At 6 am Oscar Mama served us the early breakfast we had requested. We ate and bade our cozy rooms farewell. Then we left behind the enchanting town of Alanya and rode off towards Silifkie port. From there, we would board the ferry, scheduled to depart at 1 pm, which would take us home. With 4 hours and 240 km (149.1 miles) ahead of us, we were looking forward to completing the journey.

This Post is part of 15-day motorbike ride from Lebanon to Bulgaria across Turkey and back.
Use the links at the end of the post for more insights about this adventure, the challenges 
and achievements

The Eastern Mediterranean from Fethiye to Mersin is a fascinating place that doesn’t draw so many foreign tourists. Once we left the busy town behind and headed to the mountains, it looked almost unpopulated, with untouched virgin mountains covered with pine forests, and dramatic steep slopes that extended all the way down to the sea. Somehow it reminded us of home, and the smell of the pine trees brought a wave of nostalgia for Lebanon. At an altitude of 1000 m (0.62 miles) above sea level, we skirted around the winding mountain paths, riding the ups and downs of the magnificent mountains of Taurus that separate the Mediterranean region from central Anatolia. On the way, we passed through small charming villages where time seemed to have stopped long ago, due to their remoteness. Going at a maximum speed of 70 km/hr (43.3 miles), we relished one of the most scenic and joyful rides of our lives. In some of the trickier stretches, we were lucky to get over 30 km/hr (18.64 miles/hr) particularly when we got stuck behind one of those loaded trucks. Negotiating the tight turns on this road that led along the top of the rocky Taurus Mountains, and that had no safety barriers could be quite a hair-raising experience, and required all our concentration.

the rocky Taurus Mountains — The rocky Taurus Mountains

Riding on asphalt or gravel, on muddy or sandy roads, we encountered different conditions that each required a separate set of riding skills. Just before we hit Mersin we took the Boğsak Tunnel and rode through the mountain for 1.5 km(0.93 miles). The tunnel is part of the D 400 highway that runs from Marmaris all the way to the Turkish border with Iran.

Almost an hour before reaching Silifkie we checked online and saw that the ferry was delayed again. It wouldn’t reach Silifkie before the evening. That made us anxious. We called home from a gas station and were able to track the boat by using one of the marine apps, and realized that it wouldn’t reach us that day. Unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of choices in front of us. We resumed our ride and reached the harbor at around noon. After a long process of updating our ticket and presenting our legal documents, we secured new tickets for the following day.

Zeus

It turned out that ferry delays happened regularly, and all the nearby hotels benefitted from this opportunity by over-charging for their rooms. After checking a few hotels, we found Zeus to be our best option for the night. In order to avoid being cheated by the blown-up prices, we rented a room with three beds and shared the cost. Somehow it was fun! We managed to get a few packs of beer and sat on the beach to drink them up.

And so we ended our magnificent journey in the shadow of Zeus, the supreme ruler of the Ancient Greek Gods. The next morning we boarded the boat with our motorbikes and headed home.

Motorcycle boarding the ferry boat to Mersin

Scenario

2 motorbikes, 3 persons: a couple and a cousin.

A 15-day, two-way ride from Lebanon to Bulgaria across Turkey and back.

12 riding days.

12 hotels.

Covered 4,000 km (2485.4 miles) at an average of 330 km (205 miles) per day. The longest ride was from the Golden Sands, Bulgaria to Eceabat, Turkey: 600 km (372.8 miles).

Rode an average of 4 hours per day, with the longest ride of 8 hours from the Golden Sands, Bulgaria to Eceabat, Turkey.

Mission Accomplished

Lawayn Next

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