Like Water for Camels Our last day of riding was not really about riding, but more about mimicking a caravan across the Silk Road. The path was arrow-straight for 130 miles from Konya to Cappadocia and we flew like the wind in our set formation. The only stop we made was at the Sultanhanı Caravanserai, conveniently positioned just off out path and about half-way between the two cities. In the heyday of the Silk Road,…
Stepping Up I began this trip by describing our journey to the center of the earth, which I described as the Steppes of Central Asia. Well, today we said goodbye to the Mediterranean Sea and rode over the Taurus Mountains to the Anatolian Plateau or Plain, what we can reasonably describe as the Westernmost Steppes of Asia Minor. Specifically, we have entered the Konya Ovasi Basin, what those in the Western U.S. would call the…
Sleeping is the Enemy It’s 6:30am in Antalya, Turkey, do you know where your mind is? Sleep is such a funny thing. There are times when the need for it is so desperately that I can literally stare at a page I am writing and see that I have drifted off into incoherence over three words, one of which is complete gibberish. And there are other times when I can put on my C-PAP mask…
This Side of Olympus We started this, our tenth day of this Turkey Tour in the most beautiful little spot of waterfront we may ever see. Kekova is the isolated little town of 100 souls (70 in winter) that has no road serving it and is only accessible by boat. The water is crystal-clear and as blue as anywhere in the Caribbean. There are three small pensions, two of which are owned by brothers. There…
Twenty-Eight Klicks of Heaven You know what gets my goat? I am in the middle of our vacation in Turkey and I have managed to get into my riding state of mind. Focus on 150 feet in front for road condition, check the bike mechanical stats regularly (very easy with two thumb clicks on the new BMW 1200GS), make sure I know where Bob is in relation to me, all the regular things. I leave…
Go No-Go Gulet This morning it rained cats and dogs here in Gocek. Our motorcycle tour of Turkey has been blessed with great weather so far, which looks to remain great through the next week. Nothing is more important for a happy ride than the weather. We all have several weather apps that we use to forecast weather. My favorite is Dark Sky, which gives a weather coverage radar map that you can move over…
Gator Bob: Tomb Raider What about Bob? To start with, Bob is a very special name amongst AFMC members. Yes, it is a palindrome, meaning it can be read forwards or backwards with equal ease. The name Robert has been around in England and Germany since the Middle Ages and Bob has been used as the hypocorism (shortened “nickname”) as well since then. It seems they were into rhyming names back then, so Rob easily…
Constable Osman Almost Gets a Promotion It was 7:00am on the first Sunday in October and Constable Osman of the Trafik Polisi Turkiye, Güneybatı Bölümü (Southwest District – covering the provinces of Izmir, Aydin and Muğla) woke up with a big headache. October was make or break month for his promotion to Sergeant and he really needed the extra 750 TL per month the promotion would give him since his wife was expecting a new…
The Angel’s Trumpet The best part about traveling with a diverse group of people is all the interesting tidbits of valuable information you gather along the way. Today was no exception even though one is reminded that it’s important to be discerning in what one chooses to believe or not. Mr. Ripley had it right when he collected his curios from around the world. It may not matter sometimes whether it’s true or not, but…
A Night to Remember This was a day for working our way down the Aegean coast of Turkey and enjoying the influence of Greek architecture and culture on these Asian lands. We began with a pleasant outdoor very Turkish breakfast with the lapping waters just a few steps away. The biggest event was the arrival of the replacement “Princess Van”. I do not want to get into describing automotive interiors with all this ancient grist…