Avsar Hotel Altinkum

The bikes have been services and test driven, so we have been ready around 12:00 to leave the big city and going to Asia crossing the Bosporus on a big hanging bridge.

The fırst 250 km we have been using the motorway, where the traffic was heavy around Istanbul and then further East the main road users are huge trucks who connect all the parts of the country with the essantıal distribution of goods to all ...

... city. After the biggest pide (pizza) I have had so far - it had two layers, We visited Ataturk's Mauseleum. This massive complex guarded by Turkey's version of the Beehive Buckingham Palace guards is all about the life and times of Mustafa Kemel Ataturk. This ex-president, war hero and all round good guy basically founded modern day Turkey as a republic in 1923 and shaped it into what it is today. All over Turkey in every city, hotel, restaurant we had been in the whole ...

My first night 'roughing it', well on this trip anyway, was spent in a farmer's field. I met the farmer, Cengiz, and he was happy for me to camp and we had a nice chat about our different lifestyles.

Stopped for a relaxing lunch of bread, tomatoes, cheese and olives by Yeniçaga Lake earlier in the day. The guy working in the cafe gave me free tea. Have I mentioned that the Turks are great, wonderful, fantastic people?

... chatted about Bolu and life. Aburrahim explained that people are so generous here because the guest is king. People may actually be offended if you don't accept there hospitality. Thanks to Huseyin Hoca, my friend in Istanbul, for putting me in touch with such great people. "There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise." The Call of the Wild, Jack London. I ...

... Jordan. There were separate areas for men and women and the inside was all covered in marble with high domed ceilings. To start with I was left to pour bowls of warm water over myself for 15 or 20 minutes in a small steamy room. Then came the painful part- peeling. The lady working on me seemed determined to take off several layers of skin, everywhere. I think she may have scrubbed off my ...

... half an hour of rolling round town. I was quizzed by some local kids about my trip and one advised me that the hamam was free. With my decision made I was also recommended the Haci Abdullahlar Konak. Found a room for 30TL including a decent brekky and lots of tea. Spent a cleansing hour in the hamam where I met Ibrahim Usta. He invited me for dinner, as I was a guest of God no less, and took me to a kofte place near where I was staying ...

Straight into a 800m climb after breakfast. I stopped a few times on the way up to chat with the locals who couldn't stop giving me cherries. I was carrying about an extra 2kg as I made 10km in 2 hours. Flew down the other side and even clocked over 81kmph. Stopped for tea in Tarakli and made some more police friends. At 4pm with 30km left I had wobbly legs up the slightest inclines. And then I reached a sign which ...

... for gold coins or jewelry... Deb and I took the opportunity to teach the boys about preservation... and how pillaging causes a loss of historical records... did honestly wrestle with the concept of keeping a few pieces of pottery shards... yet decided against it... funny how even as adults we are constantly challenged with the practice of integrity... Much of the Turkish coast is covered with ...

... as Hassan and he did in fact have a nice boat. Jess asked to see the life jackets (just in case) and we haggled on the price for a 90 minute tour (he wanted 80 lira, I wanted 50 lira, we agreed on 60). Then we piled on board and were treated to a private cruise around the area. First up was Semina. This is a small village that can only be reached by boat. From the water we could see a magnificent castle in ruins. Dating back to the 4th Century BC, this castle has ...

Zonguldak, a town at the Black Sea coast. We went to a coalmine where we got an guided tour. Offcourse we also had te make an assignment. This time about the relief of an valley near to Zonguldak. A strange experience, because we got followed by rockthrowing children.