Jon loves chocolate spread

Long shadows on the flat lands

These girls thought it was hilarıous the İ put the tent up and Jon did the cooking!

A cloud bow ( stormy weather on its way over the mountains)

Verry frosty morning..water bottles solid.. Nic wont get up... NO GEARS!!!!

İts MY CHOCOLATE!!!!!!

Have you ever looked for advice on the internet about a repaır or maintenance on anything?

Well İ did.... İ checked on the rohloff web site about the type of oil that should be used in the hub!!

İt of course said that you should never ever.. ever.. use any other oil than the rohloff specific oil!!

What do they know ( İ asked myself) İm an engineer... there must be another oil that you can use?..... İ located a replacement.. a gear oıl 80 grade.. that should do the job.. And it did... for a while.... Untill the frosty morning!!... NO GEARS!!!! (luckily it was downhill)

As the day warmed up gears came back. and after draining most of it it has been ok!! touch wood..

Let that be a warning to you all... Still on the road though!

yol yok and the great granny ring

karavansary on the old silk road

Unknown bırds (becky ıdentify) on gorgeous lake

One morning!

The fantastic school kids

Nıc was going so slowly she was attacked by a land crab!!!(shocking)

Heavy rain delayed our start to the second leg of the trip... İt did mean that we got taken out for a lovely meal with Alan and Janet (nic on the racki again).. But in the morning the sun was up and we were off.. A steady start but we soon gained our rythem! heading past Fethiye (nic found a smelly terrapin on the road and saved it from a terrible death.(am stıll wonderıng why i sniffed it...nic)

We headed allong the coast past oludeniz (beautıful coast line) following a road marked on the map.. several hrs later we made it to a village where we found out that... Yol Yok... which means road not!! no more road.. İm not saying that the map was wrong but to say some of the detail was missing would be a bit shy of the truth!! Then the heavens opened Thunder etc . Next day back track to the rıght road and over the tops and onwards..

Of course we got lured back into the mountains.Cycled uphill so steeply we were both privately thinking our legs had gone useless.....hence the need for the great granny ring.

Spent one morning at a great little primary school near Kremma (ancient monument .....i was feeling a bit like one myself by this time...too many long cold nights camping ..) mainly amusing the kids with our shocking turkish.

Our short wave radio has meant that at 2 a.m or whenever we both realise the other is awake tooş jon can fiddle around through all the space static to get us 2 mins of china radio ! (it is awful !)

Have arrived in cappodocia....!Cycled across the flatest of flat plains for 2 days......and finally got well and truly got by a huge snarling metal spiked collared dog ! He came out of nowhere and ripped one of jons panniers right off....then a couple of mins later put a hole in mine.Outrunning them is not an option...and only seems to wind them up more.

Today have had great day exploring rock dwellings in the İlhara valley.Phil would have 'wow'ed himself to exhaustion

Almost on the road again

A wonderful day out on the lake with Moira (thats me.....not Moira!)

Clip from the local paper after a visit to a local primary school.

A real Turkish hair and beard cut... cut throat razor massage.... the lot (the glasses are nic's and are being worn for a joke!!)
(Not true......he said he could,nt see a damn thing ! )

Ali of the famous sun ray bar (we call him Alicik capkin... you have been warned!!!)

Moira trying to fight off Ali Baba

Well the wait is over and we will be off on our travels again....

The package of tyres and bike bits arrived, together with some chocolate money, a Christmas card and the local paper with news of the floods... Thanks to all involved.

So the tyres were fitted last night (after going to a Christmas party) and though are now on how the hell we get all of our stuff back into the panier's!! It looks like it will never fit!!

Nic has been sorting out all of the little bits of rubbish we have been carrying and getting a package together to send back Maps of The Ukraine Serbia etc back too.

The only thing that will stop us is if it is chucking it down again!!

There is proper snow on all the big mountains just behind here,so we will probably (if sense prevails ) stick to the coast,though there's plenty of inland temptations to lead us astray.Even if it is pissing down tomorrow we had better try and go,as we have been led well astray here on an increasing no. of occasions ! Raki and wine in the afternoon.! Moira !

We've had good fun here,meeting some lovely folks (including of course the local postoffice staff ).....but as we,ve got no more news we,d better get back out there .

yet more photos

Todays exploration.....the high point { mending punctures 10 mins later]
A turkish water fountain
You need to zoom in to read the notice........
Wild' WİLD tortoise.....look at the glint in his eye
A genuine student............ [ha ha..fooled you.]

Some pics whilst we are still waiting......

The famous tombs...

He would.nt swim....but it was gorgeous
One of my friends......a wrong hop landed him in the pool filter
Yes ! This crag is bolted....
Cats fishing for thermally cooked tiddlers !

Stuck in Paradise

What sun sets!!

What did you do on the first of December? we went here for a swim!!

Bit of exploring

We did have a bit of trouble spreading the fig jam!!

This is how we got here.

Here we are...in one of the most beautiful places we have had the luck to visit...( and we,ve got the nerve to complain about not being out on the road...!)

We are here waiting for bike bits to come from the UK.. the Turkish postal service (as we now know) is subject to delays due to religious holidays e,t.c so all we can do is wait...

We do have a lovely apartment to stay in courtesy of Ged.. We do have great weather,warm seas, interesting mountain landscapes and lots of people to talk to....

I know....shut up and enjoy.... Compared to the weather in the UK I think we have nothing to complain about.. Some of you will also be a bit shocked to hear that I have read more books! I think I am up to 5 whilst being here..

We are in danger of becoming semi-permanent residents.....sort of low life ex-pats.!Aaaargh.! I've even started going to the free turkish lessons.! I have now invested so much time in trying to learn it that i can't give up. Unfortunately it does,nt mean that i can say much....but never mind. The postmen are very tolerant when we go and hang around the post office...I think that what i ask them is " parcel...is there ? " ,but i'm not sure.Anyway,so far "yok parcel",but perhaps tomorrow (yarim!)....We have also had a very kindly lecture from the chief postmaster about our address here...its not "Bablyan " matthew, its "Dalyan " !

Otherwise we are really idling our time away.....we've done loads of local exploring ,mostly by bike,;we have both read some truly terrible books (though we have,nt yet started on the romance novels....but "Royally bedded,Regally wedded " sounds good,though i suspect jon will like "At the cattlemans command " better.!)..Luckily we,ve met some interesting people too,,its quite a novelty for us to have dinner invites.!

We,ll update once the tyres e,t,c arrive...(please,please,please...tomorrow....or soon....!),Now i must hand this great little computer back over the garden wall..Thanks Moira !

Turkey Çok Güzel

Ahh... made it (this is the first time in my life that i have read a book in one day!!)
The scenery was amaizing all the way through
But ther was rain!!(and aliens)
What can we say..but 'çok güzel'
We only use the best guides!!

Off we go... setting off from İstanbul on our trails again.. İ have got a cold from being around to many people in such a small place!! started with a sore throat but then came all the snot! Nic at this point had it all to come!
We had set ourselves a bit of a challenge!.. Our frıend in istanbul had said that he did not think that we could make it across turkey in 8 days... the race was on.. we had to prove him wrong..

We got the ferry on thursday morning getting us across the bay by about 11.30 (half the day gone already...bad start) and we found ourslves on a bıg road full of trucks.. but ıt was ok. A good verge to ride on and good drivers.
Camping that night we stopped by a lake nıce spot with the moon risıng as the sun set.. beautıfull!!
a leasurly start and off to the mountains.. Nic realised that if we were to start late every day we would not make it across in the time availible so hatched a plan durın the day to get me up at 5.30 in the morning..to make coffee and breakfast.. bring it to her to coax her out of bed..then we could get a good start.. İ knew nothing about it at this time but would soon find out..
We basicaly headed south (map to follow) and what a delıght.. hıgh mountain passes.. small vıllages (with good guıdes) and fantastic scenery....
All was going to plan (even the early starts) untill on day 4 the heavens opened and started to raın.. cold days.. nothing to do but ride to keep warm.. our spirits were high!!
We did get rescued a few times.. free tea from petrol stations..a meal with a family in the mountains..free cakes.. and allot of encouragement from the locals..
Basıcaly we made it.. 8 days from ıstanbul we were at Dalyan ande waiting for the keys to Geralds place.. and relax...........
Nic had a great bırthday..cakes for first breakfast...eggs for second...the most fantastic mountain road..and a beautıfull sun set..
Since then we have done allot of sleeping and not much else..maby tomorrow?

o.k....its all sort of true ! But Jon does start fiddgetting around in the tent way too early ...just when i.m about to get my best bit of sleep.....and as he falls asleep almost as fast as Morgz,leaving me wide awake for hours pondering the meaning of life and other weighty matters such as any small noises,,,wild pigs approaching....i think the current arrangement where i get coffee in bed is best.
Also..that picture of me drinking a can of beer in the tent (a couple of blogs back ) could be giving entirely the wrong impression.! İt was medicinal beer..drunk at 2.30 a.m in the middle of a sleepless night of hammering rain beating down on the tent. Even jon was wide awake. Luckily he remembered we had 4 cans of beer...so what better thing to do than relieve the boredom by drinking them . So we did....and then slept well!

İ think thats all for now. You will all notice who,s in the hammock !

Turkey here we come. ready or not!!!

The best welcoming party in İştanbul

Even Turks get punctures!

Where East meets West ( and where tea ıs most expensive)

But Turks don't get as many punctures as brits! 16 so far ın Greece and Turkey ( the record ıs 4 ın a day)

Just to keep you all up to date........We had a meal out at 100 days and beer at 7000km

Turkey... land of Cai.. and land of ı instead of i on the key board (can be confusing if you know what İ mean?)

The road we took from the boarder to İstanbul ıs one of the worst roads we have cycled on ın the whole trip! İt is a dual carriage way through Agricultural land rolling hills etc.. İt would have been ok apart from the pouring rain and howling head wind!! İt took us 3 days of hard work to get here. The weather was so bad that we ended up staying ın cheap hotels getting hysterical whilst watching Turkısh TV.. couldn't understand a word of it? but sitting ın your room with your back to a radiator and wearing your down jacket as the wind trıed to blow the windows out ıt all seemed funny. The day we intended to get to İstanbul was the same driving rain and gale force winds with 55km to the town.. Me and Nic just put our heads down and got on with it. Gayton our Swiss Friend just had to follow.. all went well only 2 punctures ( thin bıts of wire off the road) when we hit the outskirts of İstanbul.. Nic mentioned that it was like riding down the A1 in rush hour!! Great fun head down defensive riding.. palming off cars We were buzzing.. Gaton later told us that he wanted to cry! He thought it would be a pity to die before he got to İstanbul! When from out on nowhere!! a Guardıan Angel appeared. A mountain biker.. 'where do you want to go?'....'follow me'.. and that was it. Guided straight into the town centre to a hostel with him and two Friends! then a night tour of the city (on bikes) Eden wheelers special.. if you know what İ mean! Then to a good restaurant and beer.. fantastic..

Since then we have had a rest and wandered this amazing city.. Off on the ferry tomorrow heading south for a bit of a holiday! (cheers Gerald)

Jon seems to have taken to Turkey and ıts hospıtable people.At least i think thats why he has been hugging so many men.! One small but streetwise boy who expected a bıt of a :reward : for his directional help dıd not expect to be grasped firmly by the shoulders and kissed on each cheek by jon. That was a novelty for him.

Anyway....leaving the city and back on the road tomorrow. Hooray.

How to stay dry in Greece

Beach bars out of season!!
Children's Play Parks....
Greek tunnels...

These are some of the things we had to resort to to keep dry over the past week or so!!! don't forget to read the next post either!!!

Greece continued

Mount Olympus at sunset
Greek dogs on Saturday (their day off)
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tent life.........
Mmmm lunch in the rain...

Just an idea for anyone who has a bit of money to spare...Buy a Hymac a Moxy and a Pecker!! Go out to the coast of Albania.. You would make a fortune!!.. They are knocking the place to hell.. get in there quick there wont be much left soon..

The coast of Greece didn't fail to amaze us.... beautiful
But what was a great surprise was the weather! it has been the worst of the whole trip!! rain cold.. having to spend time in tunnels and bus shelters for a rest from the persistent rain!! it hasn't stopped us from enjoying the scenery though.. the mountains have been fantastic, deep gorges, high mountains and full rivers and water falls..

we have actually met up with another cyclist.. he is from Switzerland and riding to Asia.. so we have been riding together for the last 2 days as we are both going to Turkey. [ Jon and gaetan have been crashing together too, on their first day. ...i wont say who,s fault it was but jon did swerve sharply ]

What else. Well,greece being the cradle of civilisation and all that,it has been noticably civilised here ,especially compared to other countries we,ve been in ,.More relaxing but less exciting...As i said to jon ,they,ve been responsible for some great ideas ,the greeks,and jon said yes,he did think feta and olives were two good greek ideas.

We,ve been chased by lots of dogs now,some quite seriously nasty. The tables though are turning. Now we are riding as a three we,ve started to turn and chase them,,,,ha,ha that gives them something they did,nt expect,. Me and jon though are looking out for the right bit of roadside plastic to make holsters for our big dog sticks that,ll be right at hand down the rear stay. Sorry ,getting a bit technical now,,,have had too many engineering lectures from jon.What i know about S.K.F.bearings amazes me. If you are lucky you will escape this blog without hearing all about greek pick ups.

Forgot to tell you all about the pickups!! I could not believe the age of them.. I saw when we got here a Datsun pick up.. I had one the same over 20 years ago and it was old then.. They are still going.. Datsun.. Mazda..even a Suzuki..

anyway off to drink some beer now Phew!!

Shitet Albania!!!!

Two Ukranian Cyclists (honest)
Lake Ochid Macedonia and Albania (amaizingly beautifull)

Typical Albanian bike touring sceneryMore... How much better can it get??
"I would like one of the top ones and one of the other?"

What a surprise... the Albanians dont think much to their country..(well thats what we thought when we arrived!!)
Everything is Shitet!! a BMW car with Shitet on it ( well you cant argue with that) a Mercedes with Shitet ( well it was an old 200 series..) A shop that was shitet.. and then a Pizza express with shitet on it.. (again we cant argue with that...)
But the we realised that Shitet meant .. For Sale ( well we are a bit dim arn't we ]

The next shocking thing about Albania is that there are no Albinos living there!! whats all that about?? Since then I have found out that there are no Cretins on Crete!!
I really don't know what expect in Mongolia now!!!! ( and I'm not going to Lesbos either !!)

We had a fantastic time there....we were attacked by kindness . Could,nt pay for peppers,for our fuel bottle to be filled up with petrol, got given local sweets to try...on our first morning we got flagged down by a guy who hopped out and gave us a cycling guide map and booklet to albania. How lucky is that. ! And its one of the poorest countrys i've visited [anywhere ],and yet its got amazing scenery,nearly all mtns,canyons, rivers,and people who are so keen and excited for you to visit. Jon had boys racing him on their knackered no brakes bikes, people waving at us, calling out, tooting their horns [they dont realise this makes me nearly fall off]. So consider albania as an exciting holiday destination. ...they deserve more tourists.[any,would be a start !]

Now in greece. What a shock. ! After all those exciting "undiscovered '' rough and ready countries....so, this is where riley lives his life! Its all ex-pats, and yachts , and even the dogs have perked up as if they know they are no longer at the bottom of the pile. Impressively beautiful though,and the first country since germany that has a system to cope with rubbish.!! Everywhere else it gets tipped into rivers,down hillslopes,anywhere cos there is nowhere.

Albania stretched jons vehicular knowledge beyond the final frontier. There were things he didnt know what they were,and they werent donkeys. Also no albanians had cars until after communism,so they are desperate to learn to drive,but nobody has more than 14 years experience. Quite interesting styles have developed.

The main vehicle in Albania is the Mercedes 200 series diesel.. a real work horse.. but just behinde that is any vehicle from England!! we went into one town and about 30% of the cars were from th UK..
It also seems that any Albanian that has been to the UK went to Newcastle?? and did all of the Euro Clubs? Figure that one out if you can!

Next time who knows where we will be!!!