7500 miles and I am back where I started... blast!

The shipping option from Istanbul did not come together in time so I started the slightly demoralising return trip by myself, leaving Trabzon on 1st August. I took a different route through central Turkey to see some new sights and for the first 2 days I felt I was getting something new and exciting out of the whole disappointing mess, before the task became a hard slog of endurance and a matter of covering as many miles as possible. The Turkish scenery was outstanding and so varied that I could have been in Scotland, Arizona and then New Zealand in the space of 100 miles. I took the back roads to see things and avoid the big cities. I passed through Iznik, the renamed Nicea of biblical history. Then on to Istanbul and the border to Greece.

I left Istanbul on the morning of 4th August and 24 hours laters was in southern Italy in the harbour town of Bari. This was the most intense day of the return ride. I broke down in no-mans-land between checkpoints into Greece, owing to a faulty fuel pump controller. I was speechless with adulation that I had brought a spare. The BMW shop in Bristol tried to sell me one before I left UK, but I walked away, only to return 2 hours later thinking I perhaps ought to buy some peace of mind since this was a common fault. Twenty minutes after conking out I was back in the road after my spanner skills had been supervised by gun toting guards and a bored petrol pump attendant. Seven hours later I was standing at the port in Igoumenitsa buying a ticket for the midnight ferry to Italy.

The following morning after zero sleep on the pounding floor above the engine room and having made friends with a biker couple also on the boat, I was on my way to Rome. Lucianno and his girlfriend proved excellent road mates and when we arrived in the capital, Lucianno took me on a tour of 2000 years of history in 30 minutes. I snapped a few pics and zoomed off to his flat with him whereupon he gave me key and announced that he had to go away for a few days, but I could use the flat and prepare for my onward jouney. What a guy! So, after some pizza and a movie and a good night's sleep I was on the way again, with clean washing and clear head, up through Chianti country and on to Tuscany. A quick stop in Florence and Pisa for the obligatory tourist snaps and  I moved on towards Levanto and the mind blowing beauty of the Cinque Terre coastal region.

The next day I passed by Genova and blasted most of the way across the south coast of France seeing Monaco, Cannes and Sete (a small harbour town I visited as a kid). The holiday traffic made things slower than expected. There was absolutely no room in any campsite or hotel so the next night was spent in a motorway services near Perpignon under some trees with the tarpaulin stretched from the bike as an improvised shelter. I was surrounded by cars and camper vans and other travellers also caught out by not having booked. After 3 hours broken sleep I was up with the sunrise and continued on to Andorra for some stunning views, winding roads and a new SatNav tax free from the ski village at the top and then straight on down the other side of the Pyrenees into northern Spain.

The back roads of northern Spain begged to be explored on an off road capable bike but my heavily loaded BMW was not the tool for the job. I'll have to come back next time on a Tenere. Some more backroads across to Legorno and I was on my way to Santander for the boat to Plymouth. I arrived to find the last-minute price extortionate so I delayed another day and returned east to Bilbao and got the P&O service to Portsmouth. This concluded the 5652km solo return journey, 12 days of long riding, little conversation and a lot of petrol, all going the wrong way.

After a total of 7500 miles for the round trip I find myself back where I started. We spent a lot of money not getting where we wanted to go (the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan which borders Afghanistan) and I stand to make a loss on the sale of the bike.

However, there were some amazing highlights, I've had some valuable experiences and I have learned some valuable lessons, not least that you should not let your entire complicated plans rest on successfully negotiating Russian red tape.

I am leaving Bristol for Almaty on Saturday 22nd August, via Amsterdam for a few days with Jess so we can debrief, properly relax and prepare ourselves for returning to Kazakhstan and back to normality. I never thought I see the day when returning to Almaty was returning to normality but after weeks of floating round the UK, Europe and Turkey I am looking forward to routine and going back to get stuck into work. Vivat Haileyburia!