2009 | Rotterdam – Istanbul [Full Trip]

These are some of the pictures that I took along the way on my solo bike trip from Rotterdam to Istanbul and back in the fall of 2009. It was an epic trip of 3 weeks and one day. I initially rode down to Bratislava in Slovakia and spent a couple of days with my old friend Ben McGurk. Then on to Hungary and spend three days with another friend, Zsolt Katona both at their summerhouse on Lake Balaton as well as Budapest in Hungary!

From there it was straight riding through Romania, stopping at Cluj Napodca, Sibiu (European city of culture 2007) and a long run to Mangalia on the Black sea coast, right up beside the Romanian/Bulgarian border. From there a long days drive through Bulgaria to the Turkish border where the road’s were not great, but as soon as I crossed into Turkey the roads were super! A straight 300km run into Istanbul from there and I managed to find Taksim Square without too much problem. Although it turns out that they don’t sell maps at gas stations anywhere in Turkey! Strange.

I spent a couple of days in Istanbul and then it was time to head out and north again. Headed across into Greece, and stayed in a town called Xanthi. From there it was on to Thessaloniki which marked the southern most point of the ride. I turned right at Thessaloniki and from there it was ever northward! Crossed the border into Macedonia and spent the night in Skopje. Super (and cheap) food and wine. Net day I crossed into Kosovo and stuck to the back of the KFOR UN troops most of the way. Drizzly miserable day in a very drab country that was clearly going through the worst of times! Headed west from Pristina towards Montenegro and what turned out to be a set of freezing cold mountains some 6000ft up. Slush and snow on two wheels is NOT recommended. Finally got down to the Adriatic coast and managed to get warmed up. None of these fancy heated clothes or hand grips on my 1987 KLR!

Made it to the beautiful city of Dubrovnik and spent a day and night there, even picked up some Macedonian “Tga Za Jug” wine – I think I bought it just for the name alone! And it’s not bad either! From there to Split, and enjoyed exploring the roman ruins and the amazing palace of Diocletian that is embedded inside the central part of the city.

I took the overnight ferry from Split to Ancona in Italy arriving early at 8.00am on a Friday morning. A cold front had arrived from Northern Europe, the first vestiges of winter, and it’s now mid October. Time to get north before it becomes too cold. Fortunately the ride up to Genoa is warm and sunny. I spend Friday night with Francesca in Genoa.

Decided there now way I’m going to go over the Alps in mid october on two wheels so realise I’ve got to go west to Marseilles on the south coast of France and then ride straight north up the Rhone Valley. My only other alternative to get back to the North Europe Plain is to go north but east again to Czech/Slovak and go through the Moravian gap to avoid altitude and snow! Head west along the Ligurian coast and it chilly but sunny. And then at Aix and Orange I start heading north into the teeth of a very strong wind coming whistling down from the north. It makes for very tough riding and I pull off at Valence, about 100km south of Lyon for the night.

Bright Sunshine on the Sunday morning but frost everywhere. Wait until 11am until the mercury gets about the 10C mark and then head north. It’s sunny but not very warm and have to keep stopping to heat up along the way! Make it in the early evening to Epernay in the middle of the champagne region. Although all I can see are mostly cabbages growing in the fields! I celebrate what is now my last day on the road in Champagne with Champagne.

The next day I cross the border into Belgium and then into Holland and blend in with the afternoon commuter traffic on the main highway between Breda and Rotterdam – my license plate is no longer exotic or from afar and I’m just another commuter with some luggage as I cross the huge Brienenoord bridge into Rotterdam. I think of Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor punching their fists in the air when they crossed the George Washington bridge into NYC at the end of their ride from London to New York through Russia, Alaska and Canada.So I stood up on the pegs and did the same thing!

In total it amounted to 14 countries, 15 if you include Kosovo, and 7300km in 22 days. Time for a make-over for the old bike as a reward. I carried some 15KG of tools with me all the way around Europe and all I used was one spanner and a screw driver the whole time!!! What a great little bike, from this point on she is far more than just a machine!