Woke up to a gorgeous sunrise over the sea, as seen right from my hotel in Tekirdag.
Tekirdag – Agva
First things first. Bee needs new oil, and Tekirdag has a whole street full of moto/car/truck service shops. Paradise, really! So ๐ got new oil, new spark plugs, and the vibration damper got fixed as well! Bee is happy ๐ฅฐ and Iโm happy about the Turkish prices: for almost three hours of work they charged me 20โฌ (plus the price of oil & spark plugs of course). Just wow!
Okay, time to leave Tikerdag and ride towards Istanbul. After an hour of riding, got into some pretty heavy rain and stopped at a gas station to wait until it clears up. And met Torsten from Germany and some guys from the local motorcycle police. The rain hangouts at gas stations are becoming my favorite way of meeting other riders ๐
After about an hour it cleared up and my new friend Torsten and I headed towards the Black Sea coast, passing through Istanbul (there is no other option really).
Three hours of traffic jams, crazy drivers and altogether complete chaos and hell on the road. Just reminded me how much I love my lonely mountain rides and how much I dislike riding in big cities ๐
With all the traffic, we finally made it to Agva way after dark, celebrated with a cold Efes and went to sleep.
Agva – Amasra
It was so hot, that I had to stop every hour or so for an ice coffee ๐ But honestly, I was happy to do so, sit down for 10 min and watch the sea, and the beautiful surroundings.
Somehow I expected the road to go right along the coast all the time, just like in Croatia or Albania. Here in Turkey for the most part of the trip I didn’t see the water (although technically I was pretty close), still the road is very picturesque, it takes you across the hills, through some dry lands and then through lush green forests. With a few towns/villages on the way.
And what surprised me most, was how many people waved to me, showed thumbs up and just smiled! At the gas station, in the cafe, pharmacy, in a shop, people seemed to be very kind and very curios about this girl riding a motorcycle through their country ๐
Amasra
Amasra wasn’t really on my “To visit” map, I just happened to find a nice AirBnB there. I was planning to just spend one night in Amasra and continue towards Sinop next morning.
Sometimes weather gods have better plans for you than the ones you have initially created. The forecast was showing a lot of rain for the next two days and I decided to stay and wait it over.
To my surprise, the place happened to be absolutely amazing! The town, the sea, and quite a few things to explore in the neighbourhoods (including Gรผzelcehisar basalt columns). I ended up staying for two days, enjoying the scenery, the sunsets, the food and the outstanding hospitality of the locals.
Amasra – Sinop
Turkish highway one! Expect itโs not a highway!๐ Most of the time itโs slightly wider that one lane, and the asphalt reminds more of a washboard than something you should be driving on.
But! The views!!! ๐ 6+ hours of non-stop views! Whatโs even better, most of it is pretty raw and undisturbed by civilization or tourism. No beach bars, panorama restaurants, lookout points. Itโs just one amazing incredibly scenic road, with turtles, cows, foxes, dogs and what else you might encounter on the way. Just be careful and god save you from encountering a truck at a blind turn!
Sinop – Giresun
Most part of the road is a pretty wide almost highway, with two-three lanes in each direction. The only difference from a highway is that it passes through some towns/villages, has a few traffic lights and speedbumps, but despite the speed limits and frequent radars everybody drives 110-130 (and sometimes more). I usually copy the local driving habits, which in this case resulted in almost 80 euros worth of fines ๐ oops.
After yesterday’s ride, this area is much more “civilized”: with pretty good asphalt and decent coffee shops along the way. But I would exchange all that for the narrow curves and being surrounded by nothing but the sea on one side and mountains on the other.
Giresun – Batumi (Georgia)
A few lessons that I learnt from riding along the Turkish Black Sea coast (and I wish someone told me this 3 days ago):
Lesson #1: it should be done in the opposite direction, from east to west, to really appreciate the views and be able to stop at random beautiful locations.
Why? Because the road here looks much more like a highway (although itโs not), and you canโt see much of the sea from the right side.
Lesson #2: there are cameras all along, and although I was going more or less with the speed of the traffic, I ended up paying some fines at the border crossing.
Lesson #3: although I really loved being able to get decent coffee and really good food along this almost-highway, I much rather prefer riding the narrow trafficless curves in the mostly uninhabited areas. Big roads kill the explorer in me ๐
Well, lessons leant! Border to Georgia crossed.
