Oh, not again

Breakfast at the hotel, then headed out into the busy Denzali traffic. It wasn't long before we got caught in one the shortest but heaviest rain showers of the trip.  

Dave pulled over on the pavement, but at the back, I spied cover in the way of a shed.  I dived in, and motioned for the rest to follow.

We sat it out for about 20 mins, then with blue skies ahead, bashed on to hot sunshine for the rest of the day.

Armed with our newly aquired knowledge of the law, we were being so careful about the speed limits. Frankly driving at 100 kmph, when the rest of Turkey can not only do 110, but is also allowed 10% over, is one of the most dangerous situations you can be in.  I expect the Turkish Minister for Roads has never been on 2-wheels since one fell off his tricycle as a child ... madness.

So, imagine our frustration when ....

.... aw, what now ?  Anyway, I guess they were just being inquisative as no sooner did they see the English number plates, we were ushered on our way.

I do belive we were stopped a third time, but again, waved on when our nationality became evident.  In fairness, big motorcycles are not that common over here so Im sure they just want to check whats going on.

From there it was mostly a day of main highways as we headed South to Antalya which a favourite resort for retired Brits.  I had always wanted to visit this place, but now, never again.  It's a huge metropolis with traffic to match.  Dave tried in vain to find a lunch spot, which was usually thwarted by having nowhere to park.

Thorpy got to test his ABS on entering a roundabout - just a heart stopper but in regaining composure, we had lost the others.  We rejoined shortly thereafter, and as we left the city, took lunch in a bistro alongside a shopping mall.

The remainder of the day went smoothly until at a routine fuel stop, Dave informed us the ferry company had called, and Turkish customs were having a one day strike, meaning we could not leave the Country as planned.  Dave stayed to make some phone calls, while I led the others onto Alanya.  Arriving our destiantion, and blaming the GPS, we got caught in the mother of all carnival parades, which reads as Traffic jam.

Lane splitting helped me but as Thorpy disappeared in my rear mirror, I realised his pannier arrangement, closly matches that of a bus, and he was unable to follow.  Dave had taken another route, arriving before us, but with the decency to get cold beers waiting on the bar...

Anyway, the ferry Company really offered no choice but to travel a day later, so rather than cover the relativly short 150 miles to the port in 2 days, we opted to have a rest day here, and do the trip in one hit.  Our bums were eternally garateful !