BIKE TOURS
2011
France - Spain - Morocco - Portugal - Andorra, July 2011 with Andreas and 2 BMW 1200 GS.
We started our trip from Peloponnese, Greece. Here, outside Andreas' house, lighting "one for the road" - in the background the bikes fully packed.
We took the ferry from Patras, and after 23 hours we reached Ancona, Italy. There are 1-2 ferries per day Patras - Ancona, and the tickets are relatively cheap for the distance and the quality.
Below, Andreas at the port of Ancona. The weather was cloudy (common for northern Italy - as opposed to Greece in the summer), which is convenient for long riding.
We crossed northern Italy and part of southern France (a total of about 900km) in a single day, in order to reach Aix en Provence, where we stayed at a friend's place.
For those who are not familiar, the highway tolls are very expensive in Italy and France, and even more so in Spain. Moreover, there are a lot of speed cameras in France (not that we cared because of our Greek plates).
Continuing south, we visited Sete, a tradditional town 20km south of Montpellier, and Cap d'Adge, a beach town around 30 km further (see pic below).
I prefer this area to the more touristic (and in my opinion overdeveloped) strip between Nice and Cannes, i.e., the most famous part of Cote d' Azur.
We continued to Barcelona, where we stayed for a couple of days. Barcelona has extraordinary architecture, nice beaches nearby and lively nightlife.
However, it is very busy during the summer, and we spent several hours before we found a hotel downtown.
After Barcelona, we crossed most of mediterranean Spain (650 km) to Almeria. Although, we arrived late (around 10pm), there were 3 ferries departing to Morocco within the next 1-2 hours.
However, they seemed fully booked (due to Moroccan immigrants returning home), and people in that part of Europe do not, in general, speak English. Eventually, we managed to get tickets and depart around 11:30pm to Nador, east Morocco.
It is worth mentioning that, although the trip is only 5-6 hours, the tickets were more expensive than those for Ancona-Patras (23 hours and much better ferries).
The good thing is that in the ferry there were Moroccan officers so that passengers can pass through the time-consuming immigration procedures during the trip. Indeed, we spent most of the trip completing forms and queuing up,
so that upon arrival, we only had to wait for about half an hour at the customs. From Nador, we continued east, on the mediterranean coastline, until reaching the borders with Algeria (see pics below).
On the way we stopped for coffee and swimming at the (touristic) beach town of Saidia. Although the landscape and the sea was nice, I cannot say that we were overwhelmed (maybe our Greek standards are too high).
Mediterranean coastline at east Morocco and border with Algeria
From there, we turned southwest and we rode through a gorge at the national park near Berkane, stopping on the way to sample the local cuisine (see pics below).
After the park, and towards Fes the landscape changes to desert-like and we encountered the highest temperatures in our lives. It must have been well above 50 Celsius, despite being cloudy.
We were afraid that either we, or the bikes, would crack under the extreme heat, but eventually we all made it to Fes.
Most Arab cities have a "medina", i.e., an old town surrounded by walls. The picture below is outside the medina of Fes, possibly the largest in Africa..
Inside the medina there are open markets as well as workshops for making local artifacts. Below Andreas outside a tannery - Fes is famous for its leather products.
From Fes we drove to Marrakech in a single day. Although, the distance is not large (around 400km), it was one of our most difficult days, due to the extreme temperatures, the bad road and the heavy traffic.
You can see the discomfort in our faces in the pictures below. We actually wanted to cool down in the lake of the first pic, but we did not manage to get the bikes close enough.
We liked Marrakech more than any other city in Morocco. It has a huge open market (see pics below), with many shops, open restaurants, coffee shops and strange characters that perform all kinds of tricks.
It also has decent bars. A word of advice though: if you see a beautiful woman smiling at you in a bar don't get too excited; chances are that she is working.
This is true for most (if not all) single women in bars in Morocco. On the positive side, despite being a muslim country, it is easy (but relatively expensive) to find whiskey and most types of alcohol.
Our next stop was Essaouira, west of Marrakech, on the Atlantic ocean. We were mostly impressed by the sudden drop of temperature when reaching the ocean,
since within a few kilometers of intensive heat, we had to wear the winter jackets. Because of the low temperature and the strong winds, there was nobody swimming, but many people were wind and kite surfing.
The road south of Essaouira, towards Agadir, passes through some beautiful beaches. Possibly, this was the most scenic route we did in Morocco (but we did not go up the Atlas mountains).
Agadir is a modern beach town on the Atlantic, near the border with Western Sahara. It has lots of tourists from Morocco and elsewhere, but not much character (and no medina).
We stayed for a night and then headed north, taking the only highway in Morocco. After a stop in Casablanca, we drove all the way to Ceuta, the Spanish enclave at the northern tip of Morocco.
Entering Ceuta was impressive. Although still in Africa, it could be a nice town anywhere in Spain. We stayed there for a couple of days.
Andreas even participated in a poker (hold' em) tournament at the local casino and got second prize (and a useful amount of cash).
The statue in the picture is Plato, another reminder that we are back in European culture.
The ferry trip for Ceuta to Algeciras (Spanish
city on the
European coast) takes about an hour. The picture below is from
this trip, with Gibraltar rock in the background.
Similar to Ceuta in Morocco, Gibraltar is a small
British
colony in Spanish territory, and requires passport inspection.
Except for the
duty-free cigarettes and alcohol, we did not find any reason to stay
there -
instead we continued west towards the atlantic coast of Spain.
From Cadiz we rode to Lisbon, Portugal, a distance of about 600km . The road was mostly highway, and the trip was easy (if not boring). I had never been to Lisbon before and I was pleasantly surprised.
It is an imposing city built at a striking location. We also happened to be there in a weekend, and it was nice to see so many people out partying (compared to our previous unexciting nights in Morocco).
During the trip from Lisbon to Porto (north Portugal), we encountered some very strong winds and rather cold weather (we had to wear the winter jackets again).
After Porto we turned east, towards the mountainous area near the border, re-entered Spain and continued until Valladolid. This was probably the day that we covered the longest distance
(we crossed more than half of Portugal south-north, and almost half of Spain west-east). Below Andreas at the central plaza of Valladolid.
From Valladolid, we took country roads to Zaragoza, the highway to Lleida, and then we turned north to Andorra. The last part is on the Pyrenees and involves some breathtaking landscape,
as shown in the picture below. Obviously, the temperature dropped as we climbed the mountains, and the evening in Andorra (altitude more than 1000m) reminded me of winter in Greece.
Andorra is an independent principality, sandwiched between Spain and France, and entering it requires a fast passport inspection. It contains a small town and a few villages nearby,
for a total of 80,000 people. Although there is not much to see, it is a shopper's paradise, at least according to European standards. In addition to the usual tax-free suspects (alcohol, cigarettes),
you can find cheap designer clothes, and most importantly for us, motorbike accessories. We bought helmets, gore-tex jackets, and other small things.
However, the smile in the picture below, is because we found (and transported on the bike all the way to Greece), a gallon (4.5 liter) bottle of Jameson (Ireland's finest whiskey) for only 50 Euros. Priceless.
The route from Andorra to France also involves some curvy roads (see pic below). It was unusually cold and windy for the season (at some point we saw
a thermometer indicating 6 degree celsius in relatively low altitude), but I prefer this to the heat of the desert.
After a few days stay with friends and family in Montpellier, France, we took the way back to Greece, where we enjoyed the rest of the summer drinking Jameson.
Conclusion: Since most people know what to expect in Europe, I will focus on Morocco. First, I recommend this trip as an experience, but not for having a good time
(if you look for a good time you'd better fly to a luxurious resort in Greece, Brazil, or Thailand with much less money than the cost of the bike trip).
Often, the heat is too much, the roads too bad, the people too poor, the beaches not that good, and the nightlife not that exciting.
However, I am happy that I did it, and I would do it again soon if only it were closer to Greece, at least to go-up the Atlas mountains and deeper in Sahara.
But I would choose a cooler season.
Regarding the practical issues, we always felt secure, but we avoided the lawless hash-growing areas around Ketama. Although we had heard stories about bribe-taking police officers,
we did not have any problem; we were never stopped and the policemen were willing to help us whenever we asked for directions. There was unleaded gas almost everywhere, but sometimes of dubious quality
(the engines would occasionally complain). Next time, I would avoid the gas stations with goats and other folk themes, and go to the more modern looking ones instead.
The only complaint was about the people who where bothering us all the time, asking for cash in exchange for services like parking the motorbikes, completing custom forms,
finding hotels, guiding us through the cities etc. In most cases, we simply ignored them, unless we really needed to find a hotel or navigate through a city fast.
Finally, this link contains useful information about custom procedures and riding in Morocco from somebody much more experienced on the topic.
Bonus pictures from Morocco:
Andreas with his new friends, and a local chef (perhaps surprisingly, we did not have diarrheas or related problems this year - maybe we got stronger after last year's experience in Lebanon).
2010
Turkey - Syria - Lebanon, July 2010 with Andreas and 2 BMW 1200 GS.
We took the boat from Athens to Rhodes, near the southwest coast of Turkey. Rhodes is one of the largest and most touristic islands in Greece.There, we met Steve, an old friend from Hong Kong.
After a couple of days in Rhodes, we
took the boat to Marmaris, on the coast of Turkey. Although the trip is
less than two hours, the ticket is very expensive because there is
only one operator and only three boats per week. This is, in general,
true for all crossings between Greek islands and Turkey.
From Marmaris, we drove southeast to the seaside town of
abandoned since the population exchange of 1923. The legend is that Muslim immigrants from the Balkans refused to relocate in the village because they considered it haunted.
Near Kaya, is the beautiful lagoon of Oludeniz, where we camped for the
night. The area was very busy (maybe too busy for my taste) with
several options for nightlife,
water sports and paragliding.
From Oludeniz, our plan was to cross the southern
coast of
beautiful beaches, picturesque towns (especially Kas), and high
mountains. In
general, I liked the southwest part of
(Canakkale to Izmir
It is worth mentioning that in
is only political, and not real. In general, throughout our 3000km
within
genuinely friendly.
The 100km between Antalya and Alanya (to
the east) is flat and full of huge hotels. However, after Alanya the
terrain becomes mountainous and touristic development stops.
The road is small and curvy
(see photo), almost all the
way to Mersin, the next big city, several hundred kilometers away. From Mersin, there is highway to
Iskenderum,
an industrial city next to the border with Syria.
We had tried to obtain Syrian visas in Athens, but it was not possible
because their computer system was down. At the time, the explanation
sounded strange, but things became clear
when we arrived at the Syrian side of the border; it was simply a mess.
A huge queue of trucks and cars, people running around and no obvious
organization of any kind.
We had to wait a few hours in several offices (see photo below), pay a
significant amount of money (most of it - about $120- for the carnet du
passage,
required for all vehicles every time they enter Syria), and give
small "gifts" to various "officials". On the positive side, the visa
process was simple
(the visits to the embassy in Athens were unnecessary, as the complications were due to the
bikes - not the visas), and there were always good people around
willing to help.
The landscape after entering Syria and towards Haleppo is distinctively
third world.
Haleppo is a world heritage site, and it
deserves it at least because of its well-preserved old city. It also
has a decent number of tourists, some good hotels
and excellent food. I was surprised by
two things. First it was the diversity of the people; among the deeply
religious folks (e.g., fully covered women),
you could see a few that could be easily European (e.g., women with
tight skirts or jeans), but were locals. Second, it was the
hospitality;
wherever we went to Syria (and later in Lebanon) people would go out of
their way to help us navigate, offer us tea, food or whatever they
could provide.
I had heard about Arab hospitality before, but I was pleasantly
surprised to experience it first-hand.
After
Haleppo, we crossed a large part of
(i) most of the route was in the desert under 40-50 degrees Celsius
with no
trees or anything to take cover from the sun; (ii) to our horror, we
discovered that the (few)
gas stations did not have unleaded gas. Eventually, we had to fill the
tanks
with leaded gas, and we completed the trip fearful that at any point
the
engines would break down
in the middle of nowhere. The engines held, and eventually we reached
(unless you are an archaeologist).
However, as usual, we had some worthwhile moments and met some interesting people during our travel breaks.
Damascus is a big city with chaotic traffic. With a little help from
our friends (see Arab hospitality), we quickly found a nice hotel in
the old city, and started exploring the
(i) famous bazaars, (ii) the colorful coffee shops, (iii) the numerous food options and (iv) the local characters as shown in the pictures
below.
and the border crossing is less complicated (but still non-trivial). First let me finish with the negative aspects of
It is very densely populated and has so much traffic in the summer that you cannot enjoy driving or the landscape. The roads are full of roadblocks (sometimes including tanks),
which may stop you (e.g., we were not allowed to enter Saida, and were made to U-turn in the middle of the highway). Finally, there is always the risk of being trapped inside
because the borders often close, if there is fighting (which is rather common). All these disadvantages are outweighed by its people: intelligent, multi-lingual, helpful and optimistic.
We stayed only
four days in Beirut, but I have too many stories to tell. It is worth
mentioning Elio do Brazil (see picture below with Andreas), the
Lebanese-Brazilian,
who helped us with some bike problems, showed us around Beirut, and
brought us in contact with other locals (including Greeks). The center
of Beirut, recently rebuilt after the civil war,
is beautiful;
go there during a summer afternoon and you will see some of the most
expensive cars parked around, and beautiful women sipping their coffee
or shopping in exquisite stores.
However, I was mostly impressed by the liveliness of the night life -
these people know how to party (and I have enough experience on this
topic to be an objective judge).
Because
we stayed in
However, we had not predicted an unforeseen factor that complicated things even further; apparently the Lebanese food proved to be too heavy for our stomachs, so we spent much of the day
(and indeed the rest of the trip, until we reached Greece) with diarrhea. This necessitated several relief stops in rural (below a mountain in
On the positive side, both the Syrian and Turkish borders near the Mediterranean (i.e., close to the Syrian city of
and we managed to reach
The landscape
in Cappadocia is truly impressive, with several villages (within a few
kilometers from each other) consisting (partially or entirely) of houses carved in rocks.
It was an
interesting site to see, but I am not sure that I would do it, if it
were
the only destination of the trip. Maybe everything else after Beirut
would be boring anyway.
From Cappadocia, we took the way back west, crossing Central Turkey.
Interesting places that we visited include:
Konya, a tidy and deeply religious city at the heart of Turkey,
the natural
springs of Pamukale,
a nice lake on
the mountains near Mugla,
and finally,
Bodrum, the expensive, busy resort opposite to the Greek island of Kos.
After two days
in Bodrum, we took the boat to Kos, concluding an interesting trip (and
an unpleasant diarrhea).
Conclusion:
I strongly recommend this trip provided that you can take the summer
heat, and
that your motorbike can take the leaded gas of
We
never felt in danger, and the people were always willing to help,
although,
except for
Gas is very expensive in
although the distance to Haleppo is larger, the border is less busy (no trucks), more organized, and the route more scenic (forest instead of desert).
Allow for a few days in
(apparently I am not).
2009
In the summer of 2009, instead of a big tour abroad, we did several small ones around Greece.
Ipeiros, Halkidiki, Skiathos island, July 2009 with Tony and 2 BMW 1200
GS.
Camping at Armenistis in Halkidiki, and sunset in Skiathos
Patmos island, August 2009 with Andreas.
Patmos is beautiful and has the highest quality visitors (VIPs, artists etc) that I have seen in any Greek island.
Compared to Skiathos that I went before (which is full of "mass production" entertainment), the difference is large. Compared to Zakynthos that I visited later, it is a different planet.
However, the island is small (it takes about 30 minutes to cross it on the motrobike), crowded and very far from Athens (I spent more than 11 hours on the boat to reach there).
Zakynthos island, Tour of Peloponnese, Elafonisos, August 2009 with Andreas, George and 3 BMW 1200 GS.
In Zakynthos, we stayed in Laganas, a place famous for his drunk young tourists.
However, most of the island is destroyed by touristic overdevelepment, and in certain places it reminded me of thirld world destinations (notably, Phuket in Thailand).
The good thing is that it is cheap and close to the mainland (1 hour by boat from Kylini, on the west coast of Peloponesse).
The bad thing is that it is dangerous for driving (too many drunk kids on 4-wheel bikes, at any time of the day and night), and you should stick to beer unless the bar-tender is your brother (all hard drinks are tampered).
Andreas on the boat to Zakynthos - George and I relaxing after dinner at Porto Roma, at the southernmost tip of the island.
I did tours of Peloponnese in 2000 and 2005, and I remembered them as the best tours that somebody could do in a few days. This summer, I reached the same conclusion again.
Peloponnese has a huge variety of landscapes and interesting places in a rather small area: the beautiful long beaches on the west, the green mountains of Arcadia, the towers of Mani,
the castle of Monemvasia, the ancient monuments around Olympia, the orange groves of Argolida etc. etc. As good as it gets.
2008
Balkans - Moldova - Ukraine, July 2008 with Andreas, Tony and 3 BMW 1200 GS.
We started from southern Greece and rode for almost 1000 km to reach the north-eastern borders with Turkey.A quick relief stop on the way - Andreas on a bridge over Evros river, Edirne Turkey.
The roads in Turkey and Bulgaria were full of animals (we came
face-to-face with a couple of donkeys and cows, among others), and
should be driven carefully (more on this topic later).
Our first night was spent in Burgas, Bulgaria. Here relaxing on the
beach.
The next stop-over was in Costanza, Romania. We followed the coastal
route from Burgas, which is not very interesting, except for the
extensive construction (mostly touristy) in Bulgaria.
My opinion is that they are ruining whatever landscape was there. From
Costanza we continued north, towards the Danube delta. The land is
mostly flat and the road mostly straight.
Upon reaching Tulcea (Romania - near the border with Ukraine), we
turned west towards Galazi.
Here, waiting for the ferry to cross Danube (Galazi in the background).
Galazi is next to the border with Moldova, where logic stops, and the fun (or nightmare, depending on how you see it and whom you meet) begins.
At the customs, there was an artificial queue of cars so that people would pay to get in front. This queue crossed a railroad line. Fortunately, the train stopped until people moved their cars.
On the positive side, the small bribes in official Moldova is nothing compared to what came later.
The south part of Moldova is considered the poorest area in Europe and has some of the worst roads I have ever driven (in comparison, the afore-mentioned roads in Bulgaria and Turkey seem like highways).
Due to the delay at the customs, we had to ride at night and under a severe thunderstorm. Eventually, we arrived at the capital Chisinau at midnight.
Chisinau is a rather lively city that combines soviet with western influences.
In order to go from Chisinau to Odessa (Ukraine), we had to drive around 50 kms in Transnistria, officially a part of Moldova, but in reality a no-man's land governed by gangsters with soviet era uniforms playing custom-officers/policemen in a non-existent country.
It took us about 5 hours and 500 Euros to cross these 50 kms, as we were asked to pay 5 times (for non-existent reasons).
Below, a "highway" in Transnistria, probably the most expensive in the world, and the necessary cigarette immediately after entering Ukraine.
Odessa is a beautiful city. Furthermore, its reputation regarding good-looking women is true. Here Andreas, trying (unsuccessfully) to mingle with the crowd.
On the way back, we took a different road south-west towards the Danube delta (Ukraine side), which is worth visiting (and avoids Transnistria).
After a short re-entry in Moldova and the usual small bribe (around 5 Euros - this is not Transnistria), we reached Romania, i.e., the civilized world (I never thought I would say that).
The most interesting event in Romania happened during a quick stop at a rather busy road between Galazi and Bucharest, when we realized that we were surrounded by hashish trees.
On the route from Romania to Bulgaria we found
some heavy rain. Nevertheless, when the goings get tough, the tough get
going, and we arrived safe in Sofia.
The last day we crossed South Bulgaria and
re-entered Greece (i.e., the really civilized world, although some
western Europeans may disagree).
Conclusion:
in some sense it was good to visit the last wild part of Europe, but I
would avoid the Transnistria experience again at any cost. Take good
care of your bikes before the trip - in certain areas, even a flat tyre
may cause serious problems.
There is a lot of car/bike theft in Ukraine and
Bulgaria - leave your bikes in guarded garages. The customs are always
time-consuming (even when you do not have to bribe). A GPS would have
been very helpful, especially for navigating inside the cities. Do not
expect people to speak English.
Bonus pictures:
Tour of Chalkidiki (second leg) in Northern Greece. Impressive
landscape and beaches.
Riding and swimming with my daughter in Peloponnese after the end of
the adventure.
2007
In 2007, I had three motorbikes: a BMW 1200 GS in Greece, a Yamaha FZ1-N in Hong Kong and a Yamaha FZ6-S in Singapore, where I stayed most of the year.
Malaysia
Tours
September 2007:
Tour of South Malaysia.
I started from Singapore with FZ6 for a tour of Southeast
Malaysia – on the road from Johor to Mersing
Pulau Tioman
Although
there are some excellent roads, the tropical heat and storms do not
make riding
very pleasant.
The road from Singapore to Kuala-Lumpur is an almost straight highway (and bikes do not have to pay tolls).
In KL, I met Sophie and my 5-month daughter Zoe who flew from Hong Kong.
Then, I crossed Malaysia
west-east and rode along the eastern coastline.
The best part was in the hills/mountains of the Malay interior. Curvy
roads and relatively low temperatures.
2006
Greece-Italy-France-Turkey
Next, I continued to France, where I spent a week in to Montpellier.
Here mountain-climbing.
Upon return to Greece, I joined Andreas for a tour of Northern Greece (here in Kavala),
and Turkey.
Our first stop Constantinople (Istanbul), a city with impressive monuments.
Agia Sofia
and Golden Horn Bridge.
Then, we continued south, towards the Aegean coast. Below, Canakkale, in Asia Minor.
Camping on the way.
Tired and dirty, we reached Cesme, where we took the little ferry to Chios - the Greek island on the other side.
Despite not being a very popular tourist destination, Chios offers some of the best landscape / bike routes
and beaches, that I have ever seen.
2005
Southern France, Basque
Country, Madrid, Pyrenees with Sophie
Southern France: Carcassone and Foix
Near the border with Spain: every village and a castle
Basque Country: San Sebastian
and Bilbao
(Guggenheim museum)
Santander,
Cantabria,
Spain. Beach on the Atlantic Ocean
The flat land to Madrid and sightseeing there
Going up the Pyrenees from the Spanish side
and traveling around the mountains
about 7,000 km in 10 days. Very nice and good shopping if you stop in
Andorra (especially for bike stuff).
Trip around the Peloponnese and free
camping in Elafonisos with Tony and Andreas
Not many kilometers but a lot of fun..
Bonus pictures from Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
and Santorini - tour of duty with Nikos
and friends from the Army
For older trips click here