Caravan to Turkey: Cappadocia TR

Monday, 27 May 2013 at 4:47pm

Cappadocia

4.5 hour drive from Ankara and quite straightforward.....initially through industrial areas then turning into rolling hills.

Arrive 12.30ish, set up, Sue sorts out some washing and I, of course, work out how to watch the Monaco GP. End up watching it in Brian's caravan as he has a 1m dish and manages to get Dutch RTL. Well done Rosberg...the McLaren looks to be a bit better round there too.

Relax with a meal cooked on the Cadac and eaten with next door neighbours.

Day 2

Trip to the Goreme Valley. We see the open air museum where churches (some with frescos) have been hewn out of the rock. The shapes of the rocks give this area an erie, enchanting feeling, quite unlike anything else we have seen...
Then it's on to visit the Kaymakli underground city where the inhabitants would live for weeks or even months when under seige.....quite an incredible feat. We go down three levels.
After lunch we see more of the valley, highlight being the vast 'rocks with hats' as our guide puts it. Others put it rather differently.

Back at camp, sign up for an early morning hot air balloon flight....being picked up at 4.40am........!!!

Day 3

Up at 4.00am.....quick shower...it's raining and windy....hell.

Rain clearing, five of our group picked up and off for a 'breakfast' at the balloon assembly point with dozens of other minibus loads.....20 minutes and the clouds begin to clear... then it's back on the minibus and off to the launch site...which is just something else...90 balloons starting up with roaring burners; waking monsters in the dawn light.
22 of us in the baloon. The flight is brilliant. Rising high, 'kissing' the balloon next to us, then breaking free and then flying low, to within feet of this truly exceptional terrain. Although we know two people were killed here in an accident only last week, we also know that our pilot is an instructor and he really knows his stuff. Gentle landing in quite a breeze. Applause!

Wait for the recovery team who get the big Landcruiser very stuck in a ridge 200m away...so they set up the champagne there and we join them after they deflate the baloon safely. Very professional crew..lots of hanshakes explanations..and costly photos.

Magic.

Back to the site, change, then off with the rest of the group for a guided 3.5 mile walk along the valley we have flown over....turning out to be an exceptional day. As was the traditional clay pot lunch.

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Caravan to Turkey: Ankara TR

Saturday, 25 May 2013 at 11:04pm

Ankara... Long drive.....but once out of the awful Istanbul traffic, we take it easy, travelling with Pail and Fliss with walkie talkies. Reach site near Airport without going wrong. Eurika! 

We are travelling with the new Turkish motorway monitoring/pay system.....we all buy stick-on chips for the windscreen and simply drive through a gate on the motorway...then set off an alarm. Relieved to find everyone is doing it when we arrive...not just us.

Site is a hotel car-park..but we can use the showers. Sue and the ladies have a Hamam .... Sue comes back steamed medium rare.

Day 2

Trip for all into Ankara. See Ataturk's Mausoleum (hugely impressive and it hammers home what a great leader can achieve for his people), the old citadel, museum of Anatolian Civilisations and after lunch...free time to absorb the atmosphere of this hugely impressive modern city wiyh a population of 5 million, the large majority under thirty with many of them students.

Finish with a supermarket shop on the way back to the site.

Check out Monaco GP qualifying. Mercs 1 & 2 but JB has power loss and end up 9th behind Perez (7th). He's had enough of this rubbish, I think...really really hacked off.

....onward

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Caravan to Turkey: Istanbul TR

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 at 5:15pm

Istanbul TR

Up early, 7.30 ... coach into Istanbul centre through grid-locked traffic to meet guide at 9.00. Coach driver gets pulled over by Police and gets 70Lira fine (which we later cover).

Then we begin a day of breathtaking sights of Istanbul:
a cruise on the Bosphorus, the Santa Sofia mosque/church museum and the final grand architectural flourish of the Ottoman empire, the unbelievable Dolmabahce Palace. Very large mezze type lunch included.
Book in to reasonable hotel for two nights.

Back out with fellow travellers in the evening, six of us taking the tram to sample the city in the dark. Snack and drink.....back to bed.

Day 2

Leisure day...that's a day to do what we like..ah! Show provided in the evening.

End up spending the day with Monica & Richard as we alone seem to have similar plans.

Walk to:
Grand Bazaar (gigantic, more restrained than expected. Sue gets excited when she finds one alley virtually unchanged from her hippy visit 40 years ago...but the new flooring tiles are about to go in...); Spice Bazaar; hardware market; Suleymaniye Mosque (brilliant...than man Sinan again); lunch in a backstreet workmens' cafe (a highlight!).....and then....and it's getting quite late...

We decide to take a ferry across the Bosphorus to the Asian continent side. This should, of course, be a simple task for us world travellers and, indeed, it's pretty easy to suss out the automated token system and hop on the largish ferry. But, after 10 minutes or so it becomes clear that this ship is heading on down South at a rate of knots..not across the water. A chat with locals reveals that we are headed for Kadaoi, which turns out to be no bad thing as it's a really nice Asian town...just a bit further on...well, OK, quite a bit further on... Catch ferry back...tram...bar (knackered) then time to shower & change for show night....

Show night turns out to be an average meal plus reslly high class music, traditional dance and belly dancing from some quite beautiful girls. Finish with the silly bit where Richard & Monica end up performing.

Wonderful Day

Day 3

Complete Istanbul stay with organised visits to the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern (fascinating massive underground water storage system that supplied water in case of seige), Topkapi Palace (valuables beyond imagination), Grand Bazaar....whew!

Then it's back to camp to prepare for the 8 hour drive tomorrow....to the capital, Ankara.

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Caravan to Turkey: Erdine TR

Sunday, 19 May 2013 at 7:20pm

Uneventful drive to, and across, the Turkish border...all documents checked, visa issued but stuck in upside down. Obliging soldier with bloody great machine gun opens a gate to allow the caravan through without negotiating the twists and curves at the checkpoint. All very helpful actually.

Drive to the border city of Erdine, get lost, which is pretty exciting (in retrospect only), but reach the site eventually, pitch up and eat some lunch.

Decide to drive into town, which has perhaps the most beautiful mosque in Turkey. Give Richard and Monica a lift and we park the car easily in a guarded park, then walk the town and bazaar together, finishing with a drink. I have a particularly gritty Turkish coffee.
This is a really attractive buzzy, afluent city.

Day 2

Up early for guided trip around some of the main sights of Erdine, the highlight being the Selimiye Mosque, designed by Mimar Sinan. A good lunch is included and all in all a great day. Coach driver truly inspired as he gets us to the sights, despite the many roads closed for 19th May - a national celebration of the founder of the Republic in 1923, Ataturk.

Glad we did the town the day before, though, as visiting sites, as important as they might be, doesn't always give a feel for the city/country/people/life...as it is now.

Having said that, just sitting on the Mosque for 30mins was truly fascinating.

Back to the site to discover a heavy hailstorm has caused a few problems, thankfully not for us.

Istanbul tomorrow.

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Caravan to Turkey: Alexandroupolis GR

Thursday, 16 May 2013 at 8:43pm

Alexandroupolis... Our last site in Greece.... ...but what a good one! Municipal site, right on the beach.

237 mile journey to get here but very straightforward..apart from the almost complete lack of service areas. Forced to stop on slip road for essential, er, functions. Deputy leader pulls up behind us to see if we are ok and has the same urgent requiremnent. Now a have walkie talkie with our travelling companions which is proving useful. 'Geoff has stopped for a pee, over'.

Scenery fantastic, though, and arrive at site in time for lunch after one coffee stop.

Set up camp under bamboo cover and walk into local port with like minded adventurers. Forced to stop in a bar on the way back and drink more local beer. Guess someone has to do it....hell.

Reflect on the quite different feeling you get travelling this way...an indefinable buzz. Perhaps it's the challenge ahead and hurdles passed on the way; we all feel it. Electric.

One more day here, then Turkey.

Day 2

Leisure day....we use it to walk the town, catch some sun on the beach and generally catch up on a few jobs, including washing, brimming the tank etc.

Turkey tomorrow...

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Caravan to Turkey: Plaka GR

Wednesday, 15 May 2013 at 9:41pm

Arrive Plaka...on the beach.

Straightforward journey although very tight pitch needs the mover to get on.

Walk 4.5km along beach with fellow travellers Richard and Monica to a non existent harbour (false information) but have a nice drink and much needed exercise...Mount Olympus on one side..sea on the other.

After briefing, it's dinner in the really nice campsite restaurant with travelling friends...fresh fish, greek salad, mediteranian vegetables, Greek beer, free cake (but not for Geoff!). Sit right over the sea...eat & talk through sunset.

... 237 miles to Alexandroupolis tomorrow...last site in Greece.

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Caravan to Turkey: Kastraki GR

Monday, 13 May 2013 at 3:25pm

Kastraki, GR

Really good overnight crossing from Italy. Ship quite new, cabin fine, Sue fine. Spent most of the time chatting and managed to catch the last 9 laps of the Spanish GP...well done Alonso...massive excitement in our second home country! McLaren gloom...Doh!

Sorting out the 'van to disembark and find a flat tyre....like to keep these adventures consistent. Blow it up with help and then Paul and Fliss follow us to nearest garage. P & F wait for us while we are escorted around dusty backroads to a repair shop....fixed for €10 but get lost trying to find P&F again. After reversing the'van round four times (thank you Sue and new rear view camera) eventually find them, fuel then travel together to campsite...some steep tight hairpins over the last 25km...fine, but the brakes get very hot..

...and here we are.

Communal meal tonight then, tommorow, a visit to the world famous monastries perched on mountains above.

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Caravan to Turkey: San Marino

San Marino

Arrive at campsite around 1pm after uneventful drive with a coffee and shopping stop. End up following a Turkey-bound motorhome in. Final Autostrada toll a complete nightmare because of roadworks...cars crossing to get to the right exit...only way was to surge across, blocking half of it with the outfit. People very understanding actually.

Met on arrival by the tour leaders who seem a great couple...Manage to reverse the caravan into difficult small pitch to establish my credentials..whew! could have gone either way that...

Meet fellow adventurers and swap adventuring stories..the one other caravan is the same length as ours and has done Morocco and Iceland..mmm!

Meet for meal in the evening..good company...good wine and wheat free especially for me. Lurch back to the caravan and rain starts as we shut the door...perfecto!

San Marino by ourselves tomorrow.

NB. McLaren still looks crap in practice 2 at Barcelona...hell.

Day 2

Into The Republic of San Marino by bus from the campsite...a revelation! Own armed forces, guards, gendarmarie, policia....seem to have a bit of a thing about guns, crossbows and knives but, hey...

Lunch with a couple of fellow travellers then return to base.

Sit out thunderstorm then evening briefing plus wine & nibbles.

All set!!  Overnight to Greece....

NB
JB qualifies outside top 10.. ouch..

Caravan to Turkey: Bologna, Italy

Wednesday, 8 May 2013 at 18:51

Bologna...

City famous for the work of the travelling English teacher and prosecco connoissuer Georgina Arnott...explains why so many people speak good English here now I guess...

Get up earlier than usual and head off on the A2 to Bologna. Once we reach Italy, the roads get noticably busier. Frustrating 80km/hr caravan limit slower than HGV's so feel like a moving road block but decide not to push it too much; the police are quite active...

A couple of stops, one for a coffee and one for lunch, which is clearly a pretty serious event here, even in a motorway ristorante. It's salad or risotto for me..everything else is WHEAT pasta. Sue has espresso and enjoys...

Highlight of an uneventful, if taxing drive....being overtaken by around 30 Lamborginis travelling in groups...to some Lamborgini fest I guess....reminding us that this is Italia.

Something else out of the ordinary..not sure if it's a highlight...but, on negotiating the double roundabout to the campsite road, observe that it is decorated by six or seven young women in inteteresting dress and poses. I just can't think what they were waiting for......was a little distracting to be honest...

Just manage to get the caravan around a campsite turn with help from a Dutch couple. Meet English Majorcan expat ex- sailors turned caravanners. Nice friendly site.

Into Bologna by bus tomorrow.

Day 2

Take the bus into Bologna....and surprised at this Italian town full of history and classic Italian architecture.....and the oldest (with Paris) european university.
Coffee, walk, lunch outside..wonderful. Find we can just about understand the waitress through the Spanish simililarity, even if it doesn't work the other way around. Sit next to silver world travellers from Norfolk and have chat.
Visit various churches and buildings, the highlight being the Basilica di S. Petronio in the central Piazza Maggiore. As this is undergoing external restoration, the enterprising council charge us €3 to climb up stairs on the scaffolding to get a view from the top.....have to sign to say we accept the risk though...but well worth it.

'Home', chat with new arrivals then bed.

Meet the Turkey Travellers tomorrow at San Marino.

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