Germany to Anatolia and back

[Kissnofrog]

Hi,

in case anyone is interested in my travel report (sorry, it is in german only but has lot's of nice pictures, too

the trip started in Stuttgart, went down to italy, ferry to Greece, into Turkey, far out to Anatolia, and back along the black sea, through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and austria.

The page also has lots more but this tour is the main content for now.

I appreciate your guestbook entires

Regards,
DAvid

www.motorrad-tour.info

[Grant Johnson]

Welcome to HU David!

Please see information on how to link to us here: http://www.HorizonsUnlimited.com/linktous (seems fair! ) and you can then request a link to your site for the links pages from there.

thanks!

[Robertsmits]

As I am planning a more or less similar trip to Turkey I read your travel report and really enjoyed it (nice pictures!) and I was able to fresh up my German in the proces. I wonder how the TomTom worked because I have the same device (TomTom Rider Pro) and I've just obtained a map of Turkey through their site. I believe it only covers about 68 % of the country. I had a close look at the sort of roads you took....my bike is a Kawasaki Vulcan cruiser so I have to be more careful with off-roading and dirt roads as you can imagine. My insurance card (green card) seems to cover Turkey as it is mentioned on it with the letters TR (maybe just the European part) , amongst other (European) countries. At the end of your report you said you would do some things different.....can you tell me what they are?!
Greetings, Rob.

[Kissnofrog]

hi rob,

thanks for your friendly feedback.
TomTom worked fine on all paved roads. On dirt roads you sooner or later ended up "off road". however there is no need to leave the main roads (other than that they are pretty boring) Three are few small paved roads. It is either the 4 lines main roads or dirt. the conditions of the dirt roads can change quite quickly.
With regards to your insurance it might be best to check with your insurance company for the coverage. Could save you some time at the border. The insurance is not really expensive (I think I paid some 15-20 Euro).

What I'd do differently? Not too much actually:
I'd leave my tent at home. Simple hotels are cheap and camp sites rare.

In Bulgaria I would want to add the Rila Monastery to the itinerary.

In north Greece from Thessaloniki to the Turkey border I would consider using the motorway right a way. It has replaced the old road to the greatest extend anyway and trying to avoid the motorway will just route you on some strange roads that are not nice and just take time.

I would probably still do the extension to the east towards Trabzon even though it is a long drive.

I guess that's about it....

By all means don't miss the hot air balloon ride! It is worth ever penny!
Wish you a great time!

Regards,
David

[TobyG]

Awesome trip *thumbsup*
such reports always make me jealous

[Kissnofrog]

Hi toby,

thanks for your feedback.
If you are not planning to go to Turkey then any bike will do.
Roads aren't always particularly good in Bulgaria and parts of Romania (Transfagaran is partly really bad) but it is all paved.

Not sure what you mean with "specific problems" - speeding tickets?
I got one in Turkey. There are speed checks everywhere. But the good thing is: They want you to pay the ticket at the border when you leave the country....

have fun!

David