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14 Mar 2005
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UK To Cyprus
Hi - I'll be travelling to Turkey from UK leaving early on 25th March travelling through France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. If anyone wants to join me please get in touch.
Cheers
Tony
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14 Mar 2005
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Hi,
I'll also follow same route on 28th of June. My route will be: UK> France> Belgium> Holland> Germany> Austria> Slovenya> Croatia> Yugoslavia> Bulgaria> Turkey.
It'll take about 3 days with 2 nights stops. How long your journey is gonna take and where you will stop for night? It'll be my first "long" trip, so, I am excited a bit. My bike is F650, what's yours?
[edit]: also, do we need carnet for non-eu countries like Bulgaria, Croatia and Yugoslavia?
[This message has been edited by ozhanu (edited 14 March 2005).]
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ozhan u.
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14 Mar 2005
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Hi Ozhanu
My bike is a 1990 Honda Pan European. Not sure about the carnet situation yet, but I'll post any info I get on here. It's also my first long ride (though I do have experience of riding up to 850 miles in a day).
Tony
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30 Mar 2005
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Update: I have just arrived in Istanbul having changed my route slighly to that which I posted. I travelled through France, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria into Turkey. No problems at any border crossings. The roads in Serbia and Bulgaria range from very good to scary in places. This is made worse by the unseasonal weather I have encountered - very cold (2 deg Centigrade) and pouring rain. I was stopped once by the Police in Bulgaria but only to have a chat about the bike - one of them was an Enduro rider. I was met at the end of the motorway by Ikbal and Raiim (from MotorEast) who not only arranged the excellent biker friendly hotel but also a much needed tyre change for me. If you are travelling to Turkey, and in particular Istanbul I can fully recommend looking then up at www.motoreast.com - they are a great bunch of guys with many thousands (and I do mean lots!) of safe kms biking and world class qualifications to their credit.
As for carnets - I have not needed anything other than the norm (Green card, Bike document, Insurance, Driving Licence - all of these are the originals). I did have to purchase a visa to enter Turkey, this was done at the border crossing and is a straight-forward affair.
Regards
Tony
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30 Mar 2005
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Have a good trip,done same trip 3 years ago.Crossed into Turkey from Bulgaria at a small border up in the hills after many miles through a forest lined road.Border formalaties only took about 30 mins.
I took pot luck and rode into Istanbul to find hotel.Wish i had known about Biker friendly hotels.Mine turned out to be a Knocking shop !
Galipoli is worth a visit.You can get a ferry for a couple of pounds at a one or two places down the coast.I stayed at friendly hotel near Lapeski owned by a doctor.You can get ferry from there or further down the coast at Canakkale.
Great place and good people,have fun !
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2 Apr 2005
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Arrived! I had a brilliant ride from Istanbul across to Ankara and then down through the Taurus Mountains (brilliant twisties after all the miles of highway) and breathtaking scenery. Total mileage on this leg was 638 Miles which took 14.5 hours. The weather east of Istanbul was very bad, torrential rain and a temperature of just 2 deg Centigrade. However, dropping down through the Taurus mountains the temp started to rise and was a very pleasant 20 deg at the port of Tasucu from where I embarked to Cyprus on a mainly freight ferry. The trip took 8 hours. Crossing the border from North to South Cyprus was the easiest crossing of all and took only 5 minutes.
Had a brief conversation with a German couple in the suburbs of Konya (Turkey) who were riding BMW Adventurers on their way back to Germany from Syria - if you are reading this then you obviously made it safely home!
My return trip will begin in a weeks time.
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3 Apr 2005
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Nice to hear from you Tony.
I hope you have a pleasant ride in Turkey. I know that the weather was poor in last 2 weeks as my dad told me on the phone. There is a small change on my route. I have to ignore Bulgaria because of the visa problems. They want to much things and to much money for visa. I am planning to enter Turkey via Greece with an additional 800 KM.
I have talked with my insurance company and they told me that I don't need any other insurance like green card for EU countries. What sort of insurance do I need for non-EU contries than? Any suggestions?
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5 Apr 2005
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Hi Ozhanu,
with regards to insurance - ignore what your insurance company tells you and INSIST on Green Card insurance for all the countries you are travelling through. I changed my route from Romania to Serbia and the first thing I was asked for in Serbia was my Green Card, I didn't have it for Serbia so I had to pay 87 Euros for one months cover. The same applied at the port of Girne in Northern Cyprus, I thought I was covered by Green Card for Turkey but it turns out I was not and had to pay an extra 120 Turkish Lira.
My whole trip took 7 days (2,800 miles) on some excellent and some very poor roads in bad weather. If it was summertime I think I could maybe do the trip in 6 days safely.
Hope your trip goes well.
Regards
Tony
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5 Apr 2005
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Hi Tony,
Thank you very much for your advices. I am sure that I need them on my way to Turkey. Regarding to insurance: Where can I get the green card? Because my insurance comp. told me that they dont issue the green card. Also how can I know that the green card which I am going to buy will cover all the countries that I want to go or pass (EU and non-EU)?
If you need any help or anything while you are in Turkey do not hesitate to drop me an e-mail.
Thanks a lot
ozhan unverdi.
[This message has been edited by ozhanu (edited 05 April 2005).]
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ozhan u.
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6 Apr 2005
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Ozhanu
Your insurance company is obliged to issue you with a Green Card is you ask for it. If your insurance company says they won't they change to a company that will (Norwich Union are OK). You only need one Green Card - tell your insurance company which countries you are going through and they will issue the Green Card accordingly.
Good luck
Tony
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6 Apr 2005
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Hi Tony,
Thanks a lot for your reply. I'll call them tomorrow to sort out the green card issue. BTW I was in Bicester and Oxford last weekend by my bike. Especially Oxford is worth to see. And Bicester shopping village attracted my wifes interest  Anyway, have a good journey!
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ride safely
ozhan u.
www.ozhanu.com
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ozhan u.
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8 Apr 2005
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Have a good, safe trip Ozhanu.
Good luck
Tony
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9 Apr 2005
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Thanks Tony,
Keep on writing your juorney..
Take Care
Ozhan..
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ozhan u.
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13 Apr 2005
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I have just arrived in Istanbul on the return journey of my trip which began yesterday at 0530. Yesterday's trip was only 63 miles by road from Sourthern to Northern Cyprus with no problems at all crossing the border.
I then had to wait for 4 hours before being able to board the ferry which didn't sail for another 3 hours. I eventually got in to the port of Tasucu at just after 9pm.
My journey today started at 0800 and I went back up through the Taurus Mountains to Konya then deviated my route from the one going down. I found this route very interesting (I will post the names of the towns on here tomorrow) as it only had 86KM of motorway on it. Total mileage for today is 650 miles (1040 KM). Total journey time today 15 and a half hours.
I'm now sat at the computer in the hotel with a bottle of EFES  - cheers all!
Regards
Tony
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15 Apr 2005
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Hi Tony
How it going? Just been reading your updates with interest, and hope the return trip goes well.
Cheers
Martyn
NB I was supposed to ride to Cyprus with Tony but am on crutches having broken my ankle a couple of months ago. Flew out to Cyprus instead!
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She laughs with you, Horizon Me!
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Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
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