TET Turkey
…And again a bike problem
23rd June - 26th June | 2023
In the morning we took it easy as we wanted to let the worst of the rush hour pass before we drive the 35km to the East to the garage of MotoProf to get the front tyre installed. It took us 1 hour to get there even without a rush hour. Oh, and I fell in the stop-and-go traffic getting out of our area. Nothing happened, but the guy in the car behind me, was so close, that my bike was still leaning when I got it up with some helping hands. They had to hold my bike for me to get a wee forward, and, of course, I nearly fell to the other side. So far about Istanbul traffic - you have to fight for each centimetre!
At the garage, they suggested going to the local BMW dealer to read out the error code for the ABS problem to at least know the problem. So 4km, 1 wrong turn, 40mins later we were at the BMW dealer. We had to wait a while until the only responsible person was free to help us. In the meantime we ended up talking to two nice Turkish guys, one was just buying a new BMW R1000. Finally, we got the possibility to explain our problem and the guy took my motorcycle into their workshop. And the waiting went on ...., but finally he told me it is the ABS pressure regulator and I could still carry on driving, but wouldn't have a working ABS. I can live with that as we will do anyhow a lot more offroad being together now. At least I know the issue now and can get it sorted out later. So off to the ferry port Yenikapi in the centre, so still 35km back to where we came this morning.
We made it in time to catch directly the next ferry :-D It is a 90mins ferry ride to Yalova. As we had no lunch and were pretty hungry, we stuffed our faces with the "healthy" food from the snack bar. Whilst we were on the ferry we scanned the various apps we are using for a camping spot not too far, but also close to the TET section 8 (www.transeurotrail.org). We found a perfect camping spot about 60km from the ferry port in Yalova. Once off the main road along the coast (Gölcük), we had a lovely road up into the mountains towards Iznik Lake. Somewhere in a nice forest was the camping called "Ayvaz Camping" (IG: ayvazcamping). A very nice place right in the forest, all very clean and with a Western toilet - lucky me ;-)
From there it was not far to the TET section 8. The TET was a nice mixture of back roads and some nice gravel roads. Unfortunately, sometimes we had to track back to find alternatives as the track got too bad for me. Remember, for James, nothing is a problem or an issue, but I am the weaker one of us and not too good on too technical things on the fully loaded bike! I like to overcome obstacles and some of my problems, but I still want to enjoy my travel :-D It was a really nice ride and a lovely landscape, especially passing through these "old" villages. For the night we found on google maps a lovely camping spot right up in the mountains, with a stunning view down the valley. Also, James found a shop that sells beer, so he could enjoy his end-of-the-day beer ;-D
The next morning we continued the TET section 8, again lovely back roads or gravel roads. The views over the mountains were really stunning and all so lush green. We stopped at one village to get a cold drink, and all the men were sitting in the shade drinking their Çaj, so they invited us, but first, we needed a cold drink to cool us down, and ideally some food. There was a tiny supermarket where we got fresh bread, cheese, and cold drinks. In front of their mosque were tables in the shade, guess it is also a bit of a public meeting point, where we had our lunch. One of the men brought us fresh tomatoes from his garden. We had a really nice conversation with him. He also offered us tea, but it was too hot for us for tea - remember, we are in all our riding gear!
Later that day, the TET went through forests, which started getting too complicated for me. Obviously, there was forest work done during the rainy season so it was super rutted and I know I wouldn't get my momentum on this. Due to Google, it is only 2.5km to the main road, so James said, he would help me. Well, his help was especially needed on the last kilometre when it got impossible for me at all. Downhill and all the deep ruts going all over the place due to the forest work during the rainy season. Poor James had to get his bike down for a few hundred metres, walk back uphill, get mine ... and so on until we were down to the main track. I felt so sorry for him as it was nearly 30C. Once out of this, it was again nice smooth gravel roads. At one entrance to another section of the TET I already got suspicious that this would end in the same sort of disaster. So we scanned the map on OsmAnd and there was an alternative peach-coloured road between the villages to get us back onto the TET.
It was a really lovely gravel road, and then it turned again into these deep ruts from big machinery in the wet season. Seriously!?! This is a road between villages - how do the people move around the villages?!?! This time I managed to get my bike along through it, but it took me a while in paddle mode. I started to notice during these difficult parts that my bike stalled easily and had difficulties starting after. It needed like 10 seconds before I could start the bike. That made me a bit suspicious, also the reason for paddling through it without the engine running.
Once we were back in a village, I suggested staying on the main roads, which were still gravel, but to give my battery time to recharge as I had a lot of situations today stalling the bike. And the start/stop of the engine whilst James took the two bikes down didn't help. So we searched for a bigger town to carry on by street, where we would find a supermarket and a petrol station. It was about a 50km ride to Çavdarhisar. Opposite the petrol station was even a little place where we could get some Köfte (meatballs), salad and bread. It was so nice to sit down, have a cold drink and eat something. And luckily close by is a little dam where, due to iOverlander, we should find easily a camping spot.
We found the spot easily, on a straight bit just above the dam. When we just started to build up the tent, we heard the sound of the Jandameri (police) for a split second. We saw them on the dam wall, driving in our direction. Oh no, that is not good! We already got prepared that they will call us over the microphone, as between them and us was the area where they let the water off. However, they turned around and drove back to the halfway point of the dam and they were there forever doing something. After about 15mins we decided to risk pitching up our tent as they were obviously not bothered by us. As I was so tired of today's rut-battles in the heat, I was early in my sleeping bag. Unfortunately didn't sleep too well ...
The next morning, as no shade around, we already were up by 7am and ready to go by 9am. Due to the battery issue yesterday, I put the voltmeter on and also charged my phones via the USB port. I didn't like the voltage showing, only 13V...hmmm, not good! When we drove along a national road it crept up, but didn't reach the 14V at all. We started to get onto the TET and occasionally I caught a glimpse of the voltage and it was mainly in the 12V! We came to a point, where the TET went into the nowhere, through a forest for a while. We decided to go back to the main street to the next bigger town and see what will happen with my battery doing mainly national roads.
So stay tuned to find out how the rest of the day went ;-) In the meantime enjoy a cold Frappuccino.
As you might have noticed, the blog is not that regular currently as I cannot keep up with the writing. We will go back to the once-per-week publishing, so either Saturdays or Sundays, as, remember Anabela, the brain, is embarking on new adventures and is mega busy. However, we will keep you updated weekly about our adventures. And if you are curious to see where we are currently, please check out our Travelmap!
Places | Cities:
Istanbul, Yalova, Kütahya, Cavdarhisar, Kula, Izmir.
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 9650 km
Information Border Crossings (in June 2023):
./.
Maintenance | Breakdown:
ABS pressure regulator is broken - doesn't need an urgent fix.
Battery playing up.
Health issues:
./.
Special thanks to:
TET linesman of Turkey (www.transeurotrail.org) for the mainly fantastic route on section 8.