A WINTERS RIDE TO EPHESUS

Our first ride of 2009 started on a very cold January morning.

The usual suspects gathered at a petrol station in Ortaca, us on our Honda Transalp 650, Theo on a Kanuni GT250 and Byran on a Kawasaki ER-6f 650, we all met up and headed West to Mugla to collect Boris on his Honda Africa Twin.

After 15 minutes ride towards Mugla, Byran was suddenly in dire need of fresh Orange juice !

We then continued on towards Mugla which is a city almost 700 meters above sea level, we thought we were cold now but once we started the climb to Mugla the temperature really dropped off.

We met Boris on the outskirts of Mugla then we proceeded higher still over the cloud shrouded hills towards Aydin.

After another hour of freezing riding we needed to stop and warm ourselves.

We had an expensive breakfast of tea and old bread rings, once the pain from tingling fingers and toes disappeared we all removed several layers of clothing as we adjusted to the warmly heated  restaurant. After breakfast Linda felt the need for even more layers of clothing and put her waterproofs on, much to the amusement of all.

We noticed the mist and cloud had thinned a little while we were inside the restaurant and were cheered that the threat of rain or snow had eased a little.

After the ride down the hills towards Aydin we stopped at a petrol station giving away free coffee.

We soon  entered a Toll road, the best road I have ever seen in Turkey, it was three lanes each way and the surface was as smooth as a snooker table, it reminded me of the motorways in France or Germany.

The motorway also had very little traffic and both Boris and Byran (The racers) could not resist any longer and were off in the distance, we kept up to 140 kph but the cold became so biting at that speed we were grateful when the Toll road ended !

How cold is 140 kph in winter ? – just ask Linda !!

Once we arrived in Selcuk we parked up Turkish style and found a cheap kebab shop for our lunch.

After lunch it was only a five minute ride to Ephesus, Boris and Theo went of to a winery and byran carried on to Izmir, leaving just us to wander around Ephesus.

Although we have been to Ephesus once before, this time it was out of season and we could walk around easily without the hordes of tourists being in the way.

The main feature of Ephesus is still the Celcius library, nothing else has been reconstructed since our last visit.

We met up again with Boris and Theo after an hours walking around Ephesus and began our ride home, we stopped for petrol and for Theo to check if anything else had broken on his bike.

We stopped for coffee and to warm up on the way back to Mugla, poor Theo was still frozen in his riding position !!

They all had a spot of Turkish dancing at a petrol station to warm them selves, much to the puzzled looks of the petrol attendants.

We parted company with Boris at Mugla then we pressed on towards home.

~ by travelswithmymotorbike on January 8, 2009.