Fusion of East and West – Initially strange to the outsider, Turkey is an amazing fusion of Europe and Middle East. Intermingled in the streets of Turkey are shops selling fashionable western brands with old Arabian style bazaars, girls in mini skirts walking next to women clad in burkas and […]
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‘Should we fly or should we cycleIf we fly there will be no troubleIf we cycle there will be doubleSo come on and let me knowShould we fly or should we cycle’ …in the words of Steppenwolf, we had a major decision to make: to cycle on to Iran (having […]
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From Ankara we had two route options – if we got the Iran visa we would head directly east, to the snow-capped mountains of Eastern Turkey to cross into Iran. If our visa application was rejected, we would head down into Syria. Whilst waiting for the outcome of the Iran […]
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Leaving Osmaneli, we started our climb up to the main Anatolian plateau, heading for Ankara at 900m above sea level. A couple of days down we arrived at Eskisehir – a lovely (and surprisingly modern!) university city with a canal and riverside cafes and parks, tramlines, and western shops of […]
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Recap: We planned the route back during the preparation days, taking into consideration the terrain we knew about and the advice from others, however the reality once we were on the road shows that even the best made plans of mice and men have to change! Leg 1 fortunately remained […]
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‘Better late than never’ as the saying goes! It took us longer than we realised to write the newsletter, and even longer to compile the distribution list for it! Sorry if we’ve missed anyone off, in the words of James Brown ‘please, please, please’ email us if you would like […]
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Two days out of Istanbul, we arrived at Osmaneli – a small town at the bottom of a tough climb up to the city of Bilecik – where we stopped to replenish our energy with lunch. Whilst looking for a restaurant in town (most of which were closed for Ramadan) […]
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After our experiences in several places like Roma and Greece, we should have learnt that it is never a wise thing to post about ´last night in…’ until after you have left!!! Well it happened again and we had to stay not only one additional night but two nights in […]
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Having spent the night in the famous seaside resort of Kusadasi, we emerged early in the morning bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to take in the sights of the famous ancient city Ephesos. The history of the city of Ephesos, which today lies at the silted-up harbour at the mouth of the […]
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One of the visas we had applied for in Istanbul would take a few days to arrive, so we decided to fill the time with a quick visit down to West Turkey to see two amazing sights: Pamukkale, a natural formation of white limestone cliffs, and the nearby Ephesos, the […]
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