CAPE TO CAIRO 2022: June 2023

Friday, June 9, 2023

BODRUM - FETHIYE - KAS - GÖREME DAY 172 - 181

BODRUM DAY 172 + 173 2nd +3rdJUNE 23

160km from Kusadasi.

Went to Bodrum as I thought it was a nice little sea side village but 0nce again I was wrong. Stayed at Angora Hotel which had a good location and friendly owners and explained to me how the inflation has effected them and how the soaring prices are hurting them.

The place is a continous row of shops and restaurants along the waterfront and thousands of tourists, just awful. The harbour is huge with hundreds of yachts and pleasure craft and boat tours to the Greek Islands.

Butterfly Beach

FETHIYE DAY 174 + 175

Another coastal town where we got an apartment, which is always better as you have a sitting room and small kitchen and is more spacious. Not much except another unattractive harbour and tourist shops and I visited the Customs office to see if I could get my bike stay extended, but no luck and will have to pay a fine when I leave for overstaying, only country where they stamp your bike into your passport.

Over the mountain they have a nice beach where I swam and then you can drive along the coast on a twisty road that climbs up an up and you get to see Butterfly Beach which is quite spectacular.

Got good news that Justin left the hospital on Monday after four weeks ! He's back at work and happy to be home needless to say.

Butterfly Beach

KAS DAY 176 to 178 110km.

I looked at the map and saw Kas and it seemed like a small town along the coast so drove there and decided to stay and found a nice apartment in town and stayed for three nights. Was touristy but enjoyed the coziness ànd the nice beaches and restaurants.

They call this part the Turqoiuse Coast of Türkiye and the water is a brilliant deep blue, just spectacular. The temperature is ideal not to warm and quite refreshing going in. Had some good meals at some of the many to choose from.

GÖREME DAY 179 -181 9 -11 JUNE 23

710km. 10 hours.

Left Kas at 6am and nixed staying at Konya and drove to Cappadocia and completing a circle as we ended up on the same road I did the second stage of the TET.

Picked up a Russian who was hitch hiking and was also going to Göreme, he now lives in Georgia and was great company.

Was here about a month ago and so brought Charmain here to check it out and after this we will head to Istanbul to fly out to Bozeman and then pop down to Tahoe and then over to Kuaia then back to Bozeman ànd I will come back to Istanbul to continue my trip.

Thursday, June 1, 2023

TO CANAKKALE, IZMER, KUSADASI DAY 169- 171

Last day in Istanbul was topped off with a Turkish Bath at Cagaloglu Hammam which dates back to 1741. Was most enjoyable an hour and a half of getting bathed and massage with tea in between.

Stored my bike for the next three months at the place where I brought it to be washed when I arrived in Istanbul.The following day we hired a car for the next two weeks to tour around which we picked up at the airport and then drove down to Canakkale about 380km south west on the coast on the Dardanelles Strait.

This is where the Gallipoli Campaign took place in 1915 and was a disaster for the British and a great victory for the Turks.

Below is the Turkish War Memorial.

The British Memorial.

Stayed in Eceabat and took the ferry back the next morning to Canakkale and drove down to Izmer about 380 km. It's the 3rd largest city in the nation on the coast.