July 30: On the Road Again
Thanks to the more than capable hands of a kind Turkish mechanic from Luleburgaz, Adventure Baby and I were back on the road again today, making it through what I anticipate was one of our last non-European Union border checkpoints of the summer.
When my first, second, and third plans to get necessary maintenance done on my bike fell through yesterday, fellow biker and Facebook friend Hakki Orum was able to call in some favors to get the job done. Originally from Turkey, Hakki not only set up the appointment but also facilitated communication with Ali the mechanic when I first arrived at the shop.
The appointment with Ali turned out to be rather hair raising because of our difficulties to communicate, even when using the Turkish translator on my phone. I became concerned when he removed most of the body of my bike and started unhooking electrical wires. After all, I had asked for the chain to be tightened, the air cleaner and oil to be replaced, and the crankcase breather to be cleaned, none of which should have involved breaking down the bike so far.
A local translator was able to explain to me that Ali knew I had a lot of miles left on my trip this summer and wanted to thoroughly inspect every feature of the bike to make sure it was road worthy. I found out later he even checked the cylinder valves inside my engine. Once the bike was put back together, he insisted on giving it the most thorough cleaning it has ever had - covering it with foam, washing it off, and then touching up spots by hand with a rag.
Amazingly, Ali would only accept payment for the oil he used and refused to allow me to pay him for his more than three hours of labor, despite my repeated offers to do so. When I finally asked if there was something I could do for him instead, he asked me to reach out to a Facebook friend in Romania. I happily did so before leaving his shop.
Arriving at my lodging for the night in Corlu much later than expected, I hurried out to the city center to find some food to eat. The narrow streets were overflowing with pedestrian traffic, honking cars, loud music, and the voices of local shop owners beckoning customers to sample their wares. Settling on a small eatery at a busy intersection, I ate my food while taking in the night life around me.
I left Corlu early this morning, hoping to avoid some of the traffic congestion as well as the high winds predicted for the area that day. After about an hour of riding through strong cross winds past largely agricultural land, I arrived at the Kapikule Border Crossing near Edirne.
As was the case when arriving in the country, the border area was extremely congested, with cars backed up over a mile. As each vehicle took five to fifteen minutes to clear the first checkpoint, the line proceeded at a snail’s pace. Fortunately, it was apparently considered acceptable for me to ride close to the front of the line and a friendly motorist there let me in.
After making progress through the multiple checkpoints, I looked back on all the cars behind me and thought about how grateful I was this would be one of my last non-European Union border crossings of the summer. However, just when the last guard told me to move forward, another one shouted out, “hold up” and raced up to me. It turns out he wanted to ask me what type of bike I had and where I had traveled. What a relief!
Riding through Bulgaria, I noticed that the surrounding countryside was very similar to that in Turkey, with gently rolling hills, burnt yellow grass, and patchwork quilts of brown, yellow, and green fields. I did note that Bulgaria seemed to be less plagued with the thick smog that has blanketed most of the Balkans this summer. Fingers crossed this will continue to be the case.
