OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
Morning Views of the Caspian Sea I woke the day after we left Baku to a beautiful sunny day on the Caspian Sea. The cool sea air was refreshing. Optimistically I hoped that we would dock today, one day ahead of schedule. The first sign that things were going to be different was my mobile phone had lost any network…
The Caspian Sea I arrived at the Azerbaijan border and passed through the Georgian side in 5 minutes. Then began the queuing for Azerbaijan. It wasn’t moving fast so I settled in for a wait. A friendly local chap introduced himself and we passed the time with him teach me introductory Azerbaijani lingo. Overall it took about 2.5hrs to get…
Kezbegi Mountains The Georgian border was a formality in comparison to the Russian exit. I waited in a queue for 15 minutes, handed over my visa, told them where I was going and that was it. Welcome to Georgia they said and I was in. I had a simple check by customs which was basic to say the least. I…
Hi everybody, I just wanted to say a quick hello. Technology challenges in ‘The Stans’ are making it difficult to update you on my progress. Since I left Tbilisi the days have been a blur. Boats (3 days on a leaky cargo boat), Borders (Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) and Boris have been keeping me occupied. Don’t fret some blog updates…
The weary travellers reach Baku Hi everybody, Just a quick note to say Boris, Kiwi Ted and I arrived in Baku at 11pm last night. It was a fantastic end to the leg. Baku city was buzzing and all action. There were cars and people everywhere. The city was beautifully lit as I made my way to the waterfront. With…
Two posts in one day? A public holiday in Egypt with a car stuck in customs allows for these little lucky breaks. We arrived at Iskenderun on the Friday to buy our ferry tickets. These were bought through an agent for Sisa shipping, Remon Travel. Tickets weren’t cheap – $180 each and another $590 for the car. We spent a…
At the campsite we were staying at in Cappadocia a large overland truck arrived with about 20 people on their way to Australia over the next 5 months. Unfortunately when there are a large number of people in the same campsite you have to share precious things like hot water and water pressure. You also invariably get yourself into at…
Leaving the security blanket of the EU and crossing over from Greece into Turkey was good training for the coming months. All Jules required with her wonderful maroon UK passport was 15 euros and she got a sticker. My not so wonderful green mamba South African passport meant I was sent back and forth between Visas and Border Control several…
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Διαβάζοντας σήμερα για πολλοστή φορά τις δημοσιεύσεις αλλά και χαζεύοντας επί ώρες τις φοβερές φωτογραφίες του Νίκου και της Γεωργίας, που με το τζιπάκι τους άφησαν την ελληνική μαλακ… εεε … πραγματικότητα ήθελα να πω και ξεκίνησαν μια περιπέτεια απ’τις λίγες, με πρώτο σταθμό την Αφρική, έπεσα πάνω σε μια φωτογραφία τους στην οποία φοράνε τα…μπλουζάκια μας! Θυμήθηκα τότε, πως…
Tuesday 11th to Wednesday 12th December 2012. Bolu, Istanbul, Svilengrad. The next morning we ate from the hotel’s buffet breakfast before setting off. We dined quietly with the many business men staying in the hotel. It was all very civilized and, well, sterile and unfriendly. Back on the road we turned Bluebelle’s heating up to full in a desperate attempt…
As we pulled our mud-caked vehicle alongside the twilight outline of the Flintstone’s Cave hostel in Goreme, Cappadocia we were greeted by welcoming staff and a few friendly Erasmus students. “Looks like you’ve had fun, what have you been up to?” one enquired. It would be a few days before the obscure images of the past 24 hours had cleared…
I am squinting into the midday sun, clinging to the side railings of our Landrover. Crystallized salt burns in the criss-cross cuts in my hands and my eyes no longer focus with exhaustion I am caked in drying clay that hinders all movement and dexterity Our car is tilting to roughly thirty five degrees, the maximum point, beyond which it…
Gallipoli 13/9/2012 Kilometres travelled: 30,639 Well the good ship Nikolay Konarev finally loaded our vehicles amongst 65 huge Turkish trucks and set sail for Mersin Turkey at 3.00am in the morning of Friday 1st September- 5 days after we first arrived in Port Said and 3 days past scheduled departure. Probably not too bad a delay for Egypt all things…
15th September 2012 – 16th September 2012 Gardabani (Georgia) to Qazax (Azerbaijan) border crossing: Note! You must go through the border on the main road. You cannot cross at Kesalo, and it is a long way back to Rustavi if you make this mistake (no bridge across the river to get back to the main road). We arrived at the…
This blog is a bit boring and technical, but we found it difficult to find up to date information on the internet about this route, as it goes via the relatively new border crossing between Russia and Georgia at Verkhniy Lars / Kazbegi. We stayed in Krasnodar at the Forum Hotel (see bookings.com) and in Nal’chik at the Korona Hotel…
Our remaining Iranian crony made a running jump out of the car as the border gates between Iran and Turkey rolled back to save himself from the temptations of the other side. A kindly Turkish border officer greeted us with big smile and a chuckle. It seems the relief on our faces to be finally out of Iran was a…
Turcia/ Turkey – Bulgaria – Romania 30/07 – 02/08 Ca de obicei cand ne-a placut un loc, am stat la taclale pana tarziu, desi a doua zi aveam de taiat Turcia de-a lungul, din Cappadocia pana la tarmul marii Egee. Dimineata a fost panica. Intra in scena Ceaiul Turcesc, solutia lichida anti-somnorosi. We knew the drill. We had a killer…
Turcia/ Turkey 28 – 30/07 Pe la jumatatea diminetii celei de-a patra zi de cand suisem la bordul navei, nu mai eram singuri pe mare. Mediterana parea neschimbata, dar orizontul era intrerupt de siluetele catorva vapoare. In sfarsit! Am asteptat ca ceva extraordinar sa aiba loc, dar nu a urmat nimic deosebit. Viata la bord era prea usoara, iar trecerea…
Gemma: After having three parts of Beefy break down on us in Europe, and all of the touristy things we have done so far costing lots of pennies, we decided the best plan of action was to plough on through Turkey, straight down to Mersin (the port at the other side) in order to get over to Egypt ASAP. Hopefully…
Position: 41° 03’ 06” North 28° 59’21” (Istanbul) Distance from Sydney: 15,080km “Magda gone”. It was the text message that I had hoped I would never send. It was midnight, in Istanbul, and I was sending the text message to Andres as I stood on the empty street looking at where I’d left Magda parked 5 hours earlier. I felt…
As kids, our family holidays always involved driving. Escaping the Tasmanian winter, we would tow the pop-top camper van, and later the trailerable yacht to the warm climate of Queensland. Dad would nearly always drive, and mum would navigate. Navigating the cities was an experience I will never forget, and I’m sure has been repeated in millions of cars the…
Truva (Troy) is well- known for being the setting of the Troian War described in the Greek Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. It was a factual and legendary city,located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey. Today is an archeological site and also famous tourist attraction. For us,…
After 4 weeks in Iran it is time to look back, and to reflect on the experiences. We have had so many new adventures, and we have seen so many new things that we could fill books with the stories. What fascinated us most and left us deeply impressed were the people of Iran, their cordiality, their hospitality, and their…
Many things are different here – very different. Even after three weeks in this country, we have not comprehended many things. But we want to tell you about some particularities, that have surprised us, or that are very characteristic. 1. Hospitality Nowhere else have we experienced such a big hospitality like here in Iran. We are regularly invited for tea…
We are in Iran now since 15 days, and we are already so full of new experiences and stories, it is hard to summarize everything. Iran is definitely completely different from the picture the media draw of it in western countries. All people we have met so far were friendly, welcoming, and honestly interested in us. Also police and officials…
In total, we were three weeks in Turkey – definitely not enough time for such a big and diverse country with lots of places and things to discover (at the bottom of this page you find some more pictures). Mountains, high plains, rocky and sandy coastlines, almost untouched corners, and highly populated landscapes, antique ruins, chaotic cities, historic sites, high-tech…
We have been in Iran now for about one week, and since so many at home were worried because of our travel to Iran we wanted to give you a short update. Our experiences so far were mainly positive, and the country really is fantastic. The people are friendly, open, helpful and the hospitality is enormous. We will write more…
We know motorcycle festivals at home – you meet like-minded people, you talk, you have a beer or two, you tell stories of your travels or you talk about the motorcycle techniques and equipment – some rock music and BBQ: these are normally the credentials of a motorcycle meeting or festival in central Europe. Now we have also experienced a…