The Kazakh Steppe & Russia once again
Posted by admin | Posted on 22-08-2010 | 1 CommentsAfter a relaxing couple of days in Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, and time to catch up on needed maintenance on our BMWs we rode out for Charyn Canyon, one of Kazakhstan’s finest scenic locations, a wonderful campsite was found in close proximity to the Valley of the Castles, it was good to be away from the city again.
Silk Road antiquities, Samarkand and Bukhara
Posted by admin | Posted on 10-08-2010 | 5We left Tashkent early primarily to avoid the searing heat to be expected as we rode the Silk Road toward Samarkand. The Silk Road attracted the greatest travelers and conquerors in history and we were excited to be riding it.
Samara, Russia to Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Posted by admin | Posted on 29-07-2010 | 2Here we are in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (it has been more than a week since our last blog). We left Samara, Russia and headed toward the Kazakhstan border with trepidation. Mick, owner of Compass Expeditions, warned us that these border crossings from Russia on can get a bit dicey as oftentimes there are hours upon hours spent where they go through ALL of your luggage, personal effects and they just plain “hold ya up” for no apparent reason. Yet, this was not the case for us.
Suzdal, Kazan & Samara
Posted by admin | Posted on 19-07-2010 | 2Leaving Suzdal
After leaving Suzdal, destination Kazan where Layla (Moscovite biker) came from. It was a beautiful day with blue skies and sweltering hot once again. Some parts of the road were very rough and patchy with lots of roadwork being done everywhere. Other times the road was smooth, paved and roller coaster like going up and down as we were heading in the direction of Kazan. We will not being making Kazan this night as the distance was too far so we would be looking for a hotel somewhere midway. Since Leo has joined us we have been extremely well organized not only as our driver but he and Carmen plan the daily menu while driving prior to shopping at huge shopping malls.
Trabzon, Turkey to Suzdal, Russia
Posted by admin | Posted on 14-07-2010 | 5We stayed two nights in Trabzon (which we thought could be longer) as we were waiting to get booked to take the rust bucket ferry from Trabzon to Sochi, Russia. We left our hotel, Sicilya, at 2pm Thurs and reached our next hotel, Hotel Sochi, by 2 am Sunday morning (over 48 hours in total). Let’s just say that probably none of us will be in a hurry to take a ferry ride of that nature for awhile (if ever).
Since Goreme
Posted by admin | Posted on 01-07-2010 | 0 CommentsWe set out from Goreme to beautiful blue skies, puffy cotton ball clouds and had one of the best days of riding since the beginning of our trip.
Amazing Turkey
Posted by admin | Posted on 01-07-2010 | 1 CommentsFriday, June 25 Istanbul to Safranbolu, Turkey
Making our way to the ferry, we cross the Bosphorous as we would have had to buy tickets to cross the bridge so this was the quickest and cheapest way to get through the craziness and mad driving experienced in Istanbul. This day was mostly highway driving, cool and approx. 450 km of riding and at one point; elevation was four and a half thousand feet. We passed a major steel works industry that looked like something out of Mad Max. We passed through Karabuk and arrived in Safranbolu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994.
Saying Goodbye to Lauren and George
Posted by admin | Posted on 01-07-2010 | 0 CommentsWe’ve had two nights in Istanbul, Turkey and we are all now leaving Istanbul and going on to Safranbolu, Turkey with the departure of two people from our group, Lauren and George who are heading back home.
Bulgaria to Turkey
Posted by admin | Posted on 01-07-2010 | 0 CommentsJune 22. Nesebar, Bulgaria to Turkey Border
We left Nesebar, Bulgaria and headed for the Turkish Border. It was smooth roads all the way. When we got to the Border, I think we all thought it would be a walk in the park however we had a scare there that we were going to be held up for a bit.
Our travels since Bucharest
Posted by admin | Posted on 25-06-2010 | 6Leaving a chaotic city of Bucharest our group got separated through the traffic and didn’t reunite until the border at Bulgaria which was lined heavily with trucks.