Never let it be said that I rush into things. Twenty eight years ago I had a plan to ride my motorcycle to Turkey; for one reason or another I didn’t. One year I set off in good faith, but after six days of continuous heavy rain and erratic fuel supplies in Yugoslavia I turned tail and tracked the sun and warm weather down to the south of France.

Fast forward to 2006, I am now in a position of having less free time and finances to undertake the trip, but there some things you feel you just have to complete prior to the journey with the Grim Reaper. Unfortunately a succession of events due to health issues meant the journey was stalled before it had begun.

This year I was determined I would get to Turkey. Thanks to HUBB I was able to pair up with Cooking Fat (Geoff) of this parish who wished to complete a similar trip, the moral support and company would be appreciated. A pre trip meeting with Geoff and his good lady Alison, confirmed that everything bode well for the trip

Wednesday 26 May 2010 Salisbury – Portsmouth 42 miles

Prior to leaving work a call from the ferry operator, LD Lines, informs me that due to industrial action we will be landing at Dieppe rather than Le Havre. Therefore at home a slight tweak to the route reveals that this change may be to our advantage.

I meet up with Geoff at the quayside in Portsmouth, Geoff was on his Triumph Tiger 955i (“a gentlemen’s motorcycle”) and me on a BMW F650GS twin, where there were only three motorcycles awaiting the ferry. However by the time we began the embarkation procedure the numbers had increased significantly. The great British tradition of queuing, then moving to another queue began; co-ordinated by an over zealous port employee who ensured motorcyclists donned their helmets for the tortuous journey around the corner to the next queue.


Once on board, the accommodation and facilities were all that one would require coupled with the fact that LD Lines offer better value for money pricing than the competition on the western Channel routes (Cheap ferries France England LD Lines : Channel crossing ferry to France). Discussions on board centred around Geoff’s riding style, with him describing it as sedate “like a vicar on valium” and didn’t want to hold me up, it would appear Geoff had the wrong impression of yours truly



Thursday 27 May 2010 Dieppe - Seurre 360 miles

Dieppe is much easier to get out of than Le Havre due to the lower traffic density. We follow the D915, down to Chateau Thierry, then D9373 to Troyes. The French D roads offering fairly rapid progress and a more relaxed ride than the autoroutes. The first busy city we have to contend with is Dijon, but this does not delay us to any great degree, reaching the small town of Seurreby early evening. The princely sum of €6.30 was paid to stay on the municipal camping site. Food was a little more problematic for me, Geoff had come better prepared with a seemingly endless supply of tinned fish, meat and what he termed Energy Suppositories (for the faint hearted these are home made energy/bran bars that ingested in the usual manner).



Friday 28 May 2010 – ?

Away in the cool overcast weather down to Louhans where a stop was made for breakfast. Luck was smiling on us as whilst feeding ourselves we missed a rain shower. Then onwards, in increasingly warm weather, to the Alps.


Sadly, when crossing the mountains the weather deteriorated, with mist and cold temperatures detracting from the ride.

Once in Italy we had to find the Autostrada. This was a little confusing as I followed the destination signs according to their colour rather than reading them correctly. In the UK, motorway signs are blue with main roads being green, foolishly I assumed the Italian system would the same. Not so, the colours highlight the opposite to the UK system; ! Once on the Autostrada it was somewhat irritating to be stopped at Toll Booths every few kilometres and asked to find a €1-1.5 toll. Once clear of Torino a ticket was dispensed that would not be required until our arrival at Ancona.

The Autostrada was the preferred option as we wanted to maximise the time travelling in Turkey. Whether it was due to it being a Friday, or we were just unlucky, but the standard of driving on these roads was appalling (apologies to any Italians reading this). It was not just chaotic but in many instances being extremely dangerous. Not a pleasant experience.
A decision was taken to complete the run to Ancona without an overnight stop and change our ferry booking to the Saturday crossing.

Saturday 29 May 2010 Ancona 594 miles

We arrived at the ferry check–in building around 0230hrs and under the floodlighting I became aware that the engine of my machine was covered in oil. Due to fatigue we put the benches outside the building to full use by flaking out on them for some much needed sleep.



When I awoke at dawn, I began to investigate as to where the oil was leaking from. This entailed taking various panels off and eventually the consensus of opinion was that the rocker cover gasket had failed.

Contact was made with BMW in the UK whose international operations would not open until 0900hrs Italian time. Being only 0600hrs there was a considerable wait to endure. At about this time the armed guard arrived to open up the building who took grave offence at the sight of a partially stripped down motorcycle being under the canopy of the building. I could appreciate his point, with acres of car park and one vehicle in it with two people, space was at a premium.

BMW called who stated there was a dealer in Ancona but were unsure if they would have the time available to rectify the fault before the start of the new working week. At last the call came through to get around to the BMW dealer, Top Motors (Home- Top Motors Ancona) as soon as possible. I am indebted to the Top Motors’ management and mechanic who ensured the repair was completed before they closed for business at lunchtime. It transpired that the gasket failed as it was the old one re-fitted by my BMW dealer after taking the rocker cover off during a service. I could enthuse about the benefits of the BMW breakdown service but I would much preferred not to have to have called upon it for an issue that could so easily have been avoided.

Once the paper work had been completed it was straight back to the ferry company check-in, Superfast Ferries (Superfast Ferries) who changed the booking without charge for that day’s 1330hrs sailing. The return fare was, in relation to the Channel crossing, remarkably cheap (there are specific offers for motorcyclists). That said we did not book any accommodation on board as that appeared far too extravagant (read expensive) for us.



Sunday 30 May 2010 Igoumenitsa – North Vrasna, Greece 356 miles
A first for me, spending a night, literally, on the deck of a ferry and the little corner we found afforded a surprisingly good night’s sleep.


On arrival the initial part of the route across Greece had us following a short northern loop of the E90 that took us through some picturesque scenery. There was still snow on the mountains and the road surface had obviously been damaged over recent months. One part had a section that had been washed away, impassable to cars but the two “travellers” (on Geoff’s insistence and I have to agree, “ahem”, that we deemed ourselves to be travellers not tourists!) managed to overcome the obstacle.



Stranger things were afoot; at the top of one of the mountain roads we were both perplexed as to the reasoning behind the decision to install electric street lighting. There was no junction, dwellings or anything else that would appear to justify them being put in place.
We continued to follow the scenic route and joined the Egnatia-Odos near to Siatista. This motorway is more scenic than most and as a toll road less costly, simply because the only toll booth we passed through that was manned charged the princely sum of €1.
It was slightly bizarre that no fuel was available on the motorway, signs directed you off the highway giving the distance to the nearest filling station. We were to learn on our return not all the signs could be believed.

One facility that did cheer us up was a couple of entrepreneurs (Geoff would like it to be known that apparently the French do not have a word for entrepreneur) who had set up vans just the other side of the fence indicating the motorway boundary to sell food and drink to the hungry and thirsty traveller. They were doing a roaring trade.

We called it a day and pulled off the motorway to find accommodation in North Vrasna, a seaside resort. The beach had too many ticks and flies for my liking to set up the tents therefore hard accommodation was found.


The big fly in the Vrasna ointment was the odious individual who owned the establishment we happened upon to have a meal, who took great delight in ripping us off.

Monday 31 May North Vrasna – Gelibolu 224 miles

Wrestling with BMW panniers was how I started the day. The rubber bungs on the bottom of the panniers appear to be designed to ensure they fall out whenever they touch a hard surface and are difficult to get back into place, particularly when liberally coated with super glue and you’re holding it with a tissue, and your finger becomes bonded to the rubber bung, and the tissue glues itself to your hand, and you attempt to wipe the sweat from your brow…you get the picture, the day did not start well.

It soon improved; the first part of the journey was to view a marble statue of a lion that is said to have been created 400BC. The statue had been unearthed in pieces and then reconstructed and placed at a junction of two minor roads.



We rejoined the Egnatia-Odos and three hours later sees us arriving at the last filling station in Greece. Some time was taken to cool down, the temperature having risen considerably during the day. We were joined by a couple on a pair of BMWs and we all watched a group of Harley (and Harley wannabees) making use of the final fuel stop before reaching Turkey. It was then onward with the final push to the border.

The arrival was an anticlimax as the Greek officials were enjoying their lunch break. We waited in line, purchasing chilled drinks in an attempt to stay cool. Once the border was open we were whisked through and into no man’s land. The first Turkish checkpoint wanted to see the motorcycles Registration Document (V5C for those in the UK), no problem, after it had been checked I pulled forward and waited in the shade for Geoff. And waited, and waited, eventually he pulled alongside and informed me he had not brought the document with him. By this time the Turkish official was embroiled in checking other vehicles therefore I suggested as Geoff was past this checkpoint we should just continue.

The next check was for our passports and we then had to park up and go and purchase a visa (£10 note). With the visa issued we were feeling buoyed up at this point and pulled forward to the next checkpoint. This it the moment at which it all went pear shaped; a second request to see the insurance and vehicle registration documents. Geoff’s progress hit the buffers, he was going no further. What irked was not that the official was applying the law of his country, but his manner. It was established a fax copy of the document would be acceptable, officialdom informing us to go back to a post office in Greece and then return. As it was a Sunday the post office idea was non starter, however, there were shops at the border and enquiries revealed a shop with a fax the owner of which was more than happy to have the document sent to her machine.

The hot sunny hours whistled by as Geoff racked up a significant mobile ‘phone bill calling the UK and arranging with Alison to have the paperwork faxed to Turkey. The people in the UK were adamant the fax had been sent but nothing had been received, so further calls were made to re-send. It then transpired the receiving fax machine was out of order! Another was found and the document received and at last we were in Turkey! Note: take your vehicle documents with you when you travel to Turkey to avoid disappointment!!



The border delay had cost over three hours and we were eager to complete a few miles within Turkey that day. At the first town, Keşan, we turned off the main highway and headed south east to Gelibolu. Eventually we got a room in the town at the Oya Hotel (15TL ea incl breakfast).



The hotel had seen better days, but was central and we were, if the truth be told, rather too hot and uncomfortable to care. We were unable to fathom out how to operate the AC in the room, suspecting it was due to there being no remote control and when we enquired at reception if we could have one were told they were not available. C’est la vie.

After a wander around town we were tempted to sample the food on offer at a restaurant next to the ferry terminal. We had ideally situated seats, watching the hive of activity, where every arriving ferry appeared as though it was going to join us at our table. After dinner a slow walk back to the hotel was taken via a tea stop and an ice cream stall. On our return at the hotel the receptionist greeted us with an AC remote control, informing us management had classified us a “good men”, surely some mistake!