Introduction
On 26th of may I departed on a voyage. With a newly minted masters degree in Geophysics I didn’t feel like having a job straight away, working 40 hours a week and spending 21 days a year on some beach on a mediterranean island. Instead I sought for the cure of something that is best described with the german word Fernweh. So I strapped some luggage on the back of my motorcycle and left Germany with nothing but some money and an Iranian visa in my pocket. I didn’t plan, didn’t know which roads I’m going to take, in which places I would pitch my tent and most importantly I didn’t have a schedule.
Heading Southeast
As already said, on the 26 of may I jumped in at the deep end and left home, heading southeast. After 2 and a half days I arrived in on a campsite near Bovec in Slovenia to visit my mother who has spent her 2 weeks holidays here.
Electronic Terrorists
First week into the trip and the electronics already start to fail me. The magnet holding the charging cable of my phone in place gets loose, and the battery is draining rapidly because I used the phone for navigation while riding.
Serbian Hospitality and the Ghosts of War
The leg to Novi Sad was rather boring and mostly flat. So not much to tell except the crash in the town of Gradiste.
New Friends
Apparently every Serb considers the Tara National Park and the neighbouring touristic attractions of Drvengrad and the Šargan Eight heritage railway to be a must-see. So I spent two days…
Stranded on a Mountain Pass
I left Serbia and crossed Bosnia Hervegovina once again to reach the Adriatic Sea and Dubrovnik.
The Last Rainfall
Because ist was too hot close to the sea, I decided to go back to the mountains, to the Durmitor national park to be more precise. This meant I had…
Castles and Monasteries
Not far behind the border to Albania on the lakeshore lies Ohrid. With a history going back to early antiquity, it has a beautiful old town with a castle, byzantine churches and much more to offer for the traveller.
Serious Business in Thessaloniki
I didn’t come to Thessaloniki to act as a tourist, instead I had some serious business to do. Since that crash in Gradiste almost 3 weeks ago, I was riding with a hole in my panniers and a broken right handguard. I planned to fix that, and for once fate was on my side.
Cappadokia
It all started approximately 20 million years ago with intense volcanic activity. The region of Cappadokia was covered in immense amounts of volcanic ash, over millenia the ash was compacted to tuff, a soft and crumbly rock. Since then erosion created this bizarre landscape with its winding valleys and stone pillars, called fairy chimneys.
Nemrut Dağı: the debut
In Cappadokia I got the very valuable tip to visit Nemrut Dagı, a mountain in southeastern Turkey. It was on my towards Iran and I didn’t have any different destinations, so why not go there?
Nemrut Dağı: the finale
I left Nemrut Dagı and set course for Nemrut Dagı. You doubt my sanity here? This notion might not be totally wrong (there will be further evidence later in this episode) but this statement isn’t actually as idiotic as it seems.
Enter Iran
Border crossings are always accompanied by anticipation of the unknown that lies beyond, but on that day my excitement was especially intense. There was something strangely unsettling in the prospect of entering Iran, I was nervous and very excited and not exactly sure why.
A Tale of Two Castles
Before going on a trip, there is the preparation, Ali had to get new brake pads and an oil change to do before we could depart for Babak Castle.
Nightly Shenanigans
Today, I had a mountain range to cross. In between me and the Caspian Sea were the Alborz Mountains. With peaks exceeding 4000 m (Mt. Damavand being the highest with 5670 m) and a pass road that climbs up to 2200 m it divides the region in two distinctively different kinds of vegetation.
Out Into the Desert
To get from Isfahan to Yazd one has to cross a desert. Together with Kenny, a motorcyclist from Australia whom I met in Isfahan, and enough water (that’s what you need in the desert, right?) we set off to reach Yazd and hopefully not die of thirst
The Ultimate South
After the desert I returned to civilization and visited Shiraz, the third of the three cities, that apparently every first time visitor to Iran has to see. There I did…
A Clash of Cultures
In Bushehr I decided to move on and leave Iran, but Persia wouldn’t let me go without a bang. To travel from the Persian Gulf to Armenia, I had to ride 1500 km, crossing all of Iran from South to North, thereby traversing its hottest regions, the Khuzestan plains in southwestern Iran
The King of the Hill
Coming back from Ngorno Karabakh, there was a plenty of stuff for me to do before I could leave Yerevan. Much to my surprise the tire from the UK actually arrived and I could replace the old one.
Beyond the Seven Mountains
Beyond the Seven Mountains, with the seven dwarves there dwells a beauty or so the tale goes. But no beauty like you might think now, deep in the Caucasian mountains, surrounded by 4000 m peaks lies the hidden valley of Tusheti with a landscape worthy of a fairy tale.
Turning Point
After Tushetia, the Georgian Military Highway and the villages of Shatili and Mutso, I still wasn’t done with the Great Caucasus.
Delta Trouble
Nothing much to tell about the sea passage from Batumi to Odessa, lots of time on my hand and not much to do except eating, sleeping and to catch up on diary writing. Time aboard was two and a half days, but the passage itself took only one and a half, the rest of the time consisted of waiting; for 20 hours the ferry lay off the port because the landing was occupied and 5 hours for customs.
An Autumn Ride in Eastern Europe
Zigzagging onwards, the current zig leads me along the arc of the Carpathian Mountains in a northeastern direction towards the ukrainian border and the crossing of Ulma.