Delorean World Tour - Travel Blog

Day 6

Details: Created on Saturday, 12 September 2015 15:27

09/10/2015 Ankara – Sivas (Turkey), approx. 300 miles

After the eventful and long day yesterday, we were happy that our tour was a bit more tranquil
today. Having slept an hour longer (breakfast at 9 a.m.) we packed our things into the cars and left
Ankara to the East short past ten.

The 450 km of the today’s route only took us 6 hours, solely interrupted by a fuel stop, where the
station’s owner invited us spontaneously having a Cay tea (Turkish tea) together.

Here in Anatolia the roads have 4 lines all the time, but mostly in bad condition or still in work. Thus
our average today was only about 70 – 80 km an hour.

The landscape is undulating, deserted but magnificent. In and around the towns there are various
stands where melons, pumpkins and porcelain figures are offered.

Reaching Sivas we did three laps of honour through the inner-city until a Back to the Future Fan lead
us the way to the hotel (which was really hidden).

After a little walk in the city, dinner and our daily “paperwork”, all three of us will go to bed early
today.

Translation by DWT-Translation-Team

Day 5

Details: Created on Saturday, 12 September 2015 15:14

09/09/2015 Istanbul – Ankara (Turkey), approx. 282 miles

This morning we thought of an easygoing trip to Ankara, checking in in the hotel, meeting a few
people and having a relaxed evening. Though this day took us very far from our expectations.
After the overnight stay in Uygar’s and Meyra’s living room, they served us an enormous Turkish
breakfast which would have been easily enough for five persons. That’s the typical Turkish
hospitality! At about 10 a.m. we made the Deloreans ready and after Wolfgang gave a last interview,
we hit the road half an hour later.

Of course there had been congestion leaving Istanbul, but then the motorways began to get empty
mile by mile. The Turkish highways have mainly three lines in each direction and are in perfect
condition. Compared to this the German Autobahns are farm tracks.

We came across wonderful landscapes and mountain ranges until we reached our destination Ankara
and our hotel “Grand Sera” at about half past 3 p.m.. Of course we attended exactly the mandatory
maximum speed limit in Ankara, thanks to our digital GPS-speedometers!

The hotel manager immediately cleared three parking spaces so that we could park our Deloreans
directly at the hotel’s entrance. We couldn’t even unpack our luggage as a crowd of fans surrounded
our cars. As it turned out Uygar published the hotel’s address via Facebook and even from Izmir
(which is 600 km away) the fans travelled to Ankara to see a Delorean once in a lifetime. It is just
overwhelming how friendly the people welcomed us here. We didn’t expect this at all!

After half an hour full of fan-talk and sitting in the cars we then eventually could check in and move
into our hotel rooms. Our hotel is near the marketplace, so we explored the small alleys with their
various stores.

At about half past six p.m. Ankara’s classic car club “Raiders&Brothers” announced their visit – we
appointed having dinner together via WhatsApp. About ten classic cars, from an Oldsmobile to a 69’
Volkswagen Beetle and some other daily drivers came punctually to our hotel and anew there was a
big crowd in front of the hotel. The club’s members were very friendly and after the introduction of
people and their machines the club escorted us through Ankara’s chaotic (as we felt it) traffic. They
announced us some sightseeing, but that was something different. The convoy stopped at a gate
with an armed guard. The gate opened and the guard wished us “Einen schönen guten Abend” (“a
pleasant evening”) in perfect German. As it turned out we now were at the mausoleum of Kemal
Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish state. Especially for our visit the responsible officer opened the
memorial – relationships surely were a factor, because the head of the classic car club greeted
everybody by handshake. We had the unique opportunity to take photos of the yet first Deloreans in
Turkey in front of the mausoleum.

The whole situation seemed somehow unreal to us – our photographer Wolfgang gave everything as
well!

After a group portrait with all participating cars our convoy drove to a nearby shopping mall. There
we ate delicious burgers for dinner. Same story here: a crowd around our cars

Finally Raiders&Brothers guided us back to our hotel and again we had another “crazy” day with lots
of “Worldwide Encounters” on our tour.

Translation by DWT-Translation-Team

Day 4

Details: Created on Tuesday, 08 September 2015 23:11

09/08/2015 Edirne - Istanbul (Türkei), ca. 160 miles

Today we saw every kinds of traffic, from empty highways at the beginning of our stage up to mega jam in Istanbul.

After departure at Edirne the trip was 90 miles through empty (toll) highways, apparently the majority of Turkish drivers use the free public roads.

Near Istanbul, a 20 Million megacity which continues to expand bigger and bigger, more than 30 miles all cars drove almost only at walking pace.

In any case, you can not die in starvation or thirsty, because every few meters drinks and meals are offered by hawkers right in the middle of the freeway.

Shortly after the Bosphorus Bridge which connects Europe and Asia (we are now already in Asia!), we drove to a nearby residential area and met Uygar, the founder of the Turkish Back-to-the-Future Club.

We had a Turkish lunch and after that we went for a short sightseeing trip to the Bosporus.

Later that afternoon we joined a 'Back-to-the-Future'-Party at Cafe PI, a bar on the European side of Istanbul. The Turkish fans were completely 'crazy', our cars were photographed thousands of times and we answered countless questions about the Delorean.

Shortly before we left suddenly all traffic stopped and a huge demonstration by thousands of Turkish nationalists past us and chanted slogans loudly. We used a short gap to escape quickly.

On the way back the same mega jam as in the afternoon... We have not experienced normal traffic in Istanbul – does it really exist?

Day 3

Details: Created on Monday, 07 September 2015 18:02

09/07/2015 Sofia (Bulgaria) - Edirne (Turkey), ca. 210 miles

Half past nine seems to be our daily starting time, after a short tour (Navigation system start problems ...) through Sofia downtown we found our way to the highway towards Turkey. There are unusual traffic signs for central europeans.

After approximately 150 km, the motorway changed into normal street and this look we had for the next hour and a half ...

Suddenly Wolfgang reported by radio "look for a gas station to stop, I have only 1.2 bar Air pressure back right" After the first diagnosis, it turned out to be part of a cutter blade, but thanks to chief mechanic Wolfgang the tire was repaired within half an hour.

One hour later countless parked trucks appeared on the right side of the road, estimated 5 miles. Thousands more trucks later we reached the Turkish border.

We have heared the worst stories about long waiting time, hence the fairly short stage today, as a kind of buffer in case. But within 20 minutes we were through customs and immigration, and we found ourselves in Turkey.

Half an hour later we were already in the hotel parking place of 'Trakya City Hotel' the border town of Edirne. The hotel is new renovated and with super motivated staff, definitely worth a recommendation.

Day 2

Details: Created on Sunday, 06 September 2015 23:24

09/06/2015 Slavonski Brod (Croatia)-Serbia-Sofia (Bulgaria), ca. 345 miles

After a hearty breakfast we started at 9:30 am on the highway towards the Croatian-Serbian border.

Custom clearance was very quick

and we continued our way through Serbia on quite bumpy and sometimes empty highways.

We stopped twice for a short coffee break, and reached the Bulgarian border at 4 pm. Again, the custom clearance was finished in just half an hour and there were only 20 miles left to the Bulgarian main city Sofia.