I'm looking for a dry place to stop. West of Nurnberg of stop at Ansbach and then down a small road to Wallersdorf to a pension. Get dry and sit and watch le Tour. Cavendish wins the stage............ A Manxman!

No restaurant in the village, so later its on with wet wets and ride into Ansbach. After the meal (mediocre) I continue past the pension and come to a charming little village.... with a great pub. almost English style village.

Sunday 13

Had planned to ride on, but the rain had started up again. Decide to stay, give the bike a good wash and put it on eBay so it'll be sold whilst I'm still in UK. The pension has the net, so I'm set for the day. Also the MotoGP is on so I can sit and watch that too. and I know where there is a great pub!! Result!

Nice clean Yamaha XJ900!!

Budapest to Prague

9-11 July

The 'farewell' meal, Budapest.

Saw Dave off in taxi morning of 9th and wished him a good Rally. Rob and Andrea headed west towards Austria and I headed north to Slovakia. The ride out of Hungary was good through farmlands and forests. Truely beautiful. It got hillier the closer I got to the border. and with that...cooler.. colder and then the rain set in! I was still wearing the same riding gear as Syria.

The houses in northern Slovakia were a mix of fairly new and some great older timber houses, almost log cabin, but square section timbers. People still working the fields as they've done for ages.... lots of back-bending hand work.

Crossed into Poland with no checks, the EU working well. If only the buggers would all use euros, it would have made the whole ride much less of a strain. Notes are easy to shed as you leave a country, fill the petrol tank. But coins are starting to mount up in the back pack.

The Poles now hold the prize for bad roadwork practice. 100 km from the border to Kracow was partially dug up, either one side of the road or the other. A bit like Albania, they decide to do the whole length, not just finish a piece at a time. 100km took almost 3 hours and by the time I rode into Kracow I was wanting a shower and bed. Couldn't find a pension\hotel with secure parking for the bike, so at about 6:30 set out riding west into the darkness.

Finally got to Kapowice (?) which looked very dodgy (or at least the part of town I stumbled into), with sleezy bars and people weighing up the bike for a quick sale, so I headed to the outskirts where I stayed at another Russian inspired office block which pretended it was a hotel. But at least it was clean and the bike off the street and being watched all night by Doris! Walked into the darkness and found a pub and had a beer and bratwurst... simple food, but just right for the time.

After ham and eggs for breakfast I was on the road to Prague. Freeway most of the way, but not before the Poles played at being roadworkers again. Along the road were many historic sites to visit (if you had the time), most appeared to be old coal mines. Every now and then I would see a beautiful castle on some craggy clifftop, real fairytale stuff.

No one at the border into Czech Republic so in I went and continued to Prague. Like most of our entries, I headed straight for the centre of town. There's always a sign to "centrum". I finally came to a hotel that didn't look too expensive (the main criteria) and had off-street parking. It was only 2 metro stops from the Charles Bridge and 66 dollars per night.... result!

A walk around to check things out, some dinner and a beer and the day was done. ATM ate my card!

Friday,

Did some overdue work on the bike. Its fine, but trim and stuff is showing wear and tear ( or is it tare?). Its going to need a big cleanup before it goes on eBay. Spoke to folk at bank. Seems that they'll send my card home. Luckily I have have a back-up card.

Went for a huge walk through the old quarters and up to the castle, supposedly the largest castle complex in the world.... I tend to believe them. Unbelievable. do a Google. I'm now typing this and then I'll slowly head back to the hotel, fold the washing that I washed in the shower this morning and pack to be ready to leave in the morning and head into Germany.

Buda and Pest continued

Tuesday 8 July

Dave headed to the airport to have his bike shipped back to London as he flies off to Moscow tomorrow to ready himself for the Trans Siberia Rally. He's co-driver in the Porsche Australia Team's Cayenne. They didn't manage to finish last year, but have big plans for this one. The rally finishes in Mongolia. I think the flight out of Mongolia will be the most adventurous part.

Visited the main market. Great building and lots of good produce, but our QV Market is every where as good. This one just has more varieties of Hungarian salami. Did some more walking, this time to the top of another damn hill to see another damn Citadel. Great views of Budapest.

Pic of a relaxed and tanned newbold. The dark clouds are a bit of a worry. Not looking forward to riding in the rain again.

Tonight will be the "farewell Dave meal". Should be a good one. It'll be sad to see him leave the ride, I'll miss the continual piss taking and his wind problem, but I wish him luck.

The ride tomorrow is not planned yet. North to Slovakia or west to Austria................?

Buda and Pest

Monday 7 July

Had a langos (big garlicy pancake covered in raw onion) for breakfast followed by the worst coffee I've ever had. A great start to the day.

It was only about 175km ride into Budapest but was still a tough ride. The road surface was much better than we'd seen for ages. Single lane and mad passing moves the whole way. The old bike can still hit the 100mph when asked.

The civic pride in Hungary is a pleasure to see. Compared with Bulgaria and Romania this place is so much cleaner. Nothing was finished in the last 10 or so countries we'd ridden through. We rode into Pest, eastern side of the river and searched for a hotel........ cheap of course.

Couldn't find one and had to settle for an Ibis.... ugly little boxes for rooms. But did have underground secure parking (for a cost!). By the time we'd showered and changed, watched a bit of le tour, we were hanging for a beer, so did the right thing and had a few. Then off for goulash (?, spelling.....) and some lecco (Hungarian sausage type stew) , all very nice. Bed.

Budapest, along with Istanbul, Damascus, Capaddocia and Aleppo are on the list for return visits with Joan.

Into Hungary

Sunday July 6

It was a 340 km ride to the Hungarian border. It seemed to take forever riding through the farmland. The area seemed to be good farming land and very productive. Corn, sunflowers and a whole lot of other green stuff. Stopped for coffee and I 'spoke' to aRomanian biker who was at the cafe with his mates. All drunk at 9:30 in the morning. We had a good chat about bikes and stuff. The countryside is marred by rusting oil-lines and power poles which go straight through fields, not follow roads in the normal fashion.

The crossing into Hungary was even easier than previous crossings.... EU. Found a pension at Karcag and went for a meal and met the "Plum Brandy Bikers" . A Romanian patch club. Not quite the Hells Angles. They had been in Hungary for a big bike rally and were heading back to Romania. The whole club was there, all 8 of them. Riding old Urals and a Jawa bobber.

The President had good English, but no one else. Food in Hungary is flavoursome to say the least. Even the fat is fried in fat. Dave has been here a few times and has Hungarian relos, so we let him do the ordering, and so far its turned out fine!

Back to the pension and the owner had us lock our bikes in a factory complex nearby, and then produced a bottle of white and we all had a good chat.

another departure from a flash lodging.

Romania...............

Saturday July 5

Left Ploiesti and headed towards Bran, home of Vlad the Impaler. Stopped off at a castle overlooking Brasnov. Very impressive.

Another long walk to the top of a steep hill. Had a good look around the hilltop village and back to the bikes to head off to Bran. Arrived in Bran to see thousands of tourists flocking around Dracula souvenir shops.......... time to ride on. We had been told by various bikers we had met that we should ride the Fagaras Pass. It was a bit out of our way, but we headed off. This road was built in the 80s and has had bad repairs ever since. Over a 100km of bone jarring potholes and ripples that shook the bikes and us to pieces. The views were great, but you were afraid to take your eyes off the next couple of metres of road. It was the weekend, so all along the road were camped Romanians. Right beside the road in large clusters........ weird. The road began to climb and the surface improved a little. Then a series of switch backs and a huge climb. It became the road across the Carpathian Mountains. Absolutly magnificent views, better than Austria. The ride down the other side was far steeper than the ride up. The wind was extremely stong and the road grooving made it a little unpleasant for me......... but great. Probably the most spectacular road I've ridden ( or driven). The day was ended staying at a seedy motel at the back of another service station. Beer and potato crisps and left over sausage for dinner.

Obzor to Ploiesti, Romania

Friday 4 July



After Obzor the road improved somewhat and the pace increased. Nice countryside, lots of vineyards and sunflower fields. Very pretty in places. We stopped for coffee in Varna. Pulled up onto the plaza near a cafe and was immediatly approached by yound Ivan the almost terrible who tried the money exchange game followed by the "I'll guard your bikes for 30 euros" "no, go away"........... "but this is Mafia area, your bikes aren't safe!" He left!



Border crossing from Bulgaria to Romania was also painless. Took a while but all friendly. We left the zone and straight onto a dirt road that ended at the Arges River where we had to wait some time for the ferry to take us across. We had decided to go around Bucuresti but ended up missing a turn and doing far too many km. We started looking for a place to sleep and rode into to Ploiesti. A large city with a real russian feel about it. Large plain concrete buildings, wide streets and lots of overhead wiring. Stayed at a hotel near the railway station. Very plain food preceeded a bad night's sleep in a noisy and hot room.

Istanbul to Obzor, Bulgaria.

Thursday 3 July

Left Istanbul after a decent break from the bikes. My backside was almost back to its original shape. Got stuck in morning peak traffic. Absolutly mad! Everybody going flat out one metre apart, mobile phone talking and switching lanes. The bikes did not appear on their radar at all. We all made it out to the countryside. Getting out of Turkey was pretty easy.. and getting into Bulgaria was much easier than I'd been lead to believe. Maybe they have eased up since joining the EU. Stopped for lunch just north of Burgas. The road fell to bits shotly after. Pot holes joined together with very badly made patches. Not only do we have to dodge potholes, we have to keep an eye out for mad folk using our side of the road coming in the opposite direction.

Finally came to a small town that had a holiday feel to it and turned off the road and headed to the beach (Black Sea). This part of Bulgaria was the holiday destination of choice for Russians and Poles before the "wall" came down. Many still come back for old time's sake. With a good clean-up, it could almost be good. Rows of umbrellas and seats on the beach (for a fee), peddle boats and little bars that sold beer. The whole place had a seedy feel to it, but in nice sort of way. Found a cheap place with a hot shower. Total miles today.... 287, doesn't sound much, but it was hard work.

Istanbul contınued.......

2 July, Wednesday

Had a slow start today. The rest of the crew went out last nıght wıth some people Andrea and Rob met ın Aleppo and were sufferıng a bıt. From al reports, an excellent nıght wıth greast food and great company. I stayed ın because of my crook tum, maybe a bad move.......

Went back to Grand Bazzar because you can never see the whole place. Back to the waterfront where we had fısh sandwıches and Efes for lunch... just about perfect! Rob, Andrea and Dave then headed off for a ferry trıp and I headed off to see the Topkapı Sarayı, the old Sultan's palace, now a museum. A huge place on the poınt of the penınsular of thıs sectıon of Istanbul.

The buıld qualıty was superb. The tımber work/joınery and tılıng detaıl was great. Summer pavılıons, wınter pavılıons, consultatıon rooms, ıt just went on. Space wasn't an ıssue and eıther was cost.

Not far from there ıs AyaSofya a huge mosque that started out as a Catholıc church. Many of the orıgınal mosaıcs are stıll ıntact. The mosque ıtself ıs showıng sıgns of ıts age and currently ıs undergoıng major restoratıon and beıng used as a museum. Lıke most of these sıtes, my lıttle camera does not do them justıce. On my next trıp, I'll take a better camera.

Hopefully we'll fınd a decent cafe for a meal tonıght and tomorrow off to Bulgarıa. Dependıng who we've spoken to wıll be eıther a treat or a trıal............... only tıme wıll tell.

Istanbul

2 July

After slavıng after doıng yesterday's bloggıng I had a lıght breakfast, dry bread,hard boıled egg and some juıce. Stıll not feelıng 100% whıch ıs a huge shame because the food here looks so good.

Rob was goıng off to fınd a new back tyre, Dave was hangıng round the computer so I headed off to explore the local area. Walked ın the general dırectıon of the Blue Mosque and stumbled on ıt after about 15 mınutes. Photos cannot do ıt justıce. One of the most beautıful buıldıngs that I have seen.

The tıle work ıs mafnıfıcent and the whole atmosphere very relaxıng. Tourısts were a lıttle offputtıng (No, I'm not a tourıst, I'm a traveller!! Very dıfferent). Wandered off towards the Grand Bazzar. As in most good cıtıes, the wanderıng ıs often the best part. Finally stumbled ınto the lanes that lead to the bazzar. Different to Damascus and Aleppo (obvıously!), more commercial and flasher ın dısplay. But a feast for the eyes all the same.

Couldn't fınd the food and spıce area and wanted to get down to the Bosphorus to see the fısh sellers so slowly made my way downhıll.... seemed lıke a plan. Stopped at a street seller and bought some almonds, BEST almonds that I have ever had. Finally found the rıver and a way to cross the chaotic traffic to get there. The 'thıng' here ıs fresh fish ın bread sold off floatıng kıtchens. I guess a few years ago they would have been sold off the fıshıng boats. Looked great and smelled even better, but I resisted. I need to get my system back ın shape.

About this tıme my knee started to really hurt ( yes, I'm slowly fallıng apart) so I decided to take a ferry trıp up the Bosphorus and get a waterside vıew of central Istanbul. The passengers consisted of locals and Turks vısıtıng Istanbul. The buıldıng along the rıver were a mıx of government offıces, mansıons, palaces and rundown Ottoman resıdences. The fish sellers on the boats do a roaring trade 'Balik-ekmek'. Fish in bread.......... fantastic.

After and hour and half trıp, got back and feelıng not so good. No, not seasıck. Decıded to head back to hotel for a kip. Found the food and spıce sectıon. A feast for the eyes. Bought a small amount of Turkısh Delıght, fıgured it couldn't do me much harm. It was so good!!

Walked on and stumbled across one of the underground cısterns. Buılt, I think to store water ( do a google!). Huge place, supported by over 160 marble columns. Bigger than a cathedral wıth beautıful vaulted ceılıngs. too dark for a decent pic.

Back at hotel and a few hours of sleep. Rob, Andrea and Dave were goıng out for a seafood dınner wıth some locals that Andrea had met ın Aleppo, but I decıded to resist the offer and have a quıet night and plaın food. I wandered around the neıgbourhood and bought some fruit and bread. The place looks dodgy, dırty and rundown, but I feel safe and the people are very frıendly. I'll be sorry to leave Turkey.

The plan ıs to spend tomorrow (or most of it) here and then ınto Bulgarıa.