Tag Archives: romans

Day 312 – Marks of Empires

The boring part...riding the motorway

The boring part…riding the motorway

There was not much left to do for us in Pamukkale other than pack up and move on. From here on, there were four more points of interest for us: Ephesus, Izmir, Pergamon and Troy. Ephesus was only some 250 km away and had three campgrounds for us to pick from nearby.

The ride was pleasant and smooth, with the exception of the motorway of all places. The automated system is kind of a nice idea, but it does not work at all in practice, at least for motorcycles. Out of the four times we passed toll gates so far, it has worked only a single time. We went to the post office twice to check and pay before we would get a fine, but they could find nothing in the system. So either we slip the cracks, or more likely we will get an unpleasant surprise at some point.

Great selection of all vegetarian börek

Great selection of all vegetarian börek

We had a really nice lunch in a town along the way. We just pulled into a random börek shop on the main road and scored. Outside any tourist region it was dead cheap, tasty and filling. Plus, the staff was real nice, too.

We reached Ephesus around 2 pm. According to our guide book, the crowds should soon loosen up. We were “adopted” right away by an enterprising fellow on the parking lot. He was nice enough that his sales pitches were never too annoying. Plus, he was genuinely helpful. The site is set up in such a way that the ‘right’ way to explore it is to start from the uphill entrance and then walk down the main road towards the southern entrance, where we currently were. There are shuttles going up. One that goes straight up for 15 lira and one that drops guest off for a “tour” at a local leather factory, but is free.

Maybe something to look at in the future

Maybe something to look at in the future

We opted for the free variant, of course, even though we were a bit anxious about what to expect. Well, it turned out that our “guide” just so happened to be one of the drivers. He dropped us off and we soon found out. It was not too b

ad – a straight beeline into a super high class showroom full of lambskin leather clothes in the $500 and up region. It dawned on us that we might even be interested in this stuff, would we not currently have been broke and on this trip. I might check this out once back in decent employment, I guess.

Close-up of the arch

Close-up of the arch

It was over after 10 minutes and we could start the tour. Ephesus turned out to be the most expensive place yet. It was made all the worse by the fact that just about now, we would have been better off buying the 185 lira all-of-Turkey museum pass – with at least 100 lira still to come in Istanbul. Still better than a piece of wire in the eye, I guess.

The place itself was fantastic, though. Heaps of solid info on boards throughout the ruins and loads of uncovered and reconstructed marble architecture. All quite impressive. The ruins stemmed from a huge time period from the 3rd century BC into the middle ages under Byzantium, but most remaining (and impressive) architecture is from Roman times between 133 BC till the Roman schism.

Great place to build a theater on the first place

Great place to build a theater on the first place

All in all, we spend about two hours exploring the place. Happy but exhausted, we got back to the bike. Our enterprising friend had one more up his sleeve: Authentic silver coins of varying ages. Of course, for a real good price. We passed on that golden opportunity to get in trouble with customs and were content with a look through. I mean, how often do you get the chance to hold 2000 year old silver coins?

We checked the camp grounds in Kusadasi. One was full, the other one was packed in what seemed to be party central of the town. We considered for a second and then decided to go back to Pamucak and check out the last place in the area. That one was a score. A super laid back area right at the beach, with almost no one around. It sure had seen busier days, but right now there were maybe 10 of the 100 spots taken. We could place ourselves right next to a power outlet to get all the goodies charged again.

perfect sunset over the water here we come

perfect sunset over the water here we come

After our sunset walk along the beach, there was one more vehicle on the ground and it sparked my interest. A closer look revealed a Queensland licence plate on a bright yellow overlander truck. The travellers in question turned out to be a real nice couple, Cheryl and Guy, with many a country flag already decorating the truck. I got invited in for a brief chat and ended up staying up way too long …

 

 

Day 307 – Sürprise

Getting up and making breakfast wasn’t much better than dinner last night and I guess, we didn’t take a single picture of our camping spot 5m from the restaurant. All we wanted was to get going, ride the 160km to Antalya, have lunch and decide on a plan. For quite a while, we had wanted to skip Antalya altogether but now, it was conveniently placed. Also, Flo wanted to at least have a look around the old town. Where to go from there, was completely up to debate: Go inland to Pamukkale and skip most of the Mediterranean coast? Follow the coastline which might disappoint and then double back to see Pamukkale?

just say yes ...

just say yes …

The ride to Antalya was nothing special. We put on some music and it mostly flew by. Getting close to the inner city, we stopped in the shadow of a bridge to see which places the Lonely Planet recommends for lunch. Flo hadn’t even managed to get the Lonely Planet out when a BMW rider stopped just a few meters in front of us. Actually, they rode two up as well and with the panniers, their silhouette looked much like ours. We closed the distance so we could speak and they asked us if we needed help. Oh! “Nah, we just need a bit to figure out where to have lunch” – *brief conversation in Turkish between the two* “Okay, follow me”.

Önder and Nazan in road attire

Önder and Nazan in road attire

One of the advises the Lonely Planet gives you for Iran is “just say yes”. Wondering if that sentence still applied for Turkey, we followed the BMW as it wove through the traffic. Stopping at a place that is owned Antalyaspor, the sport’s club, we introduced ourselves. Önder and Nazan were on a day trip to Kas, about 200km further down the coast, and back. They invited us to join them but 400km starting at lunch time seemed too daunting for us. So while we had lunch and they had a coffee, we explained our journey. It ended with an invitation to Önder and Nazan’s house for tonight. They would be back in the evening so we had the whole afternoon to explore Antalya before being hosted. Such a sweet deal was not offered often so we said yes once again.

Riding through the old town

Riding through the old town

Already being slightly late for their expedition, our two future hosts left soon after to get on the road. We took a bit longer in figuring out what to do. Mostly, both of us were tired already. Thus, we spotted a park on the map for a relaxing nap and a bit of reading time before doing anything else.

Three hours later, the light started to look golden so it was now or never to see Antalya’s old town. Access to the old town is restricted but Flo managed to get us in without having to take a ticket. Maybe motorcycle don’t count. Once we were at the car park, the owner saw our license plate and started speaking German with us. He had actually lived in Frankfurt for 16 years and seemed happy to speak German again. An invitation for tea followed soon so we sat down for some çay and some talk about Frankfurt. It almost seems as if there is a pattern emerging: A lot of people we met have lived in Germany and have good memories about it and speaking German. Others, who probably haven’t lived in Germany, seem to be slightly hostile. If that is because of an abundance of German tourists or because of the recent political things, I cannot say. Being German provokes a reaction is all.

Another ally and minaret

Another ally and minaret

After tea, we started on the walking tour that the Lonely Planet recommends. Strolling through the small streets of the old town, it reminded us of Höchst’s old town, the quarter in Frankfurt where we had lived. Yes, there are a lot of hotels and restaurants catering to tourists but you can also find quiet corners. We really enjoyed it despite our negative expectations beforehand. It is pretty. Having more money would be good because then you could actually try one or two of the hipster food places that we now only imagine are lovely. When we got to the marina, we noticed the other reason why we might like it: The lack of tourists. Yes, the odd ones are there but given that it is high season, the city is practically empty. Turkish tourists can be found but not in masses.

We came past some old houses, a mosque which had started as a church, ruins of old, the old city wall etc. etc. In the end, Flo stopped with a surprised shout. One of the motorcycle rental shops had a transalp in barley yellow on display. Rocinante without being Rocinante. For us, it is the first time we have seen another yellow one but not a lot of people seem to be riding the Transalp anyway.

15 km through the night, always the eyes on this

15 km through the night, always the eyes on this

By now it was 7pm. Önder and Nazan hadn’t gotten back to us yet so we dined in one of the nicer restaurants. Veggie kebab for me and half a chicken grilled over charcoal for Flo kept us occupied. Still, we hadn’t heard anything. So that is my excuse why I had dessert. 🙂 Another round of sweet rice pudding and also a text from our hosts made me really happy. It took them another hour to make it into Antalya but they picked us up from our parking spot so we could follow them to their home. They’ve had a hard time making it back as there had been a 15km traffic jam, adding to the already long day both of them have had.

Finally, we made it to the place where we could rest our heads. I was slightly surprised when we turned into one of the gated communities. Once we’d parked, a tiny kitten which I thus dubbed “Tiny” greeted us. Being pre-occupied with the kitten, I was flabbergasted when the door opened. Despite being “forewarned” that we would get a whole floor to ourselves, I couldn’t believe it. It was a whole flat just for us. A fully functioning flat with a bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom. And after refreshing ourselves with a warm shower, we were invited for tea upstairs.

By now it was really late and everyone was dead tired but we still had a lovely tea with nibbles and conversation. Önder suggested a couple of things that we might look at along the coast, especially Kas where they went today. Flo, on the other hand, promoted Ted Simon and Horizons Unlimited. After that, we just fell into bed intend on sleeping in.

Day 281 – All roads lead to … Romans

The rain was good for this for sure

The rain was good for this for sure

We made it alive and well through the storm and rain last night. This morning, the tent was still fine (thanks Salewa, great product) and the sky clear.

There is very little to write about the road today, other than that it was amazing. I was not quite sure about this whole idea of ours of doing a big detour through the Zagros Mountains instead of the direct route to Hamadan before. The stunning landscapes along the road really did change that, though. The constantly changing landscape following down the Karun from 2400m down to almost sea level was truly worth it.

Rocinante and Flo posing with the great landscape

Rocinante and Flo posing with the great landscape

We had memorable little moments in between, nonetheless. The first one that comes to mind is at a police check point in Loristan. Iran is the first country we actually get stopped by the police at times. This time, they invited us into the main building for tea and to check our papers. Sadly, the shared language skills were not enough for any deeper conversation.

We stopped to buy some ingredients for lunch, when we were once again surrounded by a bunch of kids and very friendly villagers. After a brief chat, we hopped back on the bike to find a lovely picnic spot in the shade of a tree.

Suddenly, the tarmac stopped despite being marked as sealed on both the GPS and the paper map

Suddenly, the tarmac stopped despite being marked as sealed on both the GPS and the paper map

The green around us faded as gradually as it came yesterday. This time though, a bright aquamarine was added to the palette by the Karun River and its many hydro power reservoirs along the way. At the same time though the level of complaint by both Nina and Rocinante rose as the heat did on the way down. When we reached the altitude of our destination (100m above sea level) the thermometer hit 40°C again, even at 5 pm.

Reaching Shushtar was a bit of a stretch, but we still made it by 5.30 pm and quickly found a hotel. While looking in vain for the recommended one, we were waved into the newly renovated traditional hotel in town. They made us a good offer and even had a ramp ready to get Rocinante into the inner courtyard. We bottomed out for a second, but no damage done. Tomorrow without luggage then …

Looking down on the historic parts

Looking down on the historic parts

The town was one of those pleasant surprises you get. Never heard of it, but full of great historic stuff. The waterworks here had been built 1800 years ago and were crucial in the irrigation of the whole region. Oh, and they were built by forced labour from Roman Legionaries. The force was captured by the Persians, including their Emperor Valerian. The only Roman Emperor ever to have been captured in battle. He likely died in captivity in the resident Salosel Castle.

Tomorrow, we will go for even older stuff … 3300 year old Elamite Ziggurat of Choqa Zanbil!