So after 10 months on the road we finally crossed the Bosphorus at Istanbul, the ancient border between Asia and Europe. After weeks of delays in Eastern Turkey we were finally back on the road and ready to escape the heat and dust of the middle east and hit the sun and sand of the Mediterranean beaches. Cappadocia, Nemrut Dagi, Troy, Efesus, and Bodrum to name a few were fantastic places to explore with Istanbul being a grand finale to our Anatolian experience. Few cities in the world could hold a candle to the grandness of its Architectural and Historical legacy and we were definitely sad to be leaving when we packed the bike and headed west towards Greece.
After almost 20 land border crossings involving hours and hours of wrangling with corrupt officials and senseless bureaucratic red tape, it was great to cruise straight through the Greek customs/immigration without even having to stop! Taking a ferry straight to the islands from Kavala we chilled out for a few weeks in Paros, Naxos and Santorini before heading back to the mainland. Apart from regular upkeep oil changes, brake pads, air filters etc the bike hasn't had any major problems that couldn't be fixed on the road but I was still keen to get a full service in Athens as the last one was done in Singapore 35,000 km ago! Only 15km away from the BMW service shop the read wheel bearing disintegrated chewing out the rear wheel and rendering the bike unrideable. It was almost ironic that after coming so far the bike managed to have a serious brake down so close to help...not that we were complaining..if this were to have happening in some of the other middle of nowhere places we had been through it could have spelled disaster! After some TLC at BMW Athens we are ready to go and have been slowly making our way up to the Igomenista on the continental mainland checking out Mycenae, Olympia, The Delphic Oracle and Meteora before we take a ferry to Bari in Italy where we will be endeavoring to eat ourselves to death through cheese wine and all good things Italian!
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After almost 20 land border crossings involving hours and hours of wrangling with corrupt officials and senseless bureaucratic red tape, it was great to cruise straight through the Greek customs/immigration without even having to stop! Taking a ferry straight to the islands from Kavala we chilled out for a few weeks in Paros, Naxos and Santorini before heading back to the mainland. Apart from regular upkeep oil changes, brake pads, air filters etc the bike hasn't had any major problems that couldn't be fixed on the road but I was still keen to get a full service in Athens as the last one was done in Singapore 35,000 km ago! Only 15km away from the BMW service shop the read wheel bearing disintegrated chewing out the rear wheel and rendering the bike unrideable. It was almost ironic that after coming so far the bike managed to have a serious brake down so close to help...not that we were complaining..if this were to have happening in some of the other middle of nowhere places we had been through it could have spelled disaster! After some TLC at BMW Athens we are ready to go and have been slowly making our way up to the Igomenista on the continental mainland checking out Mycenae, Olympia, The Delphic Oracle and Meteora before we take a ferry to Bari in Italy where we will be endeavoring to eat ourselves to death through cheese wine and all good things Italian!
