20th September. Nis, Serbia to Erdine, Turkey.
I got up early, did a bit of catch up blogging and set out. There was a storm on the horizon and strong winds made the first half hour very tough. I headed for the border with Bulgaria. This journey took me through a beautifull gorge... sadly I didnt take photos. For the first time I travelled extensively on single carriageway roads. At times good at times bad.
En route I passed through a time zone.... without realising it.... i think in Bulgaria. The connect road, ring road around Sofia was garbage .... I was very glad to get onto a decent road again. In Bulgaria the rules of the road are less European. I was shocked to see Police driving the wrong way down the hard shoulder of the motorway. Overtaking manoevers were wild...... a slip in concentration and a truck is heading towards you on the wrong side of the road..... Eeek
I finally reached the Turkish border.... This border crossing was long and drawn out. Border regions are always a bit edgy. The Bulgarian / Turkish border was no exception. It had an air of badlands about it. Many steps and stages..... and I finally I entered Turkey.
It was raining lightly as I rode slowly toward Edirne. I had not pre-booked a hotel today....... The hotel I found was cheap enough but the room is small and frankly a bit rough, particularly when compared to the places I have stayed thus far. Edirne seems OK.. I will not have chance to explore.... I feel a million miles from home, although not geographically in Asia I am there in every other respect. Thus far I have ridden more than 1800 miles. I can barely remember the begining of my journey. Concentration and focus is on the here and now and at times a single day ahead.
Today my bike got dirty. My boots got dirty, my trousers got dirty :-( Until this point I had barely accumulated any grime. I now look a little like an overlander. Frankly I prefer the new, out of the box look.
I ventured out got hold of some Turkish Lira, had a kebab and coke... I think thats what you do in Turkey. Tommorow no doubt I will be playing backgammon, drinking thick coffee etc etc
Tomorrow I head for Bolu..... Bolu is in Asia proper......
I got up early, did a bit of catch up blogging and set out. There was a storm on the horizon and strong winds made the first half hour very tough. I headed for the border with Bulgaria. This journey took me through a beautifull gorge... sadly I didnt take photos. For the first time I travelled extensively on single carriageway roads. At times good at times bad.
En route I passed through a time zone.... without realising it.... i think in Bulgaria. The connect road, ring road around Sofia was garbage .... I was very glad to get onto a decent road again. In Bulgaria the rules of the road are less European. I was shocked to see Police driving the wrong way down the hard shoulder of the motorway. Overtaking manoevers were wild...... a slip in concentration and a truck is heading towards you on the wrong side of the road..... Eeek
I finally reached the Turkish border.... This border crossing was long and drawn out. Border regions are always a bit edgy. The Bulgarian / Turkish border was no exception. It had an air of badlands about it. Many steps and stages..... and I finally I entered Turkey.
It was raining lightly as I rode slowly toward Edirne. I had not pre-booked a hotel today....... The hotel I found was cheap enough but the room is small and frankly a bit rough, particularly when compared to the places I have stayed thus far. Edirne seems OK.. I will not have chance to explore.... I feel a million miles from home, although not geographically in Asia I am there in every other respect. Thus far I have ridden more than 1800 miles. I can barely remember the begining of my journey. Concentration and focus is on the here and now and at times a single day ahead.
Today my bike got dirty. My boots got dirty, my trousers got dirty :-( Until this point I had barely accumulated any grime. I now look a little like an overlander. Frankly I prefer the new, out of the box look.
I ventured out got hold of some Turkish Lira, had a kebab and coke... I think thats what you do in Turkey. Tommorow no doubt I will be playing backgammon, drinking thick coffee etc etc
Tomorrow I head for Bolu..... Bolu is in Asia proper......
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