Turkey, Bursa, 04 – 06 January 2015

Posted on Wednesday, 7-January-2015 by Chris Desmond

I planned to travel from Istanbul to Bursa by ferry and bus, this is the recommended and usual route. Ferry from Kabatas Budo terminal to Mudanya and then a bus to Bursa. When I arrived at the Ferry terminal they said all the ferries had been canceled due to bad weather, after some research I decided to take the ferry across the strait to Uskudar, 15 min and 2 lira, taxi from there to the Harem bus terminal 10 lira and then a bus to Bursa 30 lira, the next bus was at 1500 hours and involved a short ferry crossing where you can stay on the bus, total journey time 3 hours.

Bursa was the original capital of Turkey and is famous for its Iskender (Alexander) Kebab, Kestane Sekeri (candied chestnuts), a couple of old mosques and tombs and Cumalikizik the 700 year old Ottoman village about 11 km east of the city.

 

 

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Turkey, Istanbul, 29 Dec 2014 – 04 January 2015

Posted on Sunday, 4-January-2015 by Chris Desmond

Istanbul, once known as Byzantium and then Constantinople stretches across two continents, population 14 million. The tourist area is centered around Taksim Square and Istiklal street for entertainment and the historic sites are located across the Galata bridge in Sultanahmet. Public transport consists of trams, a metro and buses and they are not well connected, taxis are probably the easiest way to get around.

I needed a visa which I got online for USD$66, it gives me a total of 90 days in a period of 6 months multiple entry.

I arrived in a drizzle which turned to snow and it kept snowing for the next 3 days, freezing temperatures, luckily the snow and rain stopped for the last two days of my stay. Do not come here in winter hahaha.

 

 

 

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Tunisia, Tunis, 26 – 28 December 2014

Posted on Monday, 29-December-2014 by Chris Desmond

I left my bike in Spain for the winter, too cold and wet to be riding around and am finishing my journey using more conventional transport.

Tunis, capital of Tunisia, population 2.3 million and not a tourist destination. The Bardo Museum has a fine collection of mosaics from B.C. The ruins of Carthage are all that remain after the Romans demolished the place when they defeated Hannibal who was the King.

I flew Tunisair from Amsterdam to Tunis, the interior of the plane was falling to bits. No visa required for Tunisia, the immigration queue was huge, took an hour to get through, the immigration guy did not even look at me, he just stamped my passport and gave it back.

As of October 2014 there is now a departure tax of 30 dinar (13 euro) for foreign tourists when leaving Tunisia. You have to buy a special 30 dinar stamp from a bank or hotel and they all don’t have them, I got mine from the Hotel Africa on the main Avenue in Tunis.

 

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Spain, Cartagena, 9 – 11 December 2015

Posted on Thursday, 11-December-2014 by Chris Desmond

Cartagena is well know for its restored Roman theater and some other ruins, the old town looks quite new, a good place to wander around.

I am now going to take a break to spend Christmas with friends in Holland.

Christmas 2014

 

 

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Morocco and Spain, Meknes, San Roque, Cartagena, 7 – 9 December 2014

Posted on Tuesday, 9-December-2014 by Chris Desmond

After Merzouga my goal was to head back to Cartagena in Spain. First stop on the way was Meknes and the ride through the Atlas mountains was fine and cold with snow on the side of the road, altitude over 2000m. The scenery, well I am used to it now but spectacular as usual.

After a cold night I left Meknes at 0900 and followed the freeway to Ceuta and caught the 1600 ferry to Algeciras. I stopped at the border and changed my leftover Dirham to Euro, Morocco immigration made me fill out the same 4 line form I filled in when arriving and stamped my passport, Customs took one copy of the bike import document stamped the other and waved me on. Entering Spain took longer because of the queue and the sniffer dogs checking out the boots of cars for drugs. I did not even take off my helmet they just waved me through, lucky I got a stamp from Morocco it now shows when I left the Schengen area and returned.

Follow the signs to the Algeciras ferry. At the check-in point there is a booth on the right where you can buy a ticket, 66 euro again for the myself and the bike. The ferry docked and it was only a few kilometers to San Roque.

San Roque to Cartagena was freezing even with my heated jacket and gloves on, through the mountains all the way, temps below 10c, have to wear a few more layers.

 

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Morocco, Merzouga, 5 – 6 December 2014

Posted on Saturday, 6-December-2014 by Chris Desmond

I booked a 4×4 and driver, 100 euro for 4.5 hours, cheaper if you have someone to share the cost with and went on a tour of the dunes and surrounding area and had lunch at a Berber camp. This included getting lost a few times, impossible to tell where you are in the dunes and the riverbed and finding a way through the mess without getting bogged permanently.

 

Step by step Berber sandwich

I next very stupidly paid 50 euro to ride on a camel for 1.5 hours to a desert camp and spend the night in freezing temperatures in a tent and ride the same poor camel back home.

After about 15 minutes on the camel it felt like I was sitting on rocks and after 30 minutes they felt like very sharp rocks and only another hour to go and the return journey at the crack of dawn did not bear thinking about. Finally we get to the camp and the camel sits down nearly throwing me over its head in the process and I get off and fall down with both my hips dislocated hahaha, you have been warned. I am still suffering.

On a sad note one of the camels collapsed overnight and could not get up the next morning so one of the four young Italian guys with me had to walk back 4.8 km.

 

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Morocco, Taroudant, Zagora, Merzouga, 02 – 04 December 2014

Posted on Thursday, 4-December-2014 by Chris Desmond

Essaouira to Taroudant

The coast road from Essaouira was closed due to a bridge being destroyed so I had to backtrack towards Marrakesh and get on the freeway south, 4 lanes all the way to Taroudant except for the last 50km. Upto now I have not seen any police radar, today there was a blitz , they were everywhere. I got stopped for doing 93 in an 80 kph zone, the guy said 300 dirham so I gave him 300 and asked for a receipt, so he gives me back 200 and says “okay” and I say “okay and back on my bike hahaha. I met an Italian couple at breakfast and they also got stopped, doing 69 in a 60 kph zone and got the same fine 300 dirham, the guy paid and got a receipt but he is not sure what amount is on the receipt.

Taroudant to Zagora

The only reason for stopping in Taroudant was to find out if the Tizi nTest road through the Mount Toubkal National Park was open. Mount Toubkal is the highest mountain in Morocco 4167m.

The guy at the hotel made some enquiries with the locals and the Police and they said it was closed.

So the next day I carried on to Zagora, the first 150 km was quite busy and had many washaways and diversions, after that blue skies and the road climbed into the mountains between 1500-2000m, best ride so far, the scenery was rugged and beautiful. I arrived in Zagora and stopped to phone the hotel guy to get directions and a local mechanic said he would wash my bike for 50 dirham, it was covered in mud, he saw me riding past and followed me hahaha, so back to his garage and got it cleaned up.

Zagora to Merzouga

The next day I planned to ride to Mhamid but 38 km down the road there was quite a wide river and the road was closed so turned around and as it was only 10:30 decided to ride to my next destination Merzouga. Again a great ride through the mountains, no traffic and only one washaway where I actually had to ride through the stream.

Merzouga is very close to the Algerian border on the edge of the Sahara desert and people come here for a Desert experience. The Paris to Dakar rally used to come past here.

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Morrocco, Essaouira, 29 Nov – 1 Dec 2014

Posted on Tuesday, 2-December-2014 by Chris Desmond

Essaouira a smaller place on the coast, nicer than the cities, people are friendly and not as pushy but the Medinas and Souks are starting to blur, when all’s said and done they are much of a muchness.

The ride was wet with roads flooded, bridges washed away and I had to make a detour when police blocked the road, the guy only spoke French no idea what he was saying but probably a bridge down. The rain continued, heavy at night intermittent showers during the day.

Apparently the rains were late this year and people were praying for rain, now they are praying for it to stop, no pleasing some hahaha.

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Morocco, Marrakesh, 25 – 28 November 2014

Posted on Saturday, 29-November-2014 by Chris Desmond

I rode from Casablanca to Marrakesh, it was a cold ride 17-18c, did not have my heated gear on and Marrakesh is at 460m altitude. The whole journey was on a freeway cost of tolls 70 dirham less than 7 euro.

The Medina or old town is huge, a tangled mass of alleys with people and donkeys and smokey mopeds dodging each other. They should rename it Marketkesh, shops and touts around every corner, you soon learn the art of completely ignoring someone hahaha or you risk acquiring an unwanted appendage.

I did an oil change on my bike while I was here. Buying good quality bike engine oil is always a problem, I managed to find a Honda dealer, this is the address.

Honda Seat – Corner of Ave Hassan II and Rue EL Ordone, Phone : 0524 434 324.

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Morocco, Casablanca, 21 – 24 November 2014

Posted on Tuesday, 25-November-2014 by Chris Desmond

Casablanca is Morocco’s largest city, population 5 million, it is a place of business and not a tourist destination. Public transport is rudimentary, there is one tram line cost 7 dirham per ride. The most common way to get around the city is in a red taxi and you share the ride, they have meters and are very cheap, 10 dirham per ride average, which is equal to 1 euro.

I rode from Chefchaouen to Casablanca, the first bit was through the mountains, fun ride though slow going with many small villages and towns then onto the plain and finally the freeway. The freeway is a toll road but not expensive and it is as good as any of the freeways in Europe, total cost 30 dirham or 3 euro. The freeway between Rabat and Casablanca is 3 lanes each way and busy. The traffic in Casablanca is chaotic whereas in the the country areas people are not so aggressive.

I bought a Maroc Telecom SIM card for my phone in Chefchaouen, you have to show your passport. Cost 20 dirham or 2 euro, valid for 1 month, 1.5 hours talk, 1000 SMS and 1 GB 3G data. It takes upto 24 hours to become active and then you have to make a call, you will get a recorded message in French and Arabic and you have to respond by pressing the appropriate numbers when prompted. As I do not speak either of these languages I got someone to help me and the phone started working, data speeds are fast and Maroc Telecom has the best coverage in Morocco.

Grande Mosquée Hassan II

It is the largest mosque in Africa and the 7th largest in the world. Entry 120 dirham.

The Old Medina, quite a large area of narrow alleyways clogged with anything and everything you can think of from people cleaning and selling fish on the street to fake designer labels.

Notre Dame de Lourdes

Catholic Church with walls made of stained glass. My first visit was on Sunday when a service was in progress and I noticed that the congregation and priest were all African.

Casablanca Walkabout

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