HOW DID IT ALL START?

It all became clear on April 25, 2015, the day before my birthday (Fadi). That was when I got my Honda NC 700X motorcycle. I could sense that the bike had “hidden adventure” within it, and we certainly had the spirit to match.

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

I’d just like to tell you how that bike had caught my attention the moment I saw it. Firstly, considering the road conditions in Lebanon and the heavy traffic, a 700CC bike has all the power you need. The NC 700X is a comfortable ride with enough power to make it ideal for commuting and for traveling further afield to explore the countryside or take the twisting mountain roads. The bike has both the power and the torque to guzzle up adventure. During a trip to Phoenix, Arizona earlier that year (click here to read about our trip to Phoenix, Arizona), I had grabbed all the accessories I could find for my darling, and equipped it with saddle bags, a rear box and a higher wind deflector in addition to other decorative panels.

It had been almost a year since we’d started discussing the idea of a road trip from Lebanon across Turkey to Bulgaria. Due to the ongoing war in our neighboring country Syria, there was no safe road open that could lead us to Turkey, so we decided to take the ferry from Tripoli commercial port in the North of Lebanon to Mersin Harbor, in Southern Turkey. Mersin Harbor is the country’s main gateway to the Mediterranean Sea.

After going through a complicated booking process with a travel agent in Tripoli, we were scheduled to depart early one September morning that year.

Packing just a few clothes and not forgetting our helmets and jackets, we were ready to set off. I was careful to pack my camera. Accompanied by Chantal (my lovely wife) as my pillion rider and my cousin Ronnie as my buddy rider on his fully loaded beast, a Yamaha 1200CC Super Tenere, off we went on our journey into the unknown. We had no accommodation booked in advance—we wanted to feel completely free.

On September 2, 2015, After an hour’s ride to Tripoli from our home in Jounieh, we reached the port at 6:30 am and were surprised that the ferry hadn’t arrived. After a while, we started to get anxious and wondered if we would leave that day at all. We sat on the pier, trying to make sense of what was happening but no one we asked could give us a clear answer. At noon we were informed that the ferry had been delayed and wouldn’t arrive until the next day. What a disappointment! So, we rode back home defeated. We sat on the balcony obscured by denial. None of us wanted to call anyone; we just wanted to avoid embarrassment.

Read the whole adventure, day by day. Click on the links below

1. TAKING THE FERRY BOAT FROM TRIPOLI, LEBANON TO MERSIN, TURKEY
2. THE ROAD IS OURS: DESTINATION CAPPADOCIA
3. UP AND ABOVE CAPPADOCIA
4. THE ROAD TO ANKARA
5. CROWDED ISTANBUL
6. FROM WHEAT FIELDS TO SUNFLOWERS AT THE BULGARIAN BORDERS
7. A PROMISE IS A CLOUD; FULFILLMENT IS RAIN
8. WEATHERED IN VARNA
9. LONG ROAD TO A SECLUDED BEACH HOTEL
10. THANK YOU BODRUM FOR THE BREAK!
11. THE BEACH IS CALLING! MARMARIS
12. ON THE ROAD AGAIN
13. BACK TO SQUARE ONE
14. HOW DID IT ALL START?

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