Adventures in Turkey: a 5000km Hayabusa tour

[hayabusaTravels]

It would've been nice to stay for 2 days and visit the city.
The problem is that we had to cross Bulgaria on our way back and it was already November. You don't know how snow can fall without a moment's notice.

Saturday, November 3:

In Ankara was the best hotel so far. On the 8th floor, large room.
Superb!
Enerji Otel is the name. Higly recommend it if you need a place to stay in Ankara.
Motorcycle parking in front of the reception.

Left with a bad feeling knowing that we would never get such a good hotel, at such a good price per night.

We leave quickly from Ankara, heading towards Eskisehir.
Decided to stop there, Bursa being too far for the rideing style we got used to in Turkey.

The road is good, but boring:

We arrive at the hotel, a hotel that turns out to be a wreck. At least it was cheap.
Freezeing cold at night in the room. They tell me "automatic heat".
Cheap bastards.
We go to eat something and when we return to the room and go right to sleep.
We went to bed at 19 o'clock.

Sunday, November 4:

Such a bad hotel, we skip breakfast directly from the table. When we saw it, we got up and left.
Outside, about 2 degrees, maximum 3.
We warm up the motorcycle and go on the road. It would have been 8 in the morning ...
We did not even get out of the city as a traffic police stop us for "police control".
It was the 90km/h limit there and I was going atleast with 120. Me and another car in front.

The police man let me go after looking at the number plate, obviously.
What a cold morning...
I stoped for at least 4 times. A toilet, a coffee, tea... where I saw a small market or gas station, we stopped to warm up.
With 300km to Istanbul, through the town of Bursa, it was not a matter of getting there as fast as we could...

Absolutely beautiful road (including the police man encounter):

Nice wide curves, but too much traffic on lane one.
Drivers tend to change the lane instantly, they don't have the patience to stand behind heavy traffic.

Entrance to Cumalikizik: stone paved road, intense trafic by vehicles and pedestrians.

Food: Yoc! Just gozleme and "breakfast". At 13 o'clock when we arrived, they were selling us "breakfast".
It seems that the chickens don't grow there.
"No chicken, only meat!"
And the Chinese crap merchandise all over the place!

Cumalikizik was the birth place of the Ottoman Empire! What it was and what it became.
So much for the Ottoman glory village!
Total disappointment.

We leave quickly, no desire to take photos or film the area!
Even the Chinese in me has no desire to take pictures.
Difficult to "history" on an empty stomach.

We go ahead and stop at the first location where we managed to eat: a gas station with a "restaurant" in the back:

Only 100km to go until Istanbul!

 

[hayabusaTravels]

But up there, we have to cross a bridge. Passage fee: 65TL !!! I also saw 140TL toll price.
65TL to pass on a bridge is quite expensive, considering that 14 liters of gasoline costs up to 95TL, depending on the gas station.

By the way, this is the same bridge they used for that 400km/h Kawasaki H2R ride.

Now, here's me "breaking" the 90km/limit

We enter the city, lots of traffic, but no jams.
Istanbul welcomes us by showing a car burning on the emergency lane. A white BMW that had overtaken us some time ago, going with hazard lights blinking.

Search the hotel now, hotel we saw in the morning, on the European side, close to the "things" to visit in Istanbul.
I'm interested in museums, Kitty has already made her plans as she visits the "Grand Bazaar Museum"!

Agglomeration and again agglomeration. Traffic like in Istanbul!
Do my fair share of lane splitting.

It's really awkward when you don't know where you're going, you don't know when and where you're doing right / left.
I put the navigation on the phone, which I put on the tankbag (tank bag with transparent roof).
And you go that way, with the sun in front, with +110 per hour in the superior lanes, because it always seemed the I must take a left!
If you go slower, the Turks start to overtake you in all directions.
Most drivers do not like to stay too much behind other cars. They swerve into your lane without any stress.
They actually look for you, but still.

Anyway, we arrive at the hotel and ... surprise: 390TL/night, 3 stars! No parking!
What??

Street full of hotels!
But only from 4 stars up!
Outside already dark. Deh, Istanbul traffic...
We really got lost in Istanbul, not jokeing!

I leave Kitty to guard the motorcycle and go hotel hunting!
400TL/night, there around 500, there. 480, on another one, around 380 on other!
Well, everyone was saying the price in US dollars and when I said LIRA, they were calculating the price. In their favor, of course.
I go by foot on smaller streets and find one with 160TL/night, "with everything", but parking on the street.
Being on foot, I move faster. Lot's and lot's of one way streets, a real nightmare when rideing tired on the motorcycle, fully packed with luggage and not even knowing where to go.
I always search on foot, leaving Kitty at the motorcycle. I cover more ground that way.
It also worked in Athens, last summer, but that's a completly different story, for later.


Found the hotel! Weeii! Now, where did I park the motorcycle??
I think I still had two km to go back and find Kitty.
Where ever I saw a "Otel" sign, I entered and asked for prices and availability.
Obviously, I didn't bothered with Ramada, Hiton and others like that!

We checked in and went out to eat something and then to sleep.
Tomorrow we have time to visit the town.
At this hotel we stay two nights.
It's a bit dusty, but at this price, you have no claim to have. It is good that it has beds, TV, hot water and heat (air conditioning).
Breakfast is also included, but I don't have too high hopes.
Maybe we can find another better tomorrow.

We will stay in Istanbul for a few days, so Kitty can "do the rounds".
Then we stop for one night in Edirne so we can cross Bulgaria in one piece.

Lost in Istanbul rideing a Hayabusa:

 

[hayabusaTravels]

Happy indeed, Kitty didn't even wait for my morning coffee and ....
"let's go the Bazaar, let's go the Bazaar!"

I read reviews and watched videos ...
All of these created some expectations! Especially at Kitty!
But I do not know what she expected to find but I knew that this is what we do today!

Kitty seems to want to stay here:

The next day, we strolled through the city trying to reach the cliff. I mean, walking ...
We had no budget left to visit the big tourist attractions .
Although the storage space on the motorcycle is modest, we still couldn't resist shopping.

Constantine's column:

and Valens Aqueduct:

We started looking for a gas station because we were low on fuel, luckily we found one near the Aqueduct that left us to take some petrol in a 2 liter plastic bottle.
It took us some distance walking, but that's it! I couldn't "hurt the motorcycle" in that traffic.


Below is a photo collage plus footage from around the city. In the video there are many images unposted here.

 

[Red05]

Istanbul looks to be the New York City of Turkey. Good job tour guide!

 

[georgiabusa_05]

What an incredible journey. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[hayabusaTravels]

Thank you!
Istanbul is a BIG city, having over 18mil inhabitants, I belive.
That's the population of my entire country

Having only 600TL, of course we had to leave. 200 were for petrol, the rest, what accommodation we will find in Edirne.
We did not even visit the Blue Mosque and the palaces of the sultans.

The hotel is crap. At 23.30 I was arguing with the owner over the TV beeing too loud in the reception hall. I did not pay to hear the soccer match in the room.
That TV was so loud that it could be heared from the second floor, even with doors closed.
The owner of the hotel kept saying that lights out is at 2'oclock in the mornig!

Seven Alp is the hotel. To avoid if you are Istanbul.

Anyway, in the morning, we left for Edirne for one night stay.
The time in Edirne quickly passed.
We would not let ourselves go at all but, without money ... you have no other solution.

Wednesday morning (November 7th) I left for Romania from Edirne.
Photo at the hotel in the morning, before departure:

We easily pass the Turkish-Bulgarian customs although the cars were regularly controlled.
They only asked us if we had cigarettes! Told them that we did NOT, so they let us leave without shoveling our luggage.

In Bulgaria, just having passed through customs:

At 4.30pm we were riding on Shipka Pass, Bulgaria, on clouds and cold.
I started this season with a ride on Shipka, it only seemed natural to finish it symmetrically.

The night caught us at 20km after we had passed Veliko Tarnovo so, I got behind a small van and kept rideing that way as far as Ruse, the border town with Romania.
For 100km or so, I kept the distance, without overtaking, untill we reached the border with Romania.
Night rideing is very dangerous as you all know, I avoid it mostly every time, but if it cannot be avoided, I never take any chances.

We entered Romania and headed to my parents house in a village near Giurgiu.
On the road we stopped at a small supermarket in the village and when we left, if you believe me, I could no longer keep the right path.
I was rideing on the right side of the road, at max 30km/h, but had problems of keeping the motorcycle going perfectly in a straight line as the handle bars kept going left to right as if I was a drunk cyclist.
I was no longer able to control it because of the accumulated fatigue.
It is very dangerous because most accidents happen near or very close to the destination point, because you let your guard down on the idea that you have arrived!
But on the bike, anything can happen, anytime!
So I decided to go really slow, on the very right side on the road for those 2km distance to our destination.

At 19.30 I was at my parents home, broken by fatigue. I almost droped the motocycle right in the yard, when I got off it, motorcycle beeing on its side stand.
Kitty kissed me on the right cheek and said: "Thank you for getting us home safe"!
You can imagine how scared she was seeing that the motorcycle was going like having a drunk driver. Plus the Shipka experience and rideing in the night in a foreign country.
Just to give you an idea, the motorcycle has 250kg, I have 120kg, Kitty is 50kg and we also had 25kg of luggage on.

But we got home safe!

So, these were the stories.
I hope you liked it as much as the videos.
Be safe out there!
Cheers!

The last video of this series:

 

[Red05]

Thank you so much for sharing your journeys. I often felt as I was there, and hopefully some day I will be.

 

[hayabusaTravels]

Some day you must!
Even if you rent a motorcycle, Turkey is a blast to ride in.
Of course, first we all have to wait for this convid virus to be put down.

PS: one of my dreams are to make a complete 3-4 months tour of the United States with my motorcycle.
Who knows, maybe that's gonna be sooner then later.

 

[Bumblebee]

Some day you must!
Even if you rent a motorcycle, Turkey is a blast to ride in.
Of course, first we all have to wait for this convid virus to be put down.

PS: one of my dreams are to make a complete 3-4 months tour of the United States with my motorcycle.
Who knows, maybe that's gonna be sooner then later.

If you are planning on a US tour, don't forget to tour Canada while you are at it....we are just as scenic and have less people to get in the way.