The Motorbike journey across Turkey

Istanbul

Istanbul is a great city, located on two continents simultaneously. We were greeted with drizzle and rather cool weather.

We started our acquaintance with the city walking 18,5 km around it. It was a nice promenade!

From here we will begin our small motorbike trip through an exciting and diverse country that has become a place of interest to almost every Russian since the late 90s. And it is still a popular tourist destination nowadays!

The old streets of the megapolis are very picturesque!

Probably, every third person had a rest in one of the Turkish hotels "All inclusive", but few people decided to get to know the country themselves, moving away from the bar by the pool and tearing their backs off the sunbed on the beach.

One of the shopping galleries. Istanbul is a market-city.

The seller of the tea or the tobacco… I haven't found out.

The famous Hagia Sophia was once a museum not long ago. Now it is also a mosque.

Let's observe the city apart from the excursion coaches.

Shawarma in Istanbul is huge and quite tasty.

Well, we'll try to do it now!
And at the same time we will extend the motorbike season! :)

The Sea of Marmara

Across Turkey on two wheels.

Ten days is too little time to see the whole Turkey! I already understand that we will manage to visit only a fifth or even a tenth of the places that we would like to see.

On Monday, we received motorcycles in KİRALIK MOTOSİKLETLER company and, having driven twice over the famous Bosphorus Bridge, which connects the two parts of the world, endured the traffic jams and got out of Istanbul.

The roads in Turkey are excellent. It's such a pleasure to ride a motorbike here!

We decided to go along the northern coast of the Marmara Sea to the port town Gelibolu.

And now we have moved from Europe to Asia by ferry for the third time, but this time through the Dardanelles Strait that is connecting the Marmara and Aegean Seas. Two ferries go every hour and it takes 20-30 minutes to cross the strait. The ticket cost about 300 roubles.

We took the ferry at night and the lights of a huge bridge under construction across the strait were lit to us from the right side. It is a gigantic structure 4.6 km long with the largest in the world suspended span of more than 2 km long. And the height of the two main pillars is 318 m each!

Can you imagine that? It is scheduled to be open in March 2023.
While crossing the strait, we booked a small hotel near the ancient city Troy, which we were going to visit the next day.

Ephesus

Across Turkey on two wheels.

The mill has not been working for a long time but the view from the mountain is beautiful.

Turkey is a gorgeous country for travelling by any means of transport, especially by motorbike.
Firstly, it is large and diverse.
Secondly, the roads here are perfect.

The ancient city Assos on the top of the mountain.

Thirdly, Turkey has a very beautiful nature, seashore, mountains and sunny weather.

The viaduct of the 15th century is still in excellent condition nowadays.

The Basilica of St. John in Ephesus.

Fourth, there is no problem with food. It is delicious, familiar, varied and not expensive.

Fifth, there are a lot of hotels for every taste and budget, especially on the Mediterranean coast. Personally, we do not book accommodation in advance but choose a hotel at the end of the day in the area where we could get to.

The ancient city Troy was found here at the end of the 19th century by the famous businessman and talented fraudster Heinrich Schliemann.

Sixth, Turkey has got an incredible number of historical sites, monuments dated back to ancient times: the ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages. To see at least the most iconic places you need more than one month of travelling.

This Trojan horse took part in the filming of the "Troy" movie.

And last but not the least, people here are very friendly, easy-going, who are always ready to help in a difficult situation and pleasant to chat with.

The first technical problem arose on the second day of our trip. The punctured tyre was repaired in half an hour at the nearest ordinary auto service point. That cost less than 500 roubles (in our currency). And a smile as a bonus. :)

On a daily basis we have some unexpected problems related to the repair of our equipment, for example, the tire was punctured, then the motorbike clutch was completely destroyed, then a small accident with injury took place, etc. But we always find kind people who help us and in many cases gratuitously.

Olives are harvested in different ways. The process can be mechanized, manual or be done with the help of such gasoline equipment, similar to a large perforator.

Antalya

Across Turkey on two wheels.
The more I travel around Turkey, the more I like it.

Riding a motorbike along the southern coast of Turkey is a great pleasure. But you must keep focused!

I caught myself thinking that I feel very comfortable here. I don't know if I would like to live here, but travelling is surely enjoyable. Everything is simple, familiar, clear and convenient. I don't know more than five words in Turkish though, and in the remote areas and villages, where we mostly passed, the locals don't speak English well, to put it mildly.

In nine days we drove more than two thousand kilometers along the coasts of the four seas, seeing stunning views like in Greece or Italy. The further we go south, the better the weather becomes.

When we left Istanbul, it was quite cool, rainy and the temperature was no more than 16 degrees above zero. And in Antalya it was +25°C and the sea was warm, so our swimming suits were just right.

A little more information about the roads. We almost didn't go off the asphalt, because there was no point in it. There paved excellent roads to the most beautiful places, however, sometimes there were areas with a slippery surface.

I don't know why, but several times after the turns on steep mountain serpentines, some of us were torn off the front and rear wheels and the motorbikes flew off the track.

Fortunately, nobody fell into the abyss. But injuries and damage to equipment could not be avoided. These moments did not spoil the trip but caused certain time-management and financial troubles.

We also had to meet with the traffic police. Communication with them cost us 2000 lira (that's about 15 thousand roubles). Fines for speed violations are not small here. The permissible excess is 9 km/h and we did 20 km/h. The minimum fine is 314 liras (2350 roubles), the maximum one is 1340 liras (that's more than 10 thousand rubles).

Usually the speed is measured by the police officers, whose car is staying inconspicuously on the side of the road, and after a couple of kilometers you are detained by another patrol, who make the protocol. If you pay off the fine within 2 weeks, you will have a 25% discount (not a 50% one as in Russia).

There is no problem with gasoline in Turkey as there are many modern petrol stations (and the network Lukoil as well). The cost of 1 litre of 95th fuel is about 65 roubles. That's much cheaper than in Europe, but 30-35% more expensive than in Russia.

You can pay for refueling directly to the staff member in cash or by your credit card in the register. That's convenient.

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