Headless, Legless, Armless

 

Bodiless

How come sculptors, after millenia have not perfected the art of keeping all the body parts together? Surely it cannot be that difficult.

Headless

 Wanting to make the most of my museum pass in Turkey I wandered into the Archeological Museum in Istanbul and after wondering about this deeply troubling question I thought it best to find an attraction more fitting to my nature.

Armless?

Just maybe I found the answer in the Topkapi Palace armory. Did the body part become detached BEFORE the sculptor applied his art? Troubling indeed. And what about all those other body protuberances that have been whacked off over the centuries.

Anyway time to move ahead with the travelogue.

Istanbul Skyline

I do not like the idea of having a "bucket list" but if I did have one this city would definitely have been on it. Istanbul, Constantinople, dividing line between Asia and Europe. So many names are conjured up when thinking about this fabled place. 

Hagia Sophia Mosque

The vibrancy of this city is hard to describe with most of the main sites being on the European side of the Bosphorus but the fun restaurant and food markets areas being found on the other, or Asian side. The Asian side is where I stayed.

The Bosphorus

 There are ferries crossing the Bosphorus every few minutes making it easy to hop on one without having to plan ahead.

How many types of olive are there?

Black Sea Coastline

I started following the Black Sea coastline eastwards along a good paved road through many small towns and villages but where I wanted to be from a riding perspective was a little inland  on the Trans European Trail ( TET )

Endless Views

Glad the mud was dry

Rich Pasturelands

I stopped in one little village to consult my map and in no time at all I was seated at a table and enjoying lunch with this incredibly hospitable couple and a few of their neighbours. Thank you for the invite Azime. The Turkish people are so amazingly friendly and it is difficult to even stop at a petrol station without spending half an hour with the owner having a cup ( actually a tulip shaped glass ) of the ubiquitous Turkish tea ( Çai )

Just great roads to ride on

It Pays to Advertise

 

Early Advertising in Ephesus

Follow the footprint and take a left at the next crossroads to the house of "Great Repute" or is it ill repute? I am now in Turkey and visiting the ancient city of Ephesus. The temple of Artemis at Ephesus is considered one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient world - What an amazing place.

Library at Ephesus

Right across the street from the previously mentioned establishment is found the library. Connecting the two is a secret underground tunnel -- ummm, I wonder what that was about? Honey, I will be spending the afternoon in the library!!

The Goddess Nike

You can see the swoosh in her dress where the Nike footwear emblem comes from. Makes you wanna go to the :-

Public convenience

Anyway that is the Richard tour of Ephesus. For a more enlightening and cultural experience it would be best to Google it!!

Since my last post I have travelled through North Montenegro and the northern part of Greece and then into Turkey.

Here are some images of the fantastic riding I had in North Macedonia. When I was heading towards the mountains I was stopped by the police - expecting that I had committed some terrible offense, only to find that the police were making sure that I did not go riding in the mountains by myself as the roads were very bad. Nice, very friendly people. Did I heed their advice?

Near Bitola North Macedonia

Old Roman road

Mountain Village

End of the line

I guess the cops did know what they were talking about.

Salamander

What the heck was a salamander doing on the snow way up here in the mountains!!

Northern Greece

Due to the snow in North Macedonia I cut down into Greece with the hope that the mountain trails would be less snowed in, however many had not been cleared of downed trees after the winter. 

Squeeze

I did manage to get past this obstacle but around the next corner there were a lot more trees across the trail so I had to retreat.

Meteora

I visited the area known as Meteora where numerous towering sandstone outcroppings were topped by monasteries dating back over 500 years. A place I would put near the top of incredible sights that I have seen so far on this trip.

1915 Çanakkale Bridge

After crossing into Turkey at Ipsala I visited the Gallipoli Peninsular, and the many battlefields and cemeteries from WW1 - not sure why I visit battlefields as they are depressing knowing that all that was gained was the heartache of so many mothers.

The Çanakkale suspension bridge across the Dardanelles Strait, was opened just two months ago, and at a length of 4,600 metres it is the longest in the world. I had recently read about this engineering marvel and was really looking forward to it - got more than I had expected. After paying my toll and crossing the bridge I took a wrong turn and found myself coming back across in the other direction. Arriving back at the same toll booth I explained that I so enjoyed it the first time I wanted more of the same. So I got to cross the bridge not once but three times!!

Dang Dog

I have got a bit of a history of being bitten by dogs. I had been warned about this mutt that was hanging around the pensione where I was staying. Having walked past him a couple of times with no problems I let my guard down - he snuck up behind me and -- ouch!!

Anyway as I have not foamed at the mouth I think I am ok.

Fowl

Really!

Attack mode

This blog is meant to be about high adventure but it would seem a little wimpish if my travels came to an end due to a savage attack by a peacock. The sign was outside a monastery in North Macedonia and the peacock was outside the National Motorcycle Museum in England. Somehow I have been plagued by these nasty noisy creatures recently.

Barton Farm

Time to make another attempt at riding to Mongolia so I flew to England to see family, with me pictured outside the farmhouse where my mother was raised, near Stratford-upon-Avon.

A lightning trip for which my brother, from South Africa, joined me. We visited cousins, uncles, aunts and friends - I have never eaten so much with one day setting a record with four full meals in a very short space of time. It was wonderful to catch up with everyone.

Moto Naranja

Just in case anybody had forgotten, this is the good looking moto that spent the winter in the city of Durrës in Albania. So for all you doubters who made jokes about the probability of finding it safe and sound in the backyard of some random person's house - here it is. Now I will say that they had obviously painted the enclosure it was in and it does have some light speckling of white paint but that is difficult to see, especially as it is now covered in mud - like any dirt bike should.

The day after arrival in Albania I had the rear brake system completely rebuilt with parts I brought with me which has made stopping a whole lot more positive experience. I then headed down south to the town of Sarandë. 

Corfu

I took the fast passenger ferry across to the Greek island of Corfu. Having looked forward to exploring this town I was a little disappointed as it was so busy. I had not realized that it was Easter weekend - the Greek Orthodox church celebrates Easter a week later than the Catholics. The place was packed but still it had a great vibe as all the families were out with their kids.

I finally got a day to ride on the dirt with a 100km loop through the mountains of southern Albania in the Fir of Hotova National Park near the town of Permët. My bike is now suitably bedecked with dirt and mud.

Vjosë River

This is some incredibly beautiful country and riding is a pleasure as there is very little traffic on the road. The vehicles are a strange mix of big black, brand new BMWs and old communist era Ladas which usually belch black, foul smelling toxic fumes into your face at every opportunity.

Ohrid, North Macedonia

I crossed into North Macedonia near the town of Ohrid on the shores of the crystal clear Ohrid Lake. What a beautiful setting with snow covered peaks and a huge fortress peering down on the red roofed town.

Tomorrow I will be back on the Trans European Trail (TET) that can be accessed through the Galicia National Park. I am expecting steep climbs out of the town and hopefully not too many of the passes will be snowed in as it is still early spring here.

Worlds Apart

 

I found this bronze figure with a number of discarded statues from the communist era in Tirana Albania.

Right around the corner was this statue of Mother Theresa, now Saint Teresa of Calcutta who was an ethnic Albania. I got thinking about this and how humans tend to be more fascinated by that which is a complete fabricated myth than with somebody who quietly went about her life dedicated to helping the poor and marginalized in the slums - worlds apart.

After leaving Dubrovnik, Croatia I crossed the border into Montenegro. This country has a short but absolutely stunning coastline with the mountains rising directly out of the sea. 

From the coast I had plotted a route directly north through the center of the country to allow me to pick up the Trans American Trail again. The rural scenery in Montenegro has small farms tucked into the valleys along tiny winding roads, a seemingly idyllic place to live but I suspect that many people are really just subsistence farmers struggling to make a living

  Back on the trail

Fun riding

Endless mountains and valleys

Suddenly a super highway appears around a corner with massive concrete towers supporting four lanes across valleys before tunneling back into the mountains. It just all seemed so incongruous in this tiny country.

The project is being funded and built by China with all the labor living in small barrack rooms. I just hope that the whole thing makes real economic sense.

I had hoped for one more day on the trails in Montenegro but due to a road closure I had to cut into Albania earlier. I love crossing at small border posts, usually with helpful immigration and customs officials. The border into Albania at Vermosh did not disappoint with the official coming out of the tiny office, smilingly taking my passport, Covid vaccine card, insurance and moto registration then returning them to me two minutes later and waving me on my way.

 The capital of Albania, Tirana is a bustling city which seems safe and clean and mix of very modern and old centrally planned buildings without character. It was great to meet up with a neighbor from Colorado for supper. - thank you Zetta.

This was one of 175,000 bunkers that were constructed throughout Albania by the old communist regime headed for more than forty years by the dictator Enver Hoxa.

From here things moved quickly. My brother was visiting Spain and as I had not seen him for a couple of years I decided to fly to Barcelona. The weather was changing rapidly with the next two weeks looking like it was going to be a lot of rain which is no bueno for moto riding in the mountains. So I found a place to store Moto Naranja for the next six months, flew to Barcelona via Belgrade, Serbia and met up with my brother. 

The, Gaudí, designed Sagrada Familia has got to be the most magnificent building I have ever been in. This amazing structure has been under construction for just about 140 years!! Makes public works projects look efficient. But if it takes the world having to wait this long for the awe inspiring beauty of this place of worship it was well worth the wait.

This now finds me back in Colorado with the leaves changing and already snow on the mountain tops and enjoying being surrounded by the love of my family. I am so grateful for the health to be able to undertake these adventures and look forward to jumping back on my moto next April to continue on my way east to Mongolia.

Stay tuned