Turkey (October 2010)
My first trip in Turkey and my first trip with my son Konstantinos (at the age of fourteen)! Six days trip, 3.450 kilometers!
This trip was not organized. It came all of sudden from nowhere.... I made my decision about this trip just 12 hours before the departure.... I had read about this trip in a forum and the day before the Day 1, I read a message about this trip which made me jealous and after that with a desire to follow.... I made the proposal to my wife about this trip but she had a lot of work to do those days, so my son followed me. It was his first trip with the motorcycle.
The Day 1 was on the 27th of October 2010, and we departed from our home early in the morning, at 04:00. Heavy rain was our companion from our start until to Thessaloniki. Heavy rain for 500 kilometers, the first 200 in the dark in an awful road... In Thessaloniki we met two friends who had inspired me with their messages to do this trip. We continued our trip to the Greek - Turkish borders, where we went through the customs.
After crossing the borders, we drove to Eceabat in Turkey to cross with the ferry, the Canakkale straits. The duration of crossing the straits took approximately 20 minutes, and we disembarked into another continent, in Asia!!! We drove south, along with the Turkish coast to Aegeon Pelagos, we passed the Ancient City of Troy, and we stopped in a small town, Ezine, to stay overnight. That day I drove 1.000 kilometers in very difficult circumstances....
The next day we drove to Ayvalik, where we met the rest of the motorcyclists who came with the ferry from Piraeus, Greece. Ayvalik is my wife's origin. Vana's grandparents left Ayvalik in 1922. We all together left Ayvalik and we drove south to Izmir. We made a short visit to the grand port city of İzmir, Turkey's third-largest. The ancient Agora, built for Alexander the Great and the Kemeraltı İzmir’s historic market (bazaar) are the sights which a visitor must see. We continued our trip to Kusadasi, where we stayed two days. Our hotel Kervansaray Kusadasi was excellent! With the city of Kusadasi as a base we visited the ancient Greek City of Ephesus. We admired the Temple of Artemis and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the Library of Celcus.
We left Kusadasi for the city of Pamukkale. We drove 185 kilometers with east direction. Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water. We took a bath in the pools, in warm water! We visited the ancient city of Hierapolis which was built on top of the white "castle".
After Pamukkale we drove north in order to cross the Canakkale straits again. The last night of our trip we stayed in Gelibolu, in the European continent.... The next day we drove to Turkish - Greek borders and afterwards we crossed Greece to arrive late in the afternoon home.
My first trip with my son was a very good experience for both of us! He was very cooperative during the driving time and a very good company!
