The morning came quickly and caught us by surprise. We had barely rested our tired bones and muscles but it was time for a new ride and a new destination! Actually, we didn’t want to leave the room that day. We felt like three aimless zombies walking down the stairs to the breakfast area, but after a cup of coffee and some sweet bites with butter and honey we felt our energy levels partly recharged. We loaded the bikes without delay, checked out and were back on the road with Bodrum as our destination of the day.

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

With 410 km (254.7 miles) ahead, an estimated 5½ hour ride, we took the highway via Izmir where we had our first stop to refuel and top up our energy levels. We made a couple more similar stops further on, and had a smooth ride. The scenery didn’t look very interesting, or it may have been that we were too tired to really notice what was around us.

Safely reaching Bodrum in one piece that afternoon, we felt a huge relief when we read the Bodrum sign. All we had to do was find a nice place to spend at least two nights. We really needed a break! Chantal had found an all-inclusive four-star hotel named Woxxie that was in a town called Turgutreis, 20 km (12.42 miles) away from the center of Bodrum, but that distance didn’t really matter. It felt so good to park the bikes in a safe place and leave them behind for at least 48 hours. The hotel provided buffet-style breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as a great variety of desserts, ice cream and fruit throughout the day.

After a warm shower and a short rest in our rooms, we went to the pool bar for a refreshing drink in time to see the sunset. Slowly, it disappeared behind the multitude of islands that lay scattered like giant turtles in the sea. After dinner and a few packs of the famous Turkish beer Effes, we happily retired to our rooms. We’d been waiting for this moment for nine days. Good night!

The sun is shining, the weather is easy!

It was 9 am and we were still in bed! Does’t that feel good? If it hadn’t been for the delicious breakfast buffet, we wouldn’t have budged! Once we got ourselves moving, our plan for the day suddenly became clear—breakfast, beer, pool, beer, sunbathing, beer, waterpark slides, beer, lunch, beer, pool, beer….and more beer!

We spent the entire day having fun in the sun beside the hotel. We didn’t feel any need to go outside and explore. This day was our treat for such an achievement.

Boat cruise and sunbathing

Although our original plan would have led us next to Fethiye, about 230 km (142.9 miles) from the Woxxie, we decided to adjust the plan and make our next destination Marmaris instead. We expected the 200 km (124.2 miles) ride to take less than three hours, which would leave enough time for a boat cruise from Bodrum to explore the chain of islands we’d observed nearby. At around 8 am a shuttle bus picked us up from the hotel and drove to the harbor where we boarded a medium-sized boat. Heading up to the top deck, we occupied one of the best spots with an all-round view of the surroundings. We spent our day hopping from one island to another while enjoying a few packs of Effes under the sun. The sun was burning hot, so we took a dive into the crystal clear blue water whenever the boat was resting. At noon the crew served us lunch from a varied menu of seafood and chicken. The time passed quickly and it was getting close to 3 o’clock when the boat turned back to the harbor. At that point, the weather got a bit windy and breezy, so we put on more clothes and began to contemplate our next ride.

As we didn’t reach the hotel until 5 o’clock, we had to decide whether to leave in the evening as planned or wait until the next morning. After a brief discussion we decided to hit the road. We already had all our things packed and the bikes were ready. We left at around 6 pm.

We raced ahead in the fading light, hoping to reach as close as possible to Marmaris before dark. When darkness fell, we realized the difficulty of riding along such a badly lit road. To avoid taking any risks we had to reduce our speed and take it mile by mile. After two hours, we reached a very challenging ride at the end of Aydan Mugla highway. We would have enjoyed it so much in daylight! This 15 km (9.32 miles) stretch of twisty downhill road was really a rider’s dream in the daytime, but quite a different story in the dark. We had to rely on the road signs, the asphalt reflectors and the white lane lines. That’s where Chantal played the role of my co-pilot providing me with directions in advance. Ronnie followed close behind me.

The “good news” was that we were close to Marmaris, and the “not so good news” was that we still had no place to spend the night, and it was nearly 9 o’clock in the evening. But that was all part of the adventure! We reached the well-known coastal road of Marmaris and Chantal used her skills with Booking.com and other travel and booking apps. After finding a few hotels that were full for the night, she came across the Reis Beach Hotel. It was a small hotel right on the beach. Bargaining a bit with the hotel manager, we reached a very good deal, booking rooms for three nights. Although the hotel looked a bit small, it was clean and comfortable. The hotel manager, Anis, who was for us “the guy with the moustache”, was very welcoming, and he helped us secure a parking spot for our bikes for the following 2 days and 3 nights.

Late that night, we went down to the beach to find it packed with tourists of almost every nationality. We wanted a good restaurant where we could indulge our senses as well as satisfy our hunger. We didn’t have to look far—we found that our hotel actually had one of the best restaurants in the area. After a satisfying meal that was even better than expected, we took a walk around and had a few drinks on the beach, recalling some of the funny and the stressful moments of our journey so far. It all felt good to us, and we were thankful for having the opportunity to live such an adventure.

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?

Checkout LawaynNext Facebook Page and Instagram  for more photos. Do not hesitate to use the Hashtag #LawaynNext for related travel posts.