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**CaperMike** · #31 14 May 2014

May 10 -- Gobelkliteppe
Visiting the Gobelitepe ruins from 10,000 BC was an incredible experience. It is the oldest ruins in the world. Historians are revising the theory on how and why mankind colonized. For now, the archeological dig is only developed enough that the ruins can be protected. Other than that, it is just you and the ruins on top of the hill and the surrounding expanse of fertile plains – not like the ruins in Athens where there are thousands of people and sometimes glass between you and ruins.At Gobeklitepe, it is easier for your imagination to take you back in time.And glimmers of others who walked over these same rock surfaces can be felt with few distractions.

We spent a few hours there while we watched the sun sink into the West.Most of the ruins have yet to be uncovered and one might say that all that is there is some rock pillars in a circle – but that is why we went.We took photos but, as always, photos don’t relay the feelings.And this place is full of the mystical.

Beverly wanted a glass of wine with dinner so we wandered the more hidden streets.The

sign Efes caught our attention because it is not that easy to find booze in Eastern Turkey.When we asked for some wine they said they didn’t have wine but one of the guys scurried away and a bottle appeared.Food also appeared.Although we didn’t order it, we enjoyed it.

Zeynel from the dive boat, told us that his friend lived in Sanliurfa and ran a famous ice cream store.It has been there over one hundred years, passed down through the family.We asked where it was and sure enough, everyone on the street could point the way – only a few blocks from our hotel. Murat treated us to Ice cream and baklava.

The Turks pride in their home country and towns is surpassed only by their willingness to share and entertain. Zeynel called Murat that we were coming and he was waiting for us.

We intended to go to our room after the long day but the man who watches the parking lot sent us to the club across the street. Turkish music and we called it a day,

1 – 8 The ruins and plains around Gobeklitepe
9. Beverly displaying our ice cream and baklava

**CaperMike** · #32 14 May 2014

May 11

We roamed around the old city of Sanliurfa Sunday morning.We went to Balikli Gol. When Abraham wouldn’t buy into the Pagan goings on of the local king, he tried to burn him.God interceded and turned the flames to water and the burning logs to fish.The fish are now sacred.Abraham is important to many religions so the place is important to Muslims, Jews, and Christians.

We drove 180 KM back to the airport, got back to Antalya and will resume our bike trip tomorrow.

1. Mike in the square
2. The spot of Abraham
3. Cheesy tourist picture (always have to have one).Mike as king
4. Fish lake and the throngs of people on a Sunday morning
5. Mike having tea

**CaperMike** · #33 14 May 2014

May 12
Drove 468 miles from Antalya to Cappadocia
When fueling, we were invited for tea.The guy at the gas station, gave us coffee, onions for sandwich and asked us about our trip. There was no common language so there was a lot of hand gestures, drawing and facial expressions. We have never felt the level of hospitality that the Turkish people offer. Everyone is curious, kind, and proud of their country. They seem happy that you are visiting.
We arrived at the hotel late. Kader, a friend of Bora from the Turkish bike club, arranged the hotel and balloon ride. The Hotel is fancy.
Picture of the hotel

**CaperMike** · #34 14 May 2014

May 13

We intended to spend this day on laundry, our blog, getting a battery charger for the camera, getting another phone, and just doing other catch-up things. Avenos is a small town in the Cappadocia area.We walked into town before noon and found a small camera shop.We didn’t return to our hotel until 9PM.During those 7-8 hours we experienced more of the amazing Turkish hospitality.Here is what happened.

Metin owns Foto Tac, a small photo shop. Metin speaks some French so we hacked away and figured out how to charge Beverly’s camera batteries by putting together many parts. After coffee, we went to a few phone stores looking for a phone. Metin ended up lending me a phone while we are in Turkey. He then took us to the local co-op carpet making place. Beverly wanted to buy a carpet when we went to Turkey. We were advised not to. The market is a government sponsored place. We learned a lot about carpets. The one we liked was $4750 for a 4ft X 6ft carpet.Others were more…much more.They truly are a work of art.

Later we went to visit some of Metin’s buddies and had drinks. A little bit of French and a bit of BS and we had a good time. Osmon owned the B&B and has an organic vineyard. Seyhan was the mayor of Avanos for 10 years in 2 five-year stints. They have been friends for life.

1.Metin with Beverly and Mike
2.Learning about carpets
3.Watching the knotting
4.Learning about carpets
5.The one we liked
6.Osmon’s place
7.Seyhan with Beverly and Mike
8.Sehan Metin and Beverly
9.Watching the cocoons unwinding to make thread

**CaperMike** · #35 16 May 2014

May 14

Up at 4:00.Yikes that is early.We are going to visit rock formations of Cappadocia by a hot-air balloon.That early in the morning, nothing sounds like a good idea.What were we thinking?

The pictures explain it.We were treated to these breathtaking sights at sunrise. WOW

It was a cool morning so one might think you would need extra clothing for altitude and wind.But the balloons go WITH the wind.It is calm, serene and peaceful.

1.Getting ready to go
2. Take Off
3. Some balloons still on the ground
4. Sun Rise
5 – 9 Floating and exploring

**CaperMike** · #36 18 May 2014

May 14 (continued)
In the evening we went to dinner at Metin’s and met his family. We became good buddies with Metin. His shop is a family run business. He invited us to his house for a meal. We met his daughters and his grandchildren. Through translators on iPhones and Metin and I speaking in broken French, we had a great evening. People and families have the same basic values everywhere.

We had some memorable pictures of the evening but Beverly lost the pictures in a card transfer to the computer. If they are recoverable, we'll post them later.

**CaperMike** · #37 18 May 2014

May 15

From Avanos in Cappadocia to Ankara it was about 250 miles.Except for a few days of rain, we have been treated to outstanding weather.Today it is starting to warm up – not hot, but it feels good to take off the helmet.Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and is a new, modern city. Not much of interest but some museums.

The manager of the hotel 2000 Antitepe came out when a motorcycle parked in his allotted parking place.Realizing that we had reservations, he was gracious and helpful.We wanted to go to the bazaar and to the museum of civilization but he said that it wasn’t safe.Instead, we walked over to the monuments and mausoleum in honor of Mustafa Anaturk, a Turkish hero.
Anaturk is considered the creater of modern Turkey. He embarked upon a program of political, economic, and cultural reforms, seeking to transform the former Ottoman Empire into a modern, secular, and democratic nation-state. Under his leadership, thousands of new schools were built, primary education was made free and compulsory, and women were given equal civil and political rights, while the burden of taxation on peasants was reduced.

We took the subway downtown and came upon the remnants of a protest over the Soma coal mine disaster. There were police in riot gear and a little buzz in the air but generally everyone was going about their business. According to some of the Turkish people we met, there is a general dissatisfaction with the government and it doesn’t take much to start a protest.

1. A stop for a lunch break on the drive to Ankara
2. In front of our hotel in Ankara
3. Anaturk’s monument hall
4. Ankara from the hill
5. Mike at Anaturk’s site
6. Mike at the subway station to downtown
7. Beverly at Kizilay square
8. Mike at Kizilay square

**CaperMike** · #38 18 May 2014

May 16

We looked around Ankara a bit and got on the road to Istanbul. It Was a good driving day and although one of our goals was to drive across the Bosphorus bridge like James Bond in Skyfall, we took a shortcut on a ferry ride from Yalova to Istanbul. Met a local Turk who went to Texas A&M. He works for a piping company that has a plant in Houston.

We made our way to the Hotel Maywood. It was exciting driving through the old town. Even our bike with the panniers was too wide to get through some places.

We went to dinner and met Robert and Ursula. Robert is a Dutch diplomat and Ursula studies and works on migration issues in the middle east. We had a great discussion and solved 4 of the outstanding world’s problems. Ursula and Beverly dominated the conversation on the status of women in the world.

Istanbul is awake all night. We roamed around for a while and then went to the hotel half asleep.

1.Waiting for the ferry to Istanbul in Yalova
2.Mike talking to his new friend on the ferry
3.Istanbul in the distance
4.Two mosques we will visit – Sofya and Blue
5.A local Turk who went to Texas A&M
6.The home for the bike the next few days

**CaperMike** · #39 19 May 2014

May 17

Turbo Touring.

We are stayed at the Maywood hotel which is right in the center of old town in the Sultanahmet district.We walked to the Hagia Sofya mosque and then the Blue mosque. The Hagia Sofia mosque was first constructed in the 5th century and is now a museum. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque( blue for the tile colors) was built in the early 1600s and is still a functioning Mosque. It was very nice weather on a Saturday with plenty of people.Tickets are required for Sofya but not the Blue.At the Blue, they have clothing rules for women but they do supply the clothes.Beverly had her own scarf but they gave her a skirt.Mike’s attire was fine except everyone has to take off their shoes. We spent quite some time sitting on a bench having lunch and just watching the people go by.Some of the women are traditionally dressed and some not.

1. Inside the Ayasofya mosque
2. Mike studying the map
3. Mike on the park bench where we watched people
4.A group of traditionally dressed women
5.People everywhere at the Blue Mosque
6. Sign about the mine disaster – hung on the Blue Mosque
7. Dress instructions for women
8. Beverly in her proper attire
9. Inside the Blue Mosque
10. Beverly and Mike inside

**CaperMike** · #40 19 May 2014

May 17 (cont)

The grand bazaar is a large area of shops.Although it is quite an experience, neither of us got lost like we did after just a few minutes in the Marrakesh souks.This is more like aisles and aisles of small stores. We walked the four corners of the bazaar.Although we didn’t buy a carpet, we tried out our knowledge from carpet school in Avanos last week.We discovered that indeed we had learned a lot.They took us upstairs and showed us wool that wasn’t wool.It was kind of fun knowing how to evaluate the carpets.Even if we did look at the fine ones, we wouldn’t have been able to tell if it was single or double knot because it is impossible to tell by examination.We looked around for jewelry and a water pipe. Monday is our anniversary so we bought some bling.

Beer and wine on the water at the Bosphorus then dinner at a restaurant nearby our hotel.We then crashed in our hotel after the big day.

1.Mike at the bazaar
2. Examining pipes
3. The stairs to more carpets
4. Looking at jewelry

**CaperMike** · #41 21 May 2014

May 19

Our original plan was to ride across the Bosphorus bridge while Beverly filmed it – like James Bond in Sky Ride.That was until we discovered the famous ride wasn’t filmed on the Bosphorus.We had already been up the Bosphorus, down the Bosphorus and under the Bosphorus bridge so we took that goal off our list and packed up for Bulgaria.

Turkey’s freeway system is great, both in the cities and between cities.Except for the slick pavement type between Izmir and Kas, we have seen good roads.The freeways are not heavily traveled outside the cities and often have three lanes each way.

Leaving Istanbul, we were in the city for maybe 30-40 minutes.The three hour drive to the border was mostly countryside.Any towns along the way were in the distance.There is a nuclear plant that we couldn’t determine if it was operating or not.

We stopped along the way for lunch and then arrived at the border; without our passports.The hotel back in Istanbul has a safe to put your valuables.We have a passport wallet for our passports so when When we packed, we took the passport wallet out of the safe.The passports, however, were not in the wallet. We called the hotel. The passports were still in the safe.

Today is a holiday in Turkey and Bulgaria. I guess the Bulgarian border closed for trucks without without telling anyone. We measured the truck line up at 5.5 miles.

We had to go back to Istanbul; 175 miles.We stayed another night at the Maywood Hotel. Our plan was to celebrate our Anniversary on the Black Sea. For this year, we changed our anniversary to tomorrow.

1. Leaving the Maywood Hotel
2. Driving out of Istanbul
3. Driving out of Istanbul
4.Trucks at the Bulgarian border
5. Border crossing ahead

**CaperMike** · #42 21 May 2014

May 18

The hotel offers to set up boat tours of the Bosphorus for 35 Euros.On the street, people try to sell tours for 10 Euros.But if you go down to the boat, you can jump on for 10 TL which is about 3 Euros.Granted, the tours are different i.e. the 25 Euro trip was 5 hours and included lunch.We thoroughly enjoyed our two hour cruise up the European side, past the palace Dolmabahce Palace, under the Bosphorus bridge, and back down the Asian side returning to the bustling port.

The tube under the Maramar Sea is the deepest submerged subway in the world.Since utilizing the public transportation is always on our to-do list, we had to try it.The trip lasts only four minutes.The stations and trains are modern and clean.We traveled to the Ayrilik Cesmesi station to visit Omer on the Asian side.He is a member of the Turkish motorcycle club and invited us to visit him at his coffee shop in the Nautilus Mall.He wasn’t in but Mike spoke with him on the phone and he welcomed us by having his store and crew treat us to Baklava and ice cream.

The combination of a Sunday of a Sunday – Monday weekend and beautiful weather translated into thousands of people in the streets, by the water, taking buses and just everywhere.It was impossible to cross the street where buses exit the terminal. We had to go to the loading area and traverse the many loading and moving buses.

A Turkish dinner specialty, at least for tourists, is Guvec.It is a stew cooked in a clay pot on fire.It is quite a show when they tap on the top and it blows off like a champagne cork – or they slice it off with a knife.Restaurants with both inside and outside seating line the back-streets near-by.Someone standing outside will flag you down to tell you that their food is the best. Most restaurants don’t serve

or wine and when they do even the food is more expensive.

1. Our tour boat on the Bosphorus
2. Dolmabahce Palace
3. Bosphorus Bridge with boat traffic
4.Going under the Bosphorus Bridge
5. Beverly and Mike
6. The crowds of people
7.Fishing off the bridge
8. The crowds crossing the street
9. Mado coffee shop in the Nautlius Mall
10.Beverly at the Uskadar station on the Asian side

**CaperMike** · #43 25 May 2014

May 20

We are going to try to get to the Bulgarian Black Sea.We wanted to stick our toes in at the very least.Our chosen destination was Sozopol.Including the border crossing, the journey took about 8 or 9 hours.

We didn’t cross into Bulgaria at the main border because of reports of lengthy delays. Instead, we went further East to cross near Erdine, which added an estimated 1 hour of driving time. As the third vehicle in line at the border, our the border crossing process took about an hour including a delay of about 20-30 minutes by the first Turkish car in line.Once they were through, it didn’t take long at each of the EIGHT stations to cross the border.One of those was a disinfection station.We paid the 3 Euros wondering what a disinfection station is.When the man motioned to close our helmets we should have had a clue.The spray from beneath the bike as we drove through answered our question.We don’t know what was in it.Polly from Moto Camp in Bulgaria calls it the Golden Puddle.Bulgaria is on the edge of the European Union and since we came from Turkey we had to be disinfected.The internet reports that a few years back there was a scare with hoof and mouth disease in livestock so they were disinfecting high risk travelers and vehicles.It looks as if it has morphed into more of a scam. If we were forced to do that again, we would request that only the BIKE get disinfected – not us.

The roads from the border are bumpy and the area is quite remote.There wasn’t a gas station or market.There was no place to purchase a vignette for Bulgaria, which we later purchased at a Post Office in Sozopol.We since discovered that a vignette is not necessary for motorcycles in Bulgaria. The roads improved when we hit the main road into Burgas.Our destination was Sozopol.The road into the town was closed for major road construction.We walked into town and left our bike down by the beach.Our hotel wasn’t to be found. There were several other hotels though.We chose the Coral Hotel because they offered a garage for the bike.All of the hotels where we asked about bike parking said it wasn’t safe to park on the street or the sidewalk.
There was only one other couple besides us in the hotel.The tourist season in Sozopol is short, lasting from mid-June to September.By the looks of the hotels, bars and restaurants around the bay and in town, this place could really get hopping.

We had a lovely anniversary dinner as the sun went down.We were the only ones in the restaurant at the hotel.It was like having our own villa on the Black Sea.

1. Beverly at the border
2. Disinfection station
3. Entering Bulgaria
4. Mike and Beverly at dinner in the sunset

**CaperMike** · #44 27 May 2014

May-21

We went to find a place to buy a vignette. A vignette is a road tax tag. We read on the internet that one was needed but that was incorrect information.Although the vignette was only 10 Lev it is not needed in Bulgaria for motorcycles.

We were also still looking for quiet day on a quiet sandy beach and that is what we found in Sozopol. Further exploration led us to the marina. Sozopol is an ancient town and was settled as far back as the bronze age. It is noted as an arts center and has a major film festival in the fall. It is pretty quiet now. We explored the old town and got wet in the Black sea. The water was 18C.

Many of the young people in town say they learned English by watching TV.Many of the shows are in English and sub-titled (rather than dubbed) in Bulgarian.

1.Beverly sticking her toes in the cool water of the Black sea
2.Mike walking the beach after a dip
3.Mike having a

4.Mike walking the streets of old town
5.The marina of Sozopol
6. The sign for vignettes does not include motorcycles
7. Beverly having a

8.Our hotel overlooking the bay
9. Some ruins

**CaperMike** · #45 28 May 2014

May-22

The GPS led us through Burgas on our way to Moto Camp near the small village of Idelovo. It got lost for many miles like it does at times when we traveled on a brand new freeways. It found itself again. Outside of Burgas, there was quite a lot of agriculture.When we turned off in to head North to the mountains, the horse drawn carts were hauling some crops. These small carts seem to be a Bulgarian thing. The horses are smaller and run at a crisp trot. The horses appeared well trained and healthy; not what you would expect. They seemed to be family transportation.

During the trip, a few clunks from the motorcycle did not sound good.After we arrived at the moto-camp we discovered that the adjustment for the chain has loosened and slipped. The advantage of a dirty bike is that it is clearly evident that the adjusters had moved.We also discovered unexpectedly that the sprocket installed before our last trip had worn out.Still enough teeth to get us through this trip but it only has 6000 total miles on it.Mike checked at the Louis stores near Heidelberg and they have the right sprocket in stock; a repair job for him when we get back.

The Moto Camp was recovering from a terrible rain storm the night before that caused some damage to their property.Polly, Ivo, her right hand maintenance-all around grounds person, as well as a crew were working hard when we arrived.They also are doing work to add more rooms for us motorcycle travelers.We were the only ones there for the night but apparently they were full the week before.

Not only is Moto Camp a hang out for motorcycle travelers, it is the hub of a small enclave of English expats who found a summer paradise in this inexpensive village.Everyone sat down for a

or a soda at quitting time.In addition to Polly and Ivo, and Peachy and Paul, the work crew, we met Martin and Gina who renovated a house in the area, Sandy and Harley the Dog.

Doug, Polly’s lesser half, runs a vintage bike business.

Polly usually has food for the moto guests but we offered to take them out to the near-by local café where they know the owner.Only Polly and Ivo accepted while the others went home.We had a nice meal out.
1. Traveling from Sozopol to Idelevo
2.Mike checking out the bike
3.The chain adjustment has moved
4.The sprocket teeth are worn
5.The locals get together at Moto camp
6.Mike with the locals
7.Mike found

in plastic jugs
8.Polly and Beverly in the party room
9.Mike checking out the building repairs and remodel