After three days in Istanbul we are about to cross the Bosphorus into Asia and begin the long road across central Asia to china. Having been here before we were only too glad to spend more time in this Ottoman and Byzantine city, if only to have a good srcub in the Haman.

From Dubrovnik we followed the coast into the mountains of Montenegro, after a relaxing stop in the Fjiord that leads to the fortified town of Kotor we crossed the unspoilt hinterlands to the old Capital.

Albania came as a surpise and is country desperately trying to shake off the contraints of it's past, although much of the country is forested wilderness apart from the 700,000 concrete bunkers.

Lake Orhid in Macedonia proved to be a tranquil respite after the vigours of Albania's roads, which took their toll on our backsides and the bike suspension. We crossed into Greece only to find the the new suspension on the bike had broken and so we had an unplanned stop in the port of Thessaloniki where the bike was repaired by the charmingly helpful family that runs the Yamaha shop.

A long ride took us the 650km to Istanbul following the Aegean Sea.