Diary & Travel Reports by Simon Milward

28/1/00 Istanbul Fri, 28 Jan 2000 11:35:35 GMT From: simon @ millennium-ride.com To: sponsors @ millennium-ride.com		2k/01/21 Lap of the Med. instead 2k/01/10 Libya visa problem 99/12/26 I'm outa here 99/12/26 Tracker info 99/12/23 Yes I'm still alive ... 99/10/ Hello Sponsors 99/09/23 Millennium Motorcycle emerges as a Sponsor Monster 99/09/06 Medical 99/07/28 Engine swopping 99/07/17 Tea-table survival & Gambia 99/07/11 Note to Sponsors with pin badge 99/06/12 Bike moves & Budget 99/05/04 things fall into place 99/04/10 TV and the first jabs
[70kB 600x400] [614kB 1772x1210] CARS + TRUCKS ADDED CHAINS TO TYRES. I FELL OFF BIKE TWICE ROADS WERE SOLLD ICE ON WAY TO ISTANBUL TO COLLECT VISAS Hi Everyone I,m behind schedule again, got to be at the boat port in 45 minutes. Just to let you know that I didn,t get to Ankara as the roads were completely blocked with snow, so I spent 5 days in Istanbul {what a great place, capitol city of 3 successive empires Byzantine, Roman, Ottoman, and still I have not bought a carpet!}. [35kB 600x408] [501kB 1772x1205] View of Bosphorous from Topkapi Palace. Simon is recovering from infuenza hense warm hat    I caught a very bad dose of the flu here in this youth hostel {$3 per night but you pay for what you get right?} so haven't been able to venture out into the bleak snow covered streets as much as I would have done = a good few days were spent curled up in bed shivering!    [510kB 1159x1772] Belly dancing But I have seen quite a bit, including the Sultans Harem this morning because it is my birthday. [24kB 279x400] [513kB 1234x1772] Throne of Sultan Ahmed I (1603-1617)    The Syrian visa came without too much trouble. But the British Consul here in Istanbul is ripping off Brits big time. They charged more {$50} for a letter of recommendation {required by the Syrians} than the visa did itself. The British consul is profiteering from us, Irish travellers get their letter for free.    [36kB 551x400] [445kB 1772x1286] The grand bazaar of Istanbul. Teatime So at last I'm heading south again, and some new friends {Taiwanese, Belgian} are joining me for the boat trip and one is a nurse so it's just as well. I'm boating it to Izmir because I already rode from there to Istanbul and managed to fall off the bike twice on hard packed ice on the road, when going downhill the only braking mechanism I had was the snow piled at the sides. Besides an extra day out of the bleakness hopefully will see off the flu completely which has now turned into a cough. [41kB 602x400] [469kB 1772x1177] ISTANBUL BLUE MOSQUE    But I did make contact here with Ivobuyasu Furuya, a Japanese biker living in Hungary studying music, who is going to try and get me some contacts with bikers in Japan for me to meet when I get there. Bikers rights as you know is one the important aims of this ride. In Turkey there are few bikers {apart from Jawa-riding couriers in the main cities}, though I did make contact with a club here in Istanbul. Anyway, definitely on the road to recovery, see you later. simon