Turkey Bimble 2014

Sunday 21st September 2014  This morning everything runs smoothly. The balloons will fly at dawn, around 6am here. We are all ready for our  04:50 pickup. Because of yesterday's cancellation Charly and I will fly with Kapadokia Balloons and Karl-Heinz goes with our original company, Göreme Balloons. After a simple breakfast we are bussed out to the take-off field where lots of balloons are preparing to fly.   Majestic sight Chocks away It is still dark and blasts of flame spit noisily from burners as the balloons start to inflate. There are maybe 20 balloons at this set off point and it is an extraordinary sight. At first they take shape lying on their sides. Then as the hot air is directed into them there comes a point where they rise majestically to an upright position for all the world like giant beasts shrugging off sleep and lumbering to their feet.   Looking down Underneath hangs a basket, aluminium struts with thick leatherette p...

Monday 22nd September 2014  Sleepy heads Not for the first time Charly & K-H snore away as I get on with the serious business of getting this blog together. It's quiet in the heart of the city this morning, though as usual I am awakened by the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. Breakfast is the normal Turkish, lots of variety, and good bread today, not the flat bread that is more and more common this far east.     Good Turkish breakfast at the Hotel Mahd We leave  Elâzığ at 09:30 and head back onto the D300 east, through Bingol and Mus to the shores of Lake Van. Much of the road is new and fast, 4 lanes with just a strip of tarmac separating, no barrier.    Near Bingol Vast Anatolian plains - watch out for flocks of sheep Frequently we must slow or stop because a shepherd is guiding his flock across the busy road. It's a dangerous manoeuvre but the truck drivers seem to respect the holdup and wait pat...

Tuesday 23rd September 2014  We have breakfast in the pink dining room of the Cevizlibag Otel and are away by 9am. Having failed miserably to pay the speeding fines at the Post Office yesterday, our first stop is at the town bank where Charly and Karl-Heinz waste an hour in a second futile attempt to pay the speeding tickets they picked up a few days ago. Being a good boy I have no fine to pay unlike my criminal riding companions.   Waiting for the criminals to pay for their crimes Erik contemplates Lake Van Next to the service station for oil. The bike has used half a litre and needs a top up. It costs 25TL (£6.80) for a litre of semi-synthetic. Our route takes us along the north shore of Lake Van then north and east to the Iranian border. The landscape is chilling. There was a huge earthquake in this region in 2011 and recovery work is still ongoing.   Adventure rider Charly Kaller Earthquake country The road is wide...

Wednesday 24th September 2014 Away at 10am after a decent Turkish breakfast. The Asur Otel boasts a fine set of international credentials. I note that Wales is included, though not Scotland. We are heading for Mount Nemrut near the Euphrates River in central Anatolia. It's a long ride, almost 400 miles away.   International hotel Van is a nightmare to get out of. The other two lose me at the first set of lights and we don't join up again until the first petrol stop 100km down the road. My route takes me along the south shore of Lake Van. Once out of the city there is little traffic and riding the wide highway is a real pleasure. I have to say that I much prefer riding alone, setting my own pace. I can stop when I see a good photo opportunity and don't have to play catch up all the time. Very peaceful.   On the south shore of Lake Van The road veers south away from the lake and through the mountains for a time. I am stopped fou...

Thursday 25th September 2014  In 62 BC, King Antiochus I built a tomb sanctuary for himself on the summit of Mount Nemrut. Presumably suffering delusions of deity he built huge statues of himself, two lions, two eagles and various Greek, Armenian, and Iranian gods all sitting on thrones outside the tomb.   Just like the frescoes in the ancient rock churches of Cappadocia these statues have suffered from iconoclasm and now the heads are lying toppled from the bodies and the faces have, in some cases, been defaced.   Sunrise over Karadut     The Karadut Pansiyon in daylight Ok you can read the rest on Wikipedia. We are away early for the 14 km drive up the mountain. The narrow road has been block-paved all the way up (how long did that take?)  and loops up and around the surrounding peaks. As we climb higher the sparse vegetation ends and we are in a landscape of bare rock and shingle. The views are great, looking down to the Euphra...