Nusaybin - Adana - Antakya

  Antakya, Turkey
Monday, November 26, 2007

Itinerary : Nusaybin - Adana - Antakya
Dates : 25th to 26th of November 2007
Mileage in Turkey : 1560 km
Mileage so far : 16960 km.

We were suppose to be riding in Jordan for already 2 days but guess where we are!...Still in Turkey! Indeed, we are stuck in Turkey and can't seem to get out! When we woke up in Nusaybin (border town in Turkey) we headed straight for the border at 9h30 sharp. When we arrived, there was no one at the crossing except a few trucks, so I told myself that this would be a walk in the park...But once our passport stamped and we had to go to the customs to have our bike temporary import declaration entered in the computer, our whole plan of sleeping in an oasis in the middle of the desert went wrong! No one spoke English at the border but I understood that when we entered Turkey from Iran, the custom officer didn't enter the data on the system. Argh! I now understand why Turkey won't enter Europe...So the customs officer called his English speaking friend to explain me on the phone that the only solution for us to get into Syria was go to the next border which was 300 km further west. You cannot imagine Kevin's delight...He went a bit crazy and started to do his complaining monologue to the custom's officer face that didn't speak a word of English...We both agreed that it was Sunday and that this officer just didn't want to settle the problem and was sending us to the next border for his colleague to deal...We didn't have much choice...I proposed to pay a "fine" so that we could go in but he refused...I was not at impressed by what happened and I think that after a couple of years in Asia I just got use to waiting and being bounced around...So it basically took us 2 hours for us to learn that we couldn't cross this border...Waste of time...Border crossings were just too easy up to now and this was bond to happen!

So after pouring a bucket of water on Kev's head to cool him down, we started riding our bikes towards the next border called Akcakale. Boring and frustrating ride as the road was wide and straight with mountain on our right, and the barbwire separating Turkey with Syria on our left...

We rushed a bit on our way to the next border as we only had 3 hours to do 300 km...Big relief when we managed to arrive at the border on time before the closing...Until we were greeted by 2 guards that didn't speak a word of English, but that knew just enough to explain us that the computer was not working so we couldn't cross here as well! He then said to go another 300 km west to the next border! Kevin was once again delighted and started arguing in English until I told him that they didn't understand a word so we might as well stop wasting our time arguing and continue riding...They just can't be bothered on a Sunday to solve the problem that they created and they are just sending us from border to border until we reach Monday!

At the next petrol stop, where we refilled the bikes and grabbed some drinks, we went into a little meeting concerning the program and what had just happened. Kevin wanted to skip Syria-Jordania and head straight to Europe! So it took me about half an hour to convince him to revise his decision and go to Syria with me...I was going with or without Kev because I knew that this is probably once in a lifetime and I won't be going on holiday in Syria anytime soon...The problematic for me was not about going to Syria or not, but which border to use. And we finally opted for the biggest border between Turkey and Syria which is 500 km away from where we were...It's our last chance and we have to give it a go...If it doesn't work, then off to Europe I guess.

At the petrol stop...With amazing vintage bike...

So it was a 12 hour day on the road and 710 km...Arrived at midnight a bit short from our destination and completely smashed...

The next day, we woke up with our eyes not really in front of the holes but we still managed to find our bikes to go to the border. Well...We didn't see any border today...Not even from far...We made it only to the ATM machine about 2 km away from the hotel...Indeed, Kevin was complaining of a noise coming from his chain for a couple of weeks now and today it got much noisier...He thought that the chain was getting loose until I kneeled down and told him that it was actually his sprocket that was bent! It was no big deal, we were in this big town called Adana and a chain+sprocket is a piece of cake to find...But Kevin, who apparently explained me that he inherited his pessimistic character from his mom, was telling me that he was heading off to Istanbul and wished me good luck for the Syria-Jordan adventure...He was convinced (convinced himself) that Sprockets and chains are exclusive and only BMW parts would fit...But I knew that BMW have special mountings but chains and sprockets are universal! So I banged on Kevin's head and started looking for a shop...Well guys, I think that somebody up there wants us to go to Syria or at least to finish this trip as we landed on a small shop that had experience in BMWs! It was exactly the Turkish equivalent of the workshop in Bangkok...

This cat has good taste...

The bike shop...

So they fixed Kevin's bike and he also opted to do all the other repairs that had to be done...His bike was falling apart and there was a hell of a lot of other stuff to be done on it...So we spent a complete day at the workshop...No complains because it ended up to be a really cool day! And like I said in my previous entry, I expected this so I would have been disappointed not to have had a problem with our bikes...The mechanical part of the trip was just too smooth...So Kevin hanged around the shop to keep an eye on his bike (with a constipated face) and I opted to walk off to visit the city of Adana.

Kevin...Feeling very low...

And I was lucky because one of the workshop's customer was hanging around on his day-off and decided to be my tour guide for the day! So visited the mosque which is apparently known to be the biggest one in Turkey. He confirmed that it's bigger than Istanbul's but I doubt it...I will probably go to Istanbul and a guy there will tell me "welcome to the biggest mosque of Turkey"...I think it's a bit like the second biggest city in France debate which we all know is Lyon...This mosque is absolutely fantastic...Much nicer than the one that I visited in Iran...Anyway, the guy was explaining me that this mosque was bigger than the one in Istanbul because during the days were there was no plane and people who'd head to Mecca, they would plan a stop in Adana to go pray...The guy was really nice and he maybe saved my life after this mosque visit when he shyly explained me that my scarf was not a good idea to wear...It's the second time during this trip that someone tells me to take off my scarf which I'm so proud of! The first time was in Iran where the guy that sold me the sleeping bag asked me why I was wearing this scarf as he explained me that terrorist wear this type and colour of scarf! I thought he was joking and pulling my leg...Then today, this Turkish guy tells me that it can be badly interpreted as this scarf is known to be worn by members of the PKK! And he told me that I look like a Turkish guy from the mountains with my burnt skin under my eyes and around my nose (because of the snow the last few days), and that I could get into trouble with the police by wearing this scarf. Not that they would put me in prison but I would get stopped and be checked all the time! So I sadly had to get rid of it...I will wear it again when in Syria...

At the entrance of the mosque...It's big!

no microphone before so standing from up there...

This guy was apparently important in Turkey...

arriving to the "biggest" mosque in Turkey!

The inside...Nice...

Better be nice if you use 5 times a day...

Once I was back in the workshop, Kevin's bike was far from finish so I hanged around a bit and got a bit of a laugh with the local police that were bringing their own bikes for repairs...Bikers are bikers and cops on bikes are just like us...Meaning we can see mosquitoes on their teeth because of smiling when riding...We had good fun and took a few pictures exchanging bikes...We exchanged bikes just for the picture because I was not really keen on their 8 year old RT...

Policeman with super old bimer...

On a cop's bike! in town in front of everyone!

Ok ok give back my bike now...

Then I got really bored and I did the unthinkable...I went to the hairdresser and got my hair cut and my beard shaved! Sorry guys but I couldn't take it anymore...The little beard I had was still big enough to collect everything on the road...Will try now to leave it tough until I arrive in France...If I arrive...I look 5 years younger and Kevin didn't recognize me! I was sitting beside him when I overheard him asking if they saw a dirty bearded china man around!

The guy that cleaned me up...

When Kev's bike was finally ready, his face seemed to have changed and it's a bit more colourful now...His back in action and kicking again! Until he got the bill for the repair that is...Nevertheless he took off with a big smile on his face and I think that the comfort of not having to worry about his bike anymore is priceless! And he won't be so grumpy anymore! I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that he will come with me to Syria as he has been talking about Guinness non-stop for 2 weeks now and I think it's the real reason why he wants to head straight into Europe...I'm thinking of attaching a bottle of Guinness at the rear of my bike for him to follow...

So we still did about 180 km that afternoon to head to the nearest town from border. Found a nice hotel and Kevin is delighted as we found an hotel with a pub just in front! Well I don't really know what it is inside as there are no windows, no lights and it looks dead! Will let you know in my next entry what a pub in a small town in Turkey looks like...And will try to manage the beer intake to hopefully wake up tomorrow and get into Syria!

I forgot to put a nice picture in the way to Tatvan entry...

It's not a terrorist...It's Kev a bit cold...