TURKEY - STOLEN SHOES AND REAR - ENDED BY A TAXI

From Amin’s place we drove further up the coast and found a beach to camp at, the plan from here was to ride straight to the border and enter Turkey within the next two days. As fate would have it though here we met Arta, after getting to know him he invited us back to Poujans house where we ended up staying the following 3 nights. Food, drink and great company meant our time in the city of Rasht was pretty special!

Where we planned to camp that night but ended up going in to the city to stay with our new friends!

A feast to remember with special 'mineral water'! ...Night 1.

Night 2 shisha bars and pizza, showing us the liberal side of Iran.

Camping night 3 just outside of the city.

A beautiful morning with a swim in the river.

Farewell friends, we'll see you again when our paths cross elsewhere in the world!

BRAAAP, off we go to the border!

Mountain gravel roads slowed us down to a crawl...

After saying farewell from the campsite we hiked back to our vehicles and started on the road to the border... 1200 KMs away. Our GPS maps did some strange routing and we ended up taking many off-road tracks through the mountains, behind farms and generally away from the highway. In doing so we found some amazing landscapes and many more stunning campsites. That first day we only managed to cover 80 KM... that’s how slow going the road was!

Back up to 3000 m, totally unexpected!

More goats... the cheese they made up here was glorious!

Slow going... but that meant I was able to soak it in a bit more!

Reaching the summit, ready to fly down the other side...

Almost off the mountain... one of our rest stops.

FLAT land here we come!

That night's campsite with me changing brake pads on the trusty steed..

With an early start this day was going to be the border crossing. All fuel tanks were filled to the brim in order to make the most of the savings and the rest of the money was spent on food. Leaving Iran was very easy, 1 hour later we were in no man’s land again! On the Turkish side everything was very dis-organised with absolutely no signage. Eventually we found the queue we had to wait in and spent an hour being pushed around by some extremely smelly elderly men, they really didn’t like it when I told them to relax.

Only 3 days or so left on the visa meant we couldn't spend more time camping in these amazing places...

That nights camp... salt lake!

15 minutes earlier... trying to get to the tent spot!

Evening glow, red skies most mornings and nights... heavenly.

Loving the sunset...

We waited and waited and slowly made some progress... AND then there was a power cut, this was when all hell broke loose! Everyone started yelling and pushing, flooding the passport booth from all sides... insanity! After 3 hours we got our stamps and made our way over to the desk to sign our vehicles in. This had so far been the worst border crossing on my trip so far (My patience had never been tested this much EVER before). At the vehicle desk everything went smoothly, they even accepted an outdated Aussie insurance form (WINNING). Welcome to Turkey!

My final sunset in Iran, I will miss this!

Urmia salt lake... kilometres long!

Welcome to Turkey!

Shall we camp here? Yeah I think so!

It was amazing riding into the first village... Beemers, Renaults, Merc’s, there was definitely a European vibe and that was just the cars. It was definitely exciting! Finally able to purchase beer again we spent the night camping by the sea trying to come to terms with the chilly weather... 20 degrees felt freezing now!

Turkish beers, nothing better after long days on the bike!

Morning swims, enjoying the sea!

Dinner... pizza master... maybe not.

Afternoon storms... so far everyday in Turkey!

Coffee and then a cold swim... yep I'm awake! (Also the last picture of my runners...)

After spending an extra day by the sea we continued Westward with high spirits, but that changed for me pretty quickly... This was the day where I got hay-fever, my shoes were stolen and my camping chair broke. The positive was that I managed to get an oil change done for under 20 bucks! Turkey was hitting the budget pretty hard... in Iran it had cost me $78 to cover 5200 KM... in Turkey my first tank of fuel had already cost $57, it was definitely getting pricey!

Stevo thought it was hilarious that I'd want a picture with weeds... but we don't have these ones back home!

GOODNIGHT guys!

The weather had become cold and rainy and with 560 KM this day I was quite exhausted by the end. Having found a quiet hill to camp on the tent was fully set up... yay SLEEP. Just before dark however a huge herd of sheep came past with the local farmer who as usual decided to touch every button on my bike before leaving again (he even tried to wear my helmet). A stormy night followed... so much for some rest!

Red dusk... and red dawn...

Trying to maintain motivation when the heavens open up and soak you!

From here we took it easy and used 4 days to cover the 1200 KM to Istanbul, camping every night it had now been well over a month since we’d stayed in a hotel. In Istanbul we’d booked an apartment for 3 nights as it worked out almost as cheap as a hostel... we were excited for hot showers and a decent bed!

Turkey has really good straight, smooth roads... me laying back in my 'couch'.

Cappadocia! Luckily not too touristy, pretty cool!

Camping at another lake that night...

Bike pic from that day, riding through one of the many valleys in Cappadocia.

Lunch time... back to packed lunches!

The 'road' to a wild camp this night...

"Do something for the picture"... OK.

Whilst setting up camp at the beach this bloke in a suit came past on his quad!

Evening drinks and burgers, the black sea in the backdrop.

Coming into Istanbul was amazing, the city looks magnificent and everything felt very comfortable. Crossing the bridge in to Europe was pretty special as I had now been in Asia for over 5 months... 

EUROPE! The bridge that separates two continents... what a magical moment!

Then CRASH! As I pulled up to stop at the lights a taxi came flying into the back of my bike, we both went flying sideways and luckily missed everything else along the way. I stood up to shout at the driver and he drove off immediately. Upon inspection the bike seemed OK and I was also uninjured, that’s what counts I guess... 27,000 KM since leaving Perth and this was my first major incident on the road!

The right pannier has definitely had better days...

From here the plan is to spend some time in Istanbul and then visit Gallipoli before riding up the coast into the Alps. Til then mates!

27 days in Iran cost me $240 US... 7 days in Turkey has already cost almost the same!