ITS A LONG WAY THERE..DR650 LONDON TO VLADIVOSTOK: 06/24/14

On the first part of the journey, I was looking at all the life

There were plants and birds and rocks and things,

there was sand and hills and rings

America

A new file....of contrasting vistas....

Its the morning after our last night in Turkey. I'm stomping up and down stairs of the hotel Findikhan, carrying bits and pieces of the thirty odd kilos of luggage to attach to the bike. As I pass the reception desk I shoot a black sideways glance at Ron deep in conversation with the clerk. The angry box in my head that's not attached to any Brain cells and only comes open for certain for three reasons....watching the Adelaide Crows, when my kids do really stupid things, and most of the time I'm in my shed, is bubbling away. Ron cut a deal last night for a hundred and twenty Turkish dollars and now the clerk is demanding US dollars. It's a scam and bullshit. Ron wants to handle it as he organised it the night before and as he is the worlds biggest biggest softy I've already figured what's next. "Hey mate how much Turkish ya got left looks like we got no choice". I flick out the last fifty, mutter it's bullshit, and reassure myself that I'm only about thirty aussie out and nicely sums up how I feel about Turkey......so much contrast...maybe too much contrast?

Out of the clutches

We left the Tajik consulate elated with our visas and had the afternoon to hit the road. I fired up the GPS and for the fifth time crossed Istanbul this time surprisingly smoothly. We took the toll road to Angara to escape as swiftly as possible but the city hung on with bits of metropolis seemingly as far as a hundred K out. Messy apartments and factories everywhere and lines of semis escaping Istanbul's back door to Ankara. We rode straight into heavy rain and pulled stumps at the Highway Otel (yep spelled right) just short of Bolu. The next day we headed north towards the black sea aiming for the Samsun area and then east along the shore of the black sea all the way to the Poti area in Georgia before turning inland. The road from Bolu to Samsun is a beauty with open vistas of vallies and lovely odd round hills but the run up the coast left me in a quandary. To the left you have the beautiful Black Sea glistening in the sun and a very nice road. Buuuuut on the right is a kaleidoscope of life, new, old, rundown, uncared for, you name it. Vast numbers of unfinished or rundown apartments mix it with mosques, new developments, garbage and disjointed or zero planning make for a weird mix with every turn of your helmet. I kind of expected some visible nod to history but felt or saw none really. Kind of four hundred k of Turkish Gold Coast with no councils or regional planning.

The Bolu to Samsun road was a lovely open vista of rolling hills and valleys.

"Precious" lays against the wall after a major organ transplant. We managed oil changes out the back of this servo amongst garbage and a huge poor underfed dog.

The Black Sea coast, beauty to the left, confusion to the right.

More from the Black Sea Road

Numerous Long Tunnels some several K's long.......love tunnels!

This is for my wife Marianne to show that even with deft manipulation of funds one is just scraping by. I'm compiling a draught here to complain to the hotel that the thread count was below par on the sheets.
From a hotel just out of the Samsun area.

The hotel Findikhan with Ron standing out the way....gave the angry box a shake but the lid stayed on.

In contrast the shopping mall back two streets behind the hotel is a knockout...now you see the contrast

The lights are almost out at Internet cafes.

Ok car buffs its a Renault 12. We had them from around 1970 - 80. Turkey kept producing them till 2000! They are everywhere......everywhere whyyyyy?

Just to push the "contrast theme" I stood in a pile of bottles and broken glass and took this....then I spun around in the sunset and took the following.

The Black Sea at Sunset......not far from the filthy graffitied unusable under road walkway and the garbage dump on the cliff above the water!

Promised myself someday I'd take the time and try and make sense
Out of all those opportunities I've lost , trying to sit on the fence
But right now I've got no time for yesterday, yesterday's a thousand miles away
A thousand miles away.
Hoodoo Gurus

"Which Georgia would Sir like to see"
We hit the Georgian border after the hotel scam, blinked and we were in. I'm standing outside the Georgian border office staring at the customs guy. He's kerchinged my passport and I'm expecting some more grief. We stare at each other...."where to next mate"...."you can go"...."yeh but where now" ...."just go that's it"...."Oh". We ride off looking over our shoulders but...that's it. We stop at the first servo and get cash and water. Look at all the different types of water here.......hang on "hey Ron cop all the Vodka in here". Yep pay for your fuel in here...both kinds.
We rode around the coast to the Poti area and then headed inland. First thoughts, the driving is suicidal, there seems to be a strong western marketing influence everywhere and just flat land, unkempt greenery everywhere, cows and livestock live on the road, and grey sad housing. The run across the bottom of Georgia showed a country doing it hard but trying to grab western stuff when it can, most times not for the best. Most advertising includes English language, foreign import cars are everywhere being driven in a ridiculous manner, housing remains grey and unloved, roadside car wreckers and repairers and gungey food boxes have sprung up all along the entrances to towns. We stayed the first night just outside a city named Kutaisi in an odd little motel behind a Chrysler wrecking yard and a run down restaurant. The restaurant looked dodgy so we hit town and there it was....that slab of U.S culture we all are drawn towards (cmon all of you!) in times of culture shock and hunger, a pristine MacDonald's restaurant. We swung open the doors we could have been anywhere on earth......gotta love franchising and sometimes it's damn handy - don't forget the free WiFi sir. The next morning we fired out towards Tbilisi ad turned up and headed onto the Georgian Military Road. Hallelujah and hello the other Georgia. Jaw dropping scenery left and right as it winds up and down towards the Russian border. We stayed about fifty K before the border in the Gudauri area in a little two story guest house thingo which was cute and cheap but tiny, The toilet was part of the shower to save space so you showered in with the dunny together. The next morning we rode through some of the best roads and scenery we have ever seen. Photos just cant capture the immense beauty of the valleys and the snowy peaks.We grabbed a coffee at a backpacker place....I think it was stepantsminda with views from the dining area in all directions before hitting the Russian border.

Looking back on the Georgian border.....welcome, no visa no problem. enter enter.

Now if you're gonna drive like a lunatic, dodge cows, pass anywhere anytime, you're gonna need this. Thoughtfully available at fuel stops...its multi purpose as well, cleans battery terminals ad starts all sorts of things...fights mostly!

Ron asks his new friend about the changes and demise of Georgian culture before and after communism. His friend replied he was more worried about Australian changes and cultural demise if Port Power keep winning.....smart dog!

This statue is from the same town as the highly intellectual dog lives in. He didn't elaborate on what it was for as he returned to his doggy roots as soon as we got food!