Unlike one of my typical tours, where I would travel along a roughly planned route spanning a few thousand kilometers, I am basing myself this summer in the touristic town of Bled for six nights and making tours from there as well as doing a bit of hiking and cycling around the area.
As a 40th birthday present to myself, I am now the proud owner of a new BMW F850GS. It comes complete with pannier boxes and a top case, and tyres suitable for gravel roads. I will not write a review of the bike, as I’m hardly an expert but with over 50% more power than
After 11 years and having toured through 29 countries, the Honda Transalp 700V, the first bike I bought new, has been sold and is on the way to a new life in Poland. I could not resist one final short tour into the Black Forest, and to take some video shots with the drone. A
My bike has been shipped to Thessaloniki in Greece, three weeks before I fly there from Frankfurt. After a relaxing weekend, I collect my bike early Monday morning from the logistics company and ride immediately to Gelibolu in Turkey, across the Bosporus from Asia.
It's nearing the end of the tour and I'm on my final country before returning to Germany. I have two days in Czech which allows me to confine myself to the quiet country roads.
It's the third country today and I'm not really sure where I want to go. As part of my pre-trip planning I highlight interesting places, towns and cities on the map based on guide books and online sources.
Finally back in the EU after a long wait at Polish customs. As with Bulgarian customs, they were thoroughly checking the contents of every bag in every car.
Leaving Pridnestrovia and crossing the river into Ukraine, I am soon onto a dead-straight road to Оде́са (Odeca). This whole region is flat and geologically very stable, hence the straight roads everywhere. The only thing that isn't flat is the road surface, which is deeply rutted by all the trucks that drive this route.
