A North Africa Trip 2010..40 days ,11.000km

Hello dear friends
..
Firstly sorry for my weak English, and my lack of desire to write another LOOOONG report with English... So I will try be breaf as possible.. (I have the Turkish report on www.ikiteker.org ).. I will do my best to show you how AMAZING that trip was... so feel free to ask any questions.. I will help you as much as I can..


it was a tour that we made at 2010, before everything gets mad.... lots of things seems to changed now, but I am sure it will be OK in time..



THE RUOTE: TURKİYE ,SYRİA ,LEBANON ,JORDAN ,EGYPT ,LİBYA ,TUNİSİA ,İTALY, GREECE , TURKİYE....







THE BIKE : 2001 Africa Twin RD07 , with my lovely wife as an passanger..





The actual plan was spending 40-50 days for nearly 22.000 km.. BUT we couldnt get the visa to ALGERIA, so we skip ALGERİA, MOROCCO, and SPAİN..


We made 11.000 km in 40 amazing , unforgettable days..


Algerian embassy makes us suffer for some months to NOT GIVE the visa.. and at the end , they cheated us in Turkey by telling “you can get the visa on Tunisia”.. wich was a lie...

PREPARATİON : PDF formated Lonely Planet books (easy to carry ) ... Gps maps, wich I collected and converted 40 handmade files to one file (for zumo 550) ... lots of maps (michellin maps are the best) .. full of 4 season clothes , camping stuff , equipments and lots of Tshirts :)



SALT LAKE / TURKEY





DAY 1 : 9<SUP>th</SUP> SEPTEMBER 2010 : BANDIRMA-ADANA : a 1.000 km one shot ride .. below are the pics of the salt Lake (TUZ GÖLÜ) in Midle Anatolia.. amazing place





















2 .DAY :ADANA(TR)-HAMA(SYRIA) a 3 hours border pasing procedures!!! Than HALEPPO and the Nice castle trip (below two pics)







than to the coast to LATAKIA: nice coast town, lots of dirty hotels, but good food...




The bike is safe ...



Nice view , and lots of car noise from dusk till dawn...





Syria is a smoking free country, so you might think to make your breakfast OUT of the hotel, unless you have a appettite of TAR SMOKED BREAD... breagghhh


On the coastal higway you can find looooots of breakfast buffeys... fresh baked breads and pides on wood fire, with hot black tea with lots of sugar .. I looove it soo much..


the MARQAB CASTLE on the coast higway..




very nice view, and good tea /or Turkish coffe, and very very freindly and gentle people...

Before we head to HOMS we take a look to the KRAK DES CHAVALIERS..amazing Castle with a great view









After the castle visit, we head to HOMS, than to north to HAMAH wich is famous with its Wather Weels... Nice place..No traffic, great old streets for long walkings... nice hotel close to the river (HOTEL SARAH)...













































3 . DAY... HAMA-PALMYRA-DAMASCUS :


Last view to HAMA..



Road to PALMYRA






First stop is the castle, wich is the best view to the ancient city



















































The road from palmyra to Damascus












DAMASCUS... Hotel ORIENT PALACE.. &#304;ts a Beautiful, old stylish hotel in the city centre , across the historical Train Station





























5 . DAY .. DAMASCUS -MAALULA-BEIRUT : We start our tour early in the morning, targeting MAALULA, SEYDNAYA villages.. wich are the Cristian villages ..


MA ' LULA






























SEYDNAYA













Syria-Lebanon Border



A painful 5,5 hours border crossing!!!!




We will reach to Beirut &#304;F WE CAN pass this mountains...



A DEATHLY trafic wich I still cant belive that how we crossed the mountain road..... .. We reach to 1.550 meters in 20 minuts , wich makes us look like Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniles in DUMB and DUMBER... After the 40 C desert heat, the cold makes us cry like puppies...





Finally we reached to Beirut... very beautiful luxury streets, filled with Porshes and Lamborginis.. But still TOO HOT to look a hotel in that traffic....









After a nice city tour we leave the crazy trafic behind and try to reach to one of the beautiful mountain villages..


BEITY AL DINE (BE&#304;T EDD&#304;NE) is one of the best place and with an amazing nice hotel .. HOTEL LA BASTIDE..(below, center of the picture)







6 . DAY. The hotel owner is an amazing lady, wich prepare us the best Brakfast that we made in that 40 days trip.. also she gaves us some appels and stuff for the road..




















JEZZINE






After we finished the mountain roads, we lower down to the coast.. our plan is to see SA&#304;DA (Sidon), if we like it we will find a hotel and swim etc... BUT when we arrived to Saida polis stop us and take our pasports, and ask to follow to the Police Station.. we arrived to the police sattion , they asked hundrets of questions, than they tell the last words .. DONT STAY IN SAIDA... We still dont know the reason, some people said, there was a terror attack, some says that there was a plague...





Traffic?? wich direction????



Pink Taxi Cabs used by ladies...



Tea brake on 1.560m













After that rush on the mountains we turn back to Damascus.. the border passing was faster then before (3,5 hours)..






7 . DAY DAMASCUS-BOSRA-AMMAN :
A view from KASYUN H&#304;LL .. too much moisture... You better try to come at night, the city view is amazing... the hill is full of Nargile pipe and cofee shop..




BOSRA: a amazing ancient city and his theater ... its near to the Jordanian border..






















Syria / Jordan border crossing was nice, at least we waited in air-con saloons, not under the desert sun... (2,5 hrs)


8 . DAY...AMMAN : the capital of Jordan... once again a nice city with kind people... The hotel is HOTEL CANARY... cheap but not the best place to stay... The city center is built on several hill tops... the steets are like ant mazes, wich is easy to loose your brain compass.. so Taxi is cheap and a better way to see the town....


the Citadel















After the citadel tour we arrange a Taxi Cab to take us some close distance places. Called AJLOUN CASTLE and THE JERASH.. we share this tour with Louis, a Belgian BMW 1200 ADV rider wich we meet at the Canary Hotel..


the AJLOUN CASTLE










JERASH: an amazing ancient city with Chariot races on the sand track and Gladiator shows
























A gift from our taxi driver Mr.Waleed



For a nice taxi drive around the city : TAXI WALEED +962 79 56 20 490

When the sun dissapears we finish the car ride and take the bikes to discover the modern parts of Amman... we also meet OMAR, a Amman guy who is working in Germany and came for a holiday with his BMW 1100RT.. Me and Louis are following him in to the city... after the sun set, the streets become alive.. all the shops are open nearly to 02:00 .


He drive us to the MECCA MALL shoping centre... and his choice on food was the place called “SEN5ES” (its written wit a “5” in the middle).. its a reastorant wich serves to your 5 senses by music,a beautiful decoration ,and of course with the meal... nothing to say, &#304;t was the best meal of my life.. I lost the contact infos with Omar, I hope you are reading this... please write me...


















9 . DAY: AMMAN-DEATH SEA :


Taxi WALEED:






after we saw Waleed agian , he gave the directions of death sea and some advises to stay.. We take the mountain road wich also cross with the holly place MT. NEBUU.. wich is a good spot to see the Death Sea from above.. there is also a nice temple and a museum.....


Lots of moisture on the air.. The view fromMT.NEBUU, Death Sea and &#304;srael











400 METER BELOW THAN THE SEA LEVEL..... AMAZING ..







DEATH SEA PANAROMIC VIEW CENTER.... a nice museum and a great view..



















HAMAMET MA-IN : a hot spa, a natural waterfall massage.. good decision to stay overnight..






it was too early to stay in a hotel, so we hit the amazing mountain roads, and try to find a petrol station....




THE AMAZING MOUNTAIN ROADS...












for the night, the best choises are in MADABA, also a place to full your tank... I found two nice hotels there... MARIAM : big, nice, with pool ,but crowded... and the neightbour hotel is SALOME : niiice, good food, good staff, beautiful and clean rooms... There is also a loundry and a good supermarket cross the street.... so a nice place to stay if you want to visit the Death Sea, MT Nebuu, and all the nice places around..

DAY 10 ....18th SEPTEMBER : DETH SEA- PETRA


Walley Mujip: a wet adventure trought the walley...









DANA NATURE RESERVE, AND DANA VILLAGE..











PETRA : its a MUST SEE natural and historical place....


The hotel is VALENTINE INN... a backpacker hotel with the best view and the best food















Nice meal everynight...








The traditional Valentine &#304;nn night : every night you can watch INDIANA JONES 3 on a VHS... as you remember the movie has scenes in Petra... For me, first time on my life I see Petra in this movie... and what you see in the movie, is what you will get for real... it is amazing...


a scene from &#304;ndiana Jones .. a full HD , vide screen movie :)







11 . DAY .. PETRA : There are free shuttle servise from the hotel to the entrance of PETRA.. I cannot find words to describe the beauty of Petra... You need a ful day, or two days to descover all the corners of that amazing city... Dont forget the hot, and take some liters of wather.. and one liter for the cats :)


Sun rise from the balcony of Valentine &#304;nn...









33 Jordanin Dinari is 45 USD












the main entrance of the city, and the legion that protects it...




















AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL YOU FACE THE AMAZING TREASURY BU&#304;LD&#304;NG














CATS OF PETRA






A “THANK YOU” HUG BY A TH&#304;RSTY CAT





After you see the treasury, you have two options... following the path to the old city, or climb up to the HIGHER PLACE OF SACR&#304;FACE path.. wich leads you to the old city center brom above.. hard to climb, great view...


THE “HIGHER PLACE OF SACR&#304;FACE” PATH









N&#304;CE V&#304;EW ON THE TOP
















THE CAVE OF PHANTOM :)



















































12 . DAY : WAD&#304;-RUM, AQABA : Todays target is WAD&#304; RUM... its a national park with breath taking natural sceneries.. Petra- WadiRum road is a cool mountain road, than you lower down to the walley wich is hot like hell..


WATCH THE CAMELS!!! DONT R&#304;DE AT N&#304;GHTS















THE WADI RUM ENTRANCE






The Rum Village is the last point that you can go with your own vehicle... the sand is too soft to ride a bike or an ordinary car... you need a 4 wheeler... we made an arrangment with a tour guide for tomorrow : a 6 -7 hours 4x4 ride and camping at the desert.. N&#304;&#304;&#304;CEE :)



ROAD ENDS AT THE RUM V&#304;LLAGE...



we spend the night at AQABA.. a great place for scuba diving.. We also made a little snorkeling and see the underwather heaven gardens.. you can see the shores of Israel, you can evem swim there but Israel is NOT AN OPTION in this tour... we also planed to go there but if we get a israel stamp in our passport we will get banned from some African countries.. so we didnt risk it...


SHORES OF ISRAEL





DAY 13 : WADI RUM TOUR.. we meet the tour quide, left the bike and everything in the owners garden, jumped on the 20 years old Toyota Landcruiser.. and made beautiful 7 hours tour on the wadi....















V&#304;LLAGE RUM.. END OF THE ROAD...











































ANCIENT BEDOUINE CARV&#304;NGS...








THE CAMPSITE ,UNDER THIS ROCK!!






DINING SALOON, VEEERY NICE FOOD, AND TEA ON OPEN F&#304;RE..






We get hit by a storm at 3 oclock in the morning, also there was a little rain and rainbow in at the morning.. its was a strange and nice experience in a desert..












14 . DAY.. BACK TO PETRA: After a great breakfast on the desert camp, we turn back to Petra.. we spend the rest of the day by walking around in the city, and get wet by the rain...







A BEUTIFUL SUN SET AFTER THE RAINY DAY



A GERMAN R&#304;DER, MART&#304;N.. H&#304;S X-TRA&#304;L is SPONSORED BY TOURATECH










DAY 15... TO EGYPT : We left Petra early in the morning to enjoy the mountain roads... The Ferry to Egypt left the Aqaba harbour at 11:00, and in 2 hours you arrive to NUWEIBA.





The ferry trip is very fast, but the procedures in Egypt is K&#304;LL&#304;NG US!!! bribes(bahsheesh) is very comon in egypt.. so be prepared..



S&#304;NA peninsula has the same surface like MARS.. it makes you feel that you are on another planet... There are soo many police checkpoints in Sina... so be patience..



DAHAB is a city for scuba diving.. so its a nice place to rest... the hotel is BEDOUINE MOON (a.k.a REEF 2000)








16 . DAY.. DAHAB-CA&#304;RO : First place to visit is the BLUE HOLE.. its a natural treasure... a 120 meter underwater cave, wich killed some divers... it would be a good experience to dive in there..


THE ROAD TO BLUE HOLE









Police didnt let us to the Blue Hole , becouse we were not divers... so we hit back to Sina roads, and to Snt. Catherine monestery..












THE EGYPTIAN LICENSE PLATE... this photo make me suffer for 5-6 days, &#305; think I get a puncture on my inner tube right here..



THE SAND SHIPS... SUEZ CANAL



CROSSING THE SUEZ BY UNDERWATHER (AHMED HAMDI TUNNEL)



ENTERING CA&#304;RO W&#304;TH A SAND STORM..



if you come to Cairo, your place to stay is ZAMALEK.. wich is the center island of the cairo, Good hotels, nice parks, good spot to reach every corner of Cairo..


the picture below is the entrance of HOTEL HORUS.. this holes in my tires killed me for days... &#305; spend 5-6 inner tubes, we almost makes accidents, and most imortantly we canceled our UPPER NILE trip to the south becose of thoose problmes.....




17 . DAY.. CA&#304;RO : OK here is the thing : Forget everything that you heared before about Cairo... The traffic is Not so big deal..... CR&#304;ME? What crime?, this is the safest mega city in the world.. the populatin is about 15.000.000.. you can walk in every street in the middle of the night.. lonelly girls will get some “attention” and hear some “beautiful” words.. thats all... but nobody is going to rape you are ask your wallet with a knife in his hand.... Taxi: VEEERY cheap... PEOPLE well if you came with a tour bus, you will see the shittiest places , and the stickies annoying people of cairo... but if you came here with your own... just walk the streest and see how freindly and kind the people are..


Todays first visit is the 187 meter high CA&#304;RO TOWER.. wich is also in the &#304;sland ZAMALEK.. this tower is a MUST SEE place, both in day time and in the night...


THE TOWER



THE PYRAMITS, MORE V&#304;S&#304;BLE &#304;N A CLEAR DAY..

































THE CA&#304;RO MUSEUM : this is the only picture that you can get.. You cannot enter the museum with Cameras, leathermans, usb flash disks, flash light etc etc... the only thing that you can carry is WATER.... the museum contains the best treausures on the world icluding the belongings of TUTANKAMON... Breath taking.....





ABONDENED HUMMERS IN ZAMALEK



THE ELEVATOR OF THE HOTEL WAS SO OLD, MY W&#304;FE PREFER THE STA&#304;RS



THE HOTEL, W&#304;CH &#304;S ON THE 5<SUP>th</SUP> FLOOR







18 . DAY .. THE PYRAMITS .. well there is NOTHING TO SEE.. just take some pics and go back to cairo to enjoy the city life...





&#304;ts veeery hot,there is no were to buy wather, you need extra tickets to see the inner pyramits (wich is a waste of time), the tickets are sold seperatelly in different hours, the sellers are veery annoying etc.etc.






























THIS IS A MUST SEE, THE SOLAR BOAT MUSEUM













THE INNER V&#304;EWS OF THE PYRAMITS... : once again NO CAMERAS.. we took the pics with a cell phone.... the tunnels are veery narrow, hot, humid, stinky... its a straith line from the entrance to the coffin chamber.. dont try it if you are claustrofobic..















after the pyramit visit we just enjoyed the city... walking with the Nile, eating nice things, drinking loots of different fresh juices, let me tell that this city gives you peace in your soul... I am sure you remeber the riots on cairo, there was very very less violence according the mass... these people are peacefull belive me...















THE TOWER AT NIGHT:




















19 . DAY .... THE BIKER AHMED ANWAR : I spend almost all my day in Anvars bike shop... he is the kindest person &#305; ever meet.. if you have any problems with you bike, he is your man...


AHMED ANVAR
N 30 01 17 23 (N30 01.289)
E 31 13 48 65 (E31 13.825)








AHMED ANVAR

























The Hot Spot of Cairo is in ZAMALEK .. the UMM KOLTHUM(famous folk singer) square is a nice place to watch the Harley Davidson parade on weekends (weekend is friday and saturday...sunday is working day)

Great ride report Salih!

Loving you RR Salih, Please post more.

Excellent. Thank you for sharing this experience that most of us will never know otherwise.

Very nice

thanks for sharing


more please

That may be the longest post I've ever seen. Beautiful! Keeps all the crap comments out... like this one. Haha. Keep up the good work!

Outstanding! Always wanted to do a trip like that...
Thanks for sharing!

DAY 20 . 28th SPTEMBER 2010...WE TR&#304;ED TO GO TO UPPER NILE: We woke up with a flat tyre... I f&#305;nd a tyre shop to fix it.. than we hit the road to south.. to the Upper N&#305;le, where the amazing ancient cities and palaces are... we want to reach EBU SIMBEL in the Sudanian border in some days... BUT here we go again with the tyre problem..






After we destroy three more inner tubes I gave up... we found a truck and go back to Cairo.... we did 300+300 a 600 km go and back trip... we reached to ANWARs shop middle of the night...









there was nothing to do in this hour.. we left the bike in the shop and go to the hotel...




21 . DAY . CA&#304;RO, ONCE AGA&#304;N : Until the bike is ready we decide to go to the CITADEL and the MILITARY MUSEUM....

The Citadel..
















THE CA&#304;RO TOWER FROM THE C&#304;TADEL



THE MILITARY MUSEUM















There are soo many things to see in CA&#304;RO, the pictures below is the CAVE CHURCH , also there is a very strange place called GARBAGE CITY.. wich we skiped becose of my tyre problem ... so it might be an interesting experience.. try it....








after the tour in Cairo we get the bike.. the problem has solved for sure.. they removed the tyre and the rim.. they clean the rim with a jet brush, to remove some sharp edges that I might couse by removing the tyres... I never had any problem since... But of course we lost the appettite of upper nile, also we were 5-6 days late than our plan... so next time we said...


oh!! I almost forget .... after we get the bike from Anvar , we made a evening tour to see some alternate places.. in 20 minuts I made 6 accidents!!!!!!!!!!! they were very simple hits, nothing is broken, just some scratches on both bike and cars... no body did tell me anything.. they just smiled and asked WHERE ARE YOU FROM, with a huge smile on their faces :).. I loove this city... (but you better take a taxi)


THE BAROON PALACE: stange castle in a stange continent








22 . DAY .. HERE WE GO...: we left Cairo, but promise to come back and stay more...
Today we try to reach to the Libya border as much as possible... some police checkpoints stop us for a liitle time, not a big deal comparing to L&#304;BYA..... a terrible wind makes us crazy , wich hits directly by our right side.... lots of pain in the neck..



The wind , wich trows tiny sand bullets in your skin and eyes...

Wind makes me very tired.. it was veery hard to keep the bike on a straight line... so we stoped in a summer town called MERSA MATRUH..

it was a nice hotel with a nice view.. BUT as the sun dissapers the street filled by people... from dusk till dawn, the horns, cars, wedding conwoys, screemin kids, fireworks.. oH my God.... we fall asleep at 05:00.. and woke up at 06:00...... bad energy to start the day...

23 . DAY .. L&#304;BYA .......... Libya is the 16<SUP>th</SUP> largest country in the world.. and comparing its size , there is NOTH&#304;NG to see.......
We were very tired from the last night... we arrived to the border early... I can fill some pages bty writing how we suffer in the border for 5,5 Hours.... there is nothing to say, I dont want to remember it.... People are nice, but the procedures and the police are makes us S&#304;CK....


Bribe is not an option.. everyone is helpfull, and try to help you as much as possible... everyone is happy to see you in his country... But the police checkpoints, nearly in every 20km makes us craaazy... “where are you goin.... where do you come from... where you gonna stay, bla bla bla” ... its a strange country.. very kind in one hand, and makes you tired in the other hand..


after we cross the border we try to find a hotel... they tell us the hotel at the picture below.. it was SOO expensive.... so we keep go&#305;ng to TOBROUK..wich was a mistake..


HOTEL AL-BURD&#304;



some things to say about Libya:
TRAFFIC: YOU W&#304;LL NOT SURVIVE , this is the craziest traffic that I ever see, we saw soo many bloody accidents, they are riding like they are immortal... be VEEERY carefull
PEOPLE: very kind and helpfull. As I say they are very happy to see you.. but they still want to kill you with their car.. :)
MILITARY CHECKPOINTS : This would be the only reason to not come again to this country.... in every 20-30km you are stopping and spending 15-20 minuts to explain yourself.....
DIRECTON PLATES: all in arabic, if you get lost.. you are totally lost..
C&#304;T&#304;ES : Boring.. nothing to see


we find a terrible hotel in TOBROUK.. its a famous city in the 2<SUP>nd</SUP> World War, so I thought this city might have some nice places to visit.... but NOTH&#304;NG...and the hotel was the worst place in my life.. oh yes I forget to tell CAMP&#304;NG is not an option..




24 . DAY TOBROUK-AJDABIYYAH.. : An endless desert road wich you need a day to finish...






I twist the trottle as fast as &#305; can, becose the fuel is free.. at least cheaper than wather... but as we getting close to the city, we hit by the sand storm.. I took some pics before we completely lost our vision ...


SYEP BY STEP &#304;N TO THE SANDSTORM












we spend the night in a nice hotel .. HOTEL AMAL AFRICA


25 . DAY ... TO LEPTIS MAGNA : This was a useless day.. We ride all day lond. And reached to Leptis Magna at the night...


26 . DAY :: LEPTIS MAGNA : another MUST SEE place.. maybe the only thing to see in Libya.. &#304;ts a Huge Roman city .. but not bigger and better then EFES in Türkiye.. One of the most intersesting thing was the four faced main gate... hard to describe the beauty... this is the moment that you wish a time machine to see the glorious days of the city...

























































as we finished the city we hit the road again to TUNISIA.. on the road we entered to the capitol TR&#304;POLI... once again.. nothing special... we made a simple tour and eat some things


TR&#304;POL&#304;





















we spend the night once again in Libya... we prepared ourselves for tomorrows Border Crossing Stress....


27 . DAY ... TUN&#304;S&#304;A : Woke up early, and come to the border, I prepare my self for 5 hours stupid procedures..... we crossed to Tunisia in 30 M&#304;NUTS !!!! what?? are you sure?? really? Oh we were soo happy..


... Friends, Brothers and sisters... let me tell you that you can call some countries as a HEAVEN... and yess Tunisia is one of them... this country is soo beautifull..


As we pass the border, our world changed soo fast we couldnt believe it... the traffic, the people, the weather, animals, threes, earth, even the clouds was looking different... no no it was not becouse of the weed.. it was really really beautiful..


we stoped at the fisrt town BENGARDENE.. nice people nice food... after a short brake we made our route : TATTOINE , KSAR AOULET SOLTANE , CHENNINI., GORMESSA.. GHOMRASSEN , KSAR HADDADA , MEDDENINE , METAMOUR. , HADDEJ , MATMATA...


We made a great ride on a good asphalt road, beautiful mountain roads, a perfect weather.. and reach to TATTOINE.. the hotel was La GAZELLE. Veeery clean and peacefull ..


our room in La Gazelle





28 .DAY..TUN&#304;S&#304;A and STAR WARS : Todays first stop is KSAR OULET SOLTANE. theese are traditional granaries wich you can see all over the country..

















CHENNINI: a very old village wich is in a protection by international heritage counsil .. or something like that..










After some more village and granarie visit we came to KSAR HADDADA wich is the set of Star Wars THE PHANTOM MANACE... now it is a hotel... the other half kept as the original. A very gentle guy gives us a tour in the place and show the old and the new granaries.. also some scenes of the movie... one of the rooms there was his personal W.W. Collection... some German and U.S fuel tanks dated 1942. niiicee :)

























we ride all day long and saw soo many things... this is why I like this country.. so many things to do and see in one day...











yes my first reaction was the same: WTF???... than I remeber that this mountains are famous with its fossils..















at the evening we arrive to MATMATA.. another Star Wars set for the NEW HOPE (1977). everybody remembers the house that Luke Skywalker grow up right?.. this is it... But first to the Hotel, bath, food, sleep... the place was veery beautiful as all the Tunisian hotels..















29 . DAY..... MATMATA and KSAR GHILLANE : We take a tour in the famous movie set wich turned now as an hotel... nothing left from the old decoration from the movie, but there are some handmade pipes and cables etc.



























SOME OF THE TUN&#304;S&#304;AN HOUSES



THE ROAD TO KSAR GHILLANE...















KSAR GHILANE : its and OASIS like in the movies.... a wather, comes from the undergrond an feed the palm trees..... BEAUTIFUL......


THE POOL AND THE SPR&#304;NG



























EVEN W&#304;TH A HARLEY..



THIS SHOWS THE SIZE OF THE OASIS.. THE REST &#304;S A SAND SEA...












OUR TENT



OUR NIGHT V&#304;EW AND THE PALMS



THE DEATH BABY SCORP&#304;ON &#304;N MY V&#304;D CAMERA....ST&#304;LL THERE

fantastic RR!

this will help me planning my trip...

30 . DAY ..8th OCTOBER 2010 TAMERZA... it was a great peacefull desert sleep..the day started very early for us.. there are lots of places to go... our target for today is TAMERZA, wich is famous with his valleys and watherfalls.. we croosed the DOUZ salt lake... and stopped for a short brake in TOZEUR...


Tozeur is one of the biggest oasis in tunisia... there are 200.000 offical Date Palm trees.. this oasis has about 200 water spring wich gave 60.000.000.liters of wather to earth (about 15.milion gallons per day)... unbeliveble.. also this oasis has his own Zoo and bothanical park... we didnt spend too much time in it, so &#305; dont have any pics of it..


THE SALT LAKE









CHEBIKA, one of the litlle oasises...






TAMERZA: silent peacefull village...



A oasis hike under the rain







31 . DAY..... EL-JEM and HAMMAMET : we made a little Tamerza tour, to see the watherfalls, and cross the tiny oasis road wich was sooo beautiull.. when we were on the watherfalls a very gentle gift shop owner gave me a Salamder to play.. wich was a “first” in my life..











THE OASIS ROAD















we started the day with very good feelings and a good energy.... we ride again the curves of the mountain roads with a big pleasuere .. then lower down to a walley wich will lead us to SFAX and than EL- JEM :)


The pictures below are some cactuses with fruits on it, I dont know the names but &#305; love them veery much..






The valley to SFAX



EL-JEM: the second largest COLLESIUM after the one in Rome... but the condition is much better.. you can see it from all over the city.. the Galleries are in a perfect condition...




















LOWER GALLER&#304;ES



A SIGN ,ONE OF THE OLD V&#304;S&#304;TORS..






After a long ride, we come to HAMMAMET , one of the finest holiday city of the Med Coasts.. the hotels name is BEOU DE SOLEIL very nice place, close to beach



SUN RISE AT THE HOTEL




32 . DAY.... HAMMAMET.....CAP-BON.... CAP&#304;TOL TUN&#304;Z... after a nice breakfast we left the bike and everything on it to a coffe shop and start to tour the famous HAMMAMET and its old citadel...









































we are heading to CAP BON.. on the road we visit the KEL&#304;B&#304;A CASTLE


















CAP-BON is a national park wich is famous with its Hawks, and scenerie... but the weather was soo bad that we didnt see anything...



Also we go to the ROMAN CAVES wich is closed becose of a movie shooting.. the 4<SUP>th</SUP> Pirates of the Caribien , On Stranger Tides...... now the aim is to reach TUN&#304;Z.... the best city that I see in this tour.... The best location is to stay is the town LA GOULETTE, wich is 8-9 km to the city center, and 8-9 km to SIDI BOU SA&#304;D on the oppsite direction... also the ferries to Europe are leaving from this harbour..


here are the MUST SEE places on Tuniz.. TUN&#304;Z, THE OLD BAZAAR, THE NEW CENTER, THE BOULEVARD, SIDI BOU SAID , CARTAGE HARBOUR , CARTAGE MUSEUM, BYRSA HILL AND ITS CATHEDRAL, BARDO MUSEUM. And some more things.....


CARTAGE HARBOUR, and the Byrsa hill at the background





33 . DAY...THE ALGER&#304;AN EMBESSAY .. we try to find the embessay to get our Algerian visas... here is the story:


&#304;n Türkiye , we spend months to get the visa from the consulates... both &#304;stanbul and Ankara bureaus asked soo many stupid papers from us we did everything that they wanted...... in fact they didnt want to gave the visa... but they are too coward to say that.. after some MONTHS they said “ you can get the visa from our Tunisian bureau”... but it was a lie..


as we arrive to the Algerian ambessay in Tuniz, they said “we only give Visas to the Tunisian citizens” also they were very rude and not so friendly.. they send us out.... I was soo angry and sad.... alll my Algeria,MOROCCO, SPA&#304;N dreams vanished ...


After a long walk in the city, we try to forget that sadness and try to enjoy... we convinced ourself that The rainy season was started, wich will makes us suffer in the high ground in Algeria and Morocco, we were behind of our time line etc.etc. So we keep enjoy the rest of the trip..


ONE MORE TH&#304;NG.. The ALGER&#304;AN and the MOROCCAN land borders are CLOSED for 10-13 years.. you need to cross to Spain and ride back to morocco... this is the ONLY safe solution... unless you dont want to join the poor French family , slouthered at the south of Algeria.. Also the route that we wanted to cross are the DRUG MOUNTAINS .. it is OK to pass , I didnt hear too much violence... but I guess the government didnt want us to see those places... so if somebody did this tour, please share with us and tell us HOWWWW!!



So our first stop is S&#304;D&#304; BOU SA&#304;D... wich you need the train from the Tuniz center or a veery cheap taxi ride... also we arrange the ferry to &#304;taly wich is in 3 days... so we have time to enjoy this place and around...


V&#304;EW FROM THE HOTEL BALCONY.. THE FERR&#304;ES TO &#304;TALY AND FRANCE...



THE V&#304;LLAGE S&#304;D&#304; BOU SA&#304;D...




















THE TOP PLACE OF THE V&#304;LLAGE.. A COFFESHOP W&#304;TH A N&#304;CE V&#304;EW BUT BAD FOODS........ try the sandich shop at the entrance of the village..









34 . DAY ..TUN&#304;Z-B&#304;ZERTE-TUN&#304;Z : we hit the BYRSA HILL early in the morning... this hill is famous with his cathedral, and the CARTAGHE MUSEUM..


Climbing to BYRSA HILL



huuge AL ABIDINE MOSQUE



THE HILL, the CATHEDRAL















V&#304;EW OF TUN&#304;Z FROM BYRSA HILL



V&#304;EW OF S&#304;D&#304; BOU SA&#304;D



DOWN FROM BYRSA H&#304;LL



WATCH TOWER AND THE BOULEVARD AT N&#304;GHT






IF THERE &#304;S A M.A.C SHOP THE TOWN IS THE BEST :)



EVEN THE CATS ARE FRE&#304;NDLY AND JOIN YOU FOR A COFEE





35 . DAY....JUST TUN&#304;Z : today we will tour the old bazaar, and the boulevard

















ENTERANCE OF THE OLD BAZAAR























we entered from the east gate and exit from the west gate wich lead us to the main square and where all the government buildings are...pool sides are very good for rest the tired legs..


















as we were having a cofee at the boulevard, two cops start to beat a young guy... I shoot some pics, but I stop when &#305; come eye to eye with one of the police :)








36 . DAY...BARDO MUSEUM .. THE FERRY TO ITALY.. : the ferry is at 8 at the evening.. so we have a full day to keep riding all around the city..


first stop, BARDO MUSEUM






























after we spend our day by riding like crazy all around the city we came to the harbour... The ferry is taking off from Tuniz, stops in Palermo S&#304;C&#304;LY, than keep go&#305;ng to SALERNO, wich took 25 HOURS!!! oh noooo...........


Once again no border procedures.. thank God...






LAST LOOK TO TUN&#304;Z..



as we were waiting to enter the ferry we meet 4 Greek bikers NIKOS (F800) , MAKIS (1150GS) , JOHN (Varadero), ve GEORGIOS (VStrom)... They were amazing.. I send my regards and love if you are reading this..


The rooms are very good ventilated, with no vindows.. you need lots of food for the next 25 hours.... and the waves were terrible... we HATE SHIPS!!!!











37 . DAY.. FERRY-SALERNO : we arrived to Palermo at the morning.. but this not the end of the journey.. we will sail another 10-13 hours to Salerno... . On e of the most boring way for a transportation...


PALERMO












We arrived to Salerno at 9:00 pm after a terrible voyage.. it was dark and a little rainy..Our Greek brothers didnt let us go by ourselves.. They took us to their hotel, and they look after us for the following days. God Bless them....




38 . DAY . AMAZING AMALF&#304; :) : NIKOS tell us that they will make a ride for a coffe to AMALFI, they promised that will be the best ride of your life time.... yes &#304;T WAS..









the road toAMALFI was soo beautiful... but we didnt have our coffes, becose there was nOT A S&#304;NGLE spot to leave the bikes... even GEORGIOS had argument with a sailor, than two police officers...


Geogios fighting for our parking spot... :)



we loose the fight...











another fight for another parking spot.. we loose that too.. BUT WHO CARES .. THAT TR&#304;P WAS SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL.. Thank you Guys...



AMALFI is a nice alternative if you want to go POMPE&#304;, VESUVIUS and NAPOL&#304;. but. we did this trip before so we turn back from the same road to salerno than we crossed the country to BARI on the Adriatic coast..















JOHN, GEORG&#304;OS , NIKOS, MAKIS




















39<SUP>th</SUP> and 40<SUP>th</SUP> DAYS. We crossed the Adriatic to IGOUMENITSA (GREECE) with another ferry ride .. than we sapparet from our Greek brothers and ride to THESSALONIKI.. stayed for a night with a good Greek friend Georgios Klaras.. than ride home at the following morning








THATS ALL.. I hope you enjoy it... Friends, who wants to do a similar trip, please feel free to ask questions, wich &#305; try to do my best... Thank You ...

Fantastic!

amazing trip....

my brother wanted to do the same ...but the current financial condition of my country plus the political situation in Syria, Egypt and Libye has left the planning for another time...

Thank you all for your comments.. I am glad that you liked the Report...

dear GZpainter . yes you are right about the political problems.. L&#304;BYA is a real problem even in the piece time, so now its like hell.... as for the other countries, dont worry, You can cross Syria , to Jordan safely.. also Egypt is fine.. but you cannot make a cirle like I did.. so maybe in a year Libya will be in a better condition.. or you can spend all your time in Türkiye :)...

Thanks for taking us with, this was a real cool report and I enjoyed every bit of it s

How much did it cost sleeping over at the oasis in Tunisia?

To: AfricaWim.. "How much did it cost sleeping over at the oasis in Tunisia?"

There are some options.. you can lay your own tent, or stay in a tent hotel.. We stayed on a 40USD tent hotel wich was really great... also there is a 215USD luxury air-con tent hotel for another option...

awesome trip brother.

I wonder how much money did you spend for gas?

cool trip :)

Süper bi gezi olmu&#351; keyifle okudum abi selamlar sayg&#305;lar

to: BlueDreamWay .. The Fuel Prices???<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o></o>
Well brother , the fuel prices are the cheapest thing in this trip... As we are using almost the most expensive fuel on the whole planet , its normal to worry about it :) .. (todays price in Turkey : 2,64USD/Litre wich is 10USD/Gln)<o></o>
<o></o>
I spend 551 Liter of fuel wich costed me about 480 USD... (5,0 lt /100km for Africa Twin)<o></o>
<o></o>
The fuel prices at my trip , SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2010 (USD/L&#304;TRE)<o></o>
<o></o>
Türkiye: 2,14USD/Litre<o></o>
Syria : 0.70 USD/Litre<o></o>
Lebanon:0,88<o></o>
Jordan: 0,70<o></o>
Egypt: 0,35<o></o>
Libya: 0,11<o></o>
Tunisia: 0,76<o></o>
&#304;taly: 1,52<o></o>
Greece: 1,76<o></o>