With Motorcycle to NORDKAP-Norway
Day-3 : 06 July 2016  Wednesday
from Cluj-Napoca - Lviv (UA)  >>>>Total distance : 515 km
10 hr 30 min

Day-3 :from Cluj Napoca (RO) to L'viv (Ukraine)

I woke up early in the morning around 06:30 and packed all my stuff and put them all into the cases of my motocycle. It is a clear and sunny day. After a moderate breakfast in the inner court of the Hotel Transilvania I went to the backyard of the hotel where I had parked my bike. 

I departed from the hotel around 08:15. The map was not loaded on my Garmin Zumo navigator and I fixed the direction to which I have to ride. My plan is to reach to the city L’viv in the West part of Ukraine. 

 I took the direction to the town Zalau. The landscape is wonderful. A lot of fields, meadows and agricultural facilities. There are villages around the road. It is little bit cool. It is around 16-17 deg C. There is a changing topography. Slight slopes and hills are in harmony.The speed limit is 50 km/h within the villages. This is very important in Romania because sometimes there are speed scanners and police control. 

50 km after I left Cluj, there were some mountains to climb. The mountains and the nature was spectaculiar. There are a few hotels and holiday resorts in this section. I stopped at the entrance to Zalau in order to buy some fuel.

I am heading to Satu Mare which is a city in the nord west border of Romania. After Satu Mare I ride in the direction of Baia Mare. The signs on the road related to the border crossing are very poor and after 18 kms I turned to the left in the direction of Halmeu according to map reading. Halmeu is the border town of Romania with Ukraine.

A few kilometers before the border line I saw a fuel station and bought some fuel in order to spent all my Leis. The Romanian border officials are checked my docs and stamped my passport and I left Romania in 15 minutes and I entered Ukraine. Typical old fashion “Soviets” type controls and application started.

They have long registration procedures. There is no visa requirement from Turkish citizens. It took almost half an hour to get in. Just after the entrance there is a fuel station at the left. I rode in and was trying to find a guy to ask about money change there come a a guy and he spoke with broken Turkish to me. He was a funny guy and expressed his best wishes for the feast “Ramazan Bayram”. Most probably he is one of the Turkish origin guys living in Romania. He directed me to the next market where they make money change. Just after 1 km on the right hand side at the road I found the market. I requested for the money change some money. 

Important Hint : Always change money (30-50.-USD equivalent) at the borders. Do not make profit calculation! You may lose some but you feel yourself safe. Anyway this money can be spent for fuel or something. 

The first 30 km s after the entry to Ukraine are bad. The roads are very bumpy and uneven. It was not paved in many places. I followed the route to Berehova, Mukaceve and Stryj. After getting to the main road in Mukaceve the quality changed and the road conditions became better. After Mukaceve there are mountains of Ukrainian Karpats. The roads are good but there was heavy rain. 5-6 kms just after the mountains began, I stopped for rest on the right hand side. There was a very nice restaurant and gift shop.

I have eaten my apple which I had taken from the breakfast basket in the morning.

Then I started to ride but 5 minutes later a heavy rain started on the mountains.

Very urgently, I rode to a sheltered barbecue site in a few minutes and I put on my rain stuff and also rain gaiters. I started to ride further in the direction of L’viv. It was raining very tough.

The signs at the road are very clear. L’viv and Kiev are clearly written. Without needing any map or navigator someone can get to the target. Very close to L’viv I stopped to buy fuel and the take off my rain gear. Because there was no rain and the sky was clear 30 km ahead to L’viv. There came also some other Ukrainian bikers and we talked a little bit.

I haven‘t arranged any accommodation in L’viv. So, as soon as I was in the city center I looked around and asked for hotel. The taxi drivers are poor in English. Language is a problem in general. Circulating in the city I saw a sign of a hotel in a side street. I stayed in

Stepana Bandery Str and Saharova Str are merging into Kopernika Str

LEOTEL in the Str.Lukyanovicha,3  79012 L’viv. The hotel has got also a private parking lot just at the side of the hotel. I parked my bike safely there. It is a very nice hotel and 400-500 meters to the city center. It was 18:40 when I was in the hotel.

Typical street in L'viv

Right after that I walked down the Kopernika Street and I was in the down town.

Art installation on the Street Kopernika

I walked in the Svobody Avenue. I took some pictures in the city. There are a few small and narrow streets all with old buildings. 

Shevchenko Monument in the centre

Shevchenko is adjusting the clock

Opera House of L'viv

Centre

Armenian Catedral on Virmenska Street

Then I sat in Chleb Koniczyna Restaurant at the Virmenskaya Street. It is a small restaurant but nice service and good food is available.

Narrow streets with old buildings

I ate a pumpkin soup with Parma ham and Greek Bugazza (=peynirli kızartma börek).

I paid roughly 7.-Euro incl. a glass of wine. After dinner I walked the streets and I found a well-furnished coffee shop called “Kava Int’l”. I tried their own “kava” which was very tasty.
The ambiance is also very beautiful in the coffee shop.

 Then I climbed up the street Kopernika and I came to my  LEOTEL.

The streets of L’viv are paved with stone. It looks good but motor bikers should be careful when it is wet and rainy. Food and beverage is cheap and in general the ambiance of the city is old fashioned and friendly. The hotel charged for one night 28.50 USD incl. breakfast.

I need to say good night !!

With Motorcycle to NORDKAPP-Norway
Day-2 : 05 July 2016  Tuesday
from Ruse (BG) to Cluj-Napoca (RO)  >>>>Total distance : 520 km

After my first night on the route to Nordkapp I woke up early in the morning. I requested the guy in the reception to open the door of the garage. One guy opened the door and I took my bike to the open area in front of the hotel entrance. After I put the inner bag into the topcase I went to the breakfast hall which is on the 1st floor. The breakfast was included in the price and I have taken my breakfast viewing the Dunav river. There is no rain this morning but the weather is partially cloudy. Around 08:15 I departed from the Grand Riga Hotel heading Romania. Todays route is given herebelow.



Day-2 : July, 5th,2016 . From Russe to Cluj Napoca

The border between Bulgaria and Romania is around 4-5 kms from Russe. There is a long steel bridge made many years ago above the Dunav and this connects two countries. The vehicles must pay before crossing the bridge but they do not ask payment from the bikers. Due to repair works we had to wait on the bridge around 15 minutes. Then, I crossed Dunav and arrived to the customs on the Rumanian side. Here, they have checked my documents
and stamped my passport.

I started to ride in the direction of Bucherest. The roads are not so well but it is OK. Close to Bucherest at the morning time the traffic was heavy. I bought fuel. It is 5.43 Lei/liter. I took the connection to the highway just before Bucherest. The connection to the highway is really long and time consuming. The roads are under construction.

After reaching the highway, life gets easy. I took the direction Sibiu. The route goes  via Piteşti. Last time, when I was doing Balkans Tour in 2013 I had taken another route from Bucherst to Sibiu. I had driven via Braşov.

Because of the maintenance work on the main road the traffic was linked to side roads.It was better though. I rode nicely on the curved road with nice view. Around Ramnicu Valnicea I saw a restaurant where there were two motorbikes on the left hand side. They were trying to stop. Out of plan I rode into this station and I found out that the two guys are from Turkey. We sat a quarter of an hour there and we drank coffee. We chat a little bit.
They were doing their motocycle trip in Bulgaria and Romania. 
I appreciated very much to know these two guys. Hakan is the name of one of them.
Then I continued to ride to North whereas they continiued in the South direction to Piteşti.

I passed Sibiu. The weather was very good and clear so I aimed to stay in Cluj Napoca.
The roads are very good from Sibiu to Cluj. Long highways have been constructed in the meantime. Sometime on the side roads and many times on the highway I reached to Cluj Napaco.

.....from Wikipedia 

Cluj-Napoca (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈkluʒ naˈpoka] ( listen)), commonly known as Cluj, is the second most populous city inRomania,^[5] after the national capital Bucharest, and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (324 kilometres (201 miles)), Budapest (351 km (218 mi)) and Belgrade(322 km (200 mi)). Located in the Someșul Mic River valley, the city is considered the unofficial capital to the historical province ofTransylvania. From 1790 to 1848 and from 1861 to 1867, it was the official capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania. 

As of 2011, 324,576 inhabitants live within the city limits. 

Cluj-Napoca experienced a decade of decline during the 1990s, its international reputation suffering from the policies of its mayor at the time, Gheorghe Funar.^[12] Today, the city is one of the most important academic, cultural, industrial and business centres in Romania. Among other institutions, it hosts the country's largest university, Babeș-Bolyai University, with its famous botanical garden; nationally renowned cultural institutions; as well as the largest Romanian-owned commercial bank.^[13][14] In 2015, Cluj-Napoca was European Youth Capital.^[15]

Since I haven 't booked any hotel, I had to look for a hotel. Right in the centre square (Plata Unirii) I asked a young guy to help me finding a hotel. He tried to find on the internet via his celular phone and he tried hard and called a couple of hotels for me. But we were unsuccessful because the hotels were fully booked. I continued to ride in the centre and suddenly I found Hotel Transilvania on the Regele ferdinand Street. It was phantastic. Right in the centre with an open private parking area with locked door. And the price is 165.-Lei.
I parked my bike in the backyard and moved to my room on the second floor which is easily to recognize on the picture (Second door left).

Hotel Transilvania, Cluj

Transilvania Hotel is located on the main street and with a private parking behind it.

After putting all my stuff into my small room and having a shower I went out in order to discover the city. There are very nice old buildings well maintained. Some houses are not in good condition. 


In the evening I found a restaurant called BOEMA (www.casaboema.com). The ambiance and the food is perfect. Including the Cremé Brulé I paid only 
102.-Lei which is around 23.-Euro.

After the dinner I walked to my Hotel and wanted to sleep because of the next days ride.

Street V.G. Corvin

Catedral in the Piata Unirii

Some old buildings of Cluj

Monument

City Theatre and Opera House

With Motorcycle to NORDKAP-Norway
Day-1 : 04 July 2016  Monday
from Istanbul to Ruse (BG)  >>>>Total distance : 620 km

I started to prepare my stuff days ago prior to my departure. As technical tools I also added tyre prepare kit (I wish not to need them at all during my trip).

I did put also my rain gear and also gloves which I had bought for my Silk Road trip to Uzbekistan. I finished all my preparation on the 3^rd of July.

This time, I decided not to make any hotel booking in advance. I will act according to my mood and the conditions at all. If I am happy and the roads are good to ride I will go further, otherwise I will stop somewhere on the way. For this trip I have also added one tent, one mat and sleeping bag. So I feel safer. It can give some unexpected things but I need to try this version, too.

I made a short breakfast at home and I departed around 07:30. I took the highway TEM from Istanbul in direction to Edirne. I followed the route up to Hamitabat and then I decide to use country roads in order to enjoy riding. I followed the instructions of the Garmin Zumo 660. It took me really through small villages in order to make the route shorter.

Around Kavaklı just before Kırklareli I took again the regular streets and the highway to reach to Edirne. From the peripheral roads I took the direction to the border “Hamzabey”.

Hamzabey is the name of one of the border passes between Turkey and Bulgaria. 

Before reaching to Hamzabey I filled my tank at Lalapaşa town.

It took only 15 minutes to complete the procedures at the Turkish side. Then I passed through the Bulgarian side which was also reasonable. The roads are good and well covered. The maps of Bulgaria were not downloaded in my Zumo 660. I have got only

The maps of the North-East Europe which does not cover Bulgaria and Rumania as well.

I asked some people at the border how to go to Ruse (with the Turkish name Rusçuk).

I followed the instructions and found my way very easily. After Hamzabey (Lesovo is the name of the town at the Bulgarian side) I followed: Elhovo, Yambol, Kotel, Omurtag, Targoviste, Razgrad and finally Ruse. This is a very nice road through the country side and with a few nice curves for motorcycles.

According to the suggestions I also stopped for lunch at the junction where the road deviates for Kotel-Omurtag. There is a popular barbecue restaurant at the road junction.

Chicken barbecue and salad with “ayran” (drink of yoghurt) is only 4.-Euro.

The weather was very nice. Just 200 meters before reaching the Hotel a heavy rain started in the city Ruse. I did not changed and I preferred to hurry to the hotel. I stayed at the Grand Riga Hotel. It is a tall building constructed many years ago and they have renovated it. It is also cheap in price. 78.-Leva is the price incl. breakfast and closed garage for the motorcycle. It is roughly 40.-USDs.

The map of the down town Ruse.

View from the Hotel Grand Riga:- Tuna River

View from the Hotel Grand Riga:- Tuna River and the city

View from the Hotel Grand Riga:- Tuna River

View over the city Ruse.

 

The bank of the river Tuna.

Piers at the side of the river Dunav.

Piers at the side of the Dunav.

Floating Restaurants

One of the streets of Ruse down town.

 After the rain slowed down, I went out from the Hotel and walked down to the bank of the river Tuna. I enjoyed my walk there and took some pictures of the Tuna. Then I walked to the main square of the city Ruse. Svoboda is a big square and there are restaurants, cafés and bars around it. There are also some important government buildings like Court of Justice and the town hall. At one end there is a big hotel. There is “Monument to Freedom” in the middle of the square. I set down in a restaurant called “Happy Bar and Grill Black Mamma”. I ordered a beer a few sushi rolls and a fish with sauce. At the end I took a Crème Brule. Later on I walked through the streets and ended up my day in the Hotel Grand Riga.

Conclusion : Ruse is a Bulgarian city at the river Tuna and might be used as overnighting purpose from Turkey to the North. Hotel Grand Riga is offering closed garage and good prices. The location and the view from the hotel is very well.

26 March 2016 :- AUSTRALIA >>>Sydney (Last day of the journey)

AUSTRALIA :-  Sydney

21th Day: 26.03.2016

Practically this is my last day in Australia. I have my pre booked Sydney Opera House Tour at 12:00 and I have got also a ticket for the Requiem Concert at the Sydney Opera House. It is a day for relaxation and smooth activities.

After a fine sleep during the night I woke up around 08:00 and then I started to walk on the

Wattle Str. down to the Sydney Fish Market. It is approx. 1,2 km from the hotel where I am staying. On the left hand side of the street there is a big green park close to the Fish Market. Some people are doing sport at this nice weather.

As I came closer to the Fish market I wanted to take some pictures but I recognized that I have forgotten the memory card of the camera at the hotel. So I walked back to the hotel, took the memory card of the camera and then came again to the same place.

At the Sydney Fish Market

 

Mud Crabs, alive ready to buy
Anyway, I looked around in the fish market. The people have already opened their shops and benches for the new day. There are various sea products like shrimps, oysters, lobsters, fishes any kind all around. In some shops within the market there are also ready to eat sea food which were very attractive even in the morning. I tasted some sashimi and  similar small items.

Sydney Fish Market

After leaving the fish market I walked the Pyrmont Bridge Road and crossed the Pyrmont Bridge at the Darling Harbour.

Crossing the Pyrmont Bridge, at the Darling Harbour.

It is very nice to walk in the city in the Saturday morning. The George Str took me to the Rocks. The Rocks is a historical part of Sydney. It is the oldest convict settlement in Australia.

Street Markets at The Rocks

The Rocks markets (=shopping huts) are open every Saturday and Sunday as well. I stopped at the Guylian Café and took a macchiato. Walking at the Overseas Passenger Terminal I saw the big cruiser still there. The passengers of it where spread out enjoying nice weather of Sydney City.

Sunny day at Sydney Cove, the big cruise ship in the background.

I walked to the other tip of the Sydney Cove where there is the Sydney Opera House located. I had to get my tickets at the ticket box. After having them I came to the meeting point of our tour group. A nice tour guide took us into the various sections within the building. She explained technical facts and history of the building.

From Wikipedia :

“ The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia, identified as one of the 20th century's most distinctive buildings.^[3]

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973^[4] after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The government of New South Wales, led by the premier,Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation.^[5]

The building and its surrounds occupy the whole of Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove, adjacent to the Sydney central business district and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and close by the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Though its name suggests a single venue, the building comprises multiple performance venues which together are among the busiest of performing arts centres – hosting well over 1,500 performances annually, attended by more than 1.2 million people.^[6] A wide range of performances is presented in the venues, by numerous performing arts producers, including four key resident companies: Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, more than eight million people visit the site each year, with around 350,000 visitors annually taking a guided tour of the building.^[7] The building is managed by the Sydney Opera House Trust, an agency of the New South Wales State Government.

On 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^{[8] “}

This is the design philosophy behind the Sydney Opera House :- Sails of a ship

One of the performance halls of Sydney Opera House

Tiles of the roof have been manufactured in Sweden

Precasted concrete modules are holding the building together

Perfect symmetry is everywhere in the building

Percasted beams of special cross-section of the Sydney Opera House

Our nice guide at the entrance of the Utzon Room-Utzon is the Arcitect of the Sydney Opera House

In the Utzon Room
In my opinion, those who are studying architecture and/or civil engineering must see this building. It pumps the enthusiasm and creativity.

After finishing the tour roughly in one hour we met with Lilette in front of the box office.

She had also bought ticket for the same concert as me. We walked into the concert hall.

It is fantastic and really big space inside. Occasionally, without knowing each other’s seats we had bought almost neighbored seats at the same row. We had only two seats between us.

Audience of the "Requiem" at Sydney Opera House

Orchestra

Orchestra

The concert “Requiem” of Mozart was fantastic. It was finished around 16:00 o’clock. When we came out we walked to the Rocks where we met Hakan, son of Lilette. He was waiting for us there. We sat with him at the Bavarian Bierhaus and ordered two beers.

Meanwhile, Lilette wanted to make shopping within the Rocks’ shops. Later on, after buying some souvenir she came to our table and we continued to chat altogether.

Hakan found a Japanese Restaurant to dine. It is Sushi Yachiyo in 1/13 Kirketon Road, Darlinghurst (Tel.02 9331 8107). Then we walked to the restaurant. It was a long walk from the Rocks. It is a little restaurant with cozy ambiance. We sat around a small table and the food was wonderful.

After the dinner Hakan called Uber Taxi and we all drove to our Hotels. They first left me at my Hotel. It was around 22:30 when I came to my room. Tonight I am going to have short nap because my flight to Dubai departs at 06:00. I have already ordered through the reception a taxi which will pick me up at 03:30 from the hotel.

I packed all my stuff and started to sleep the last night of the Australia+NZ journey. Tomorrow will be a long day on the way to Istanbul.