Many thanks to the North Pole Marathon and my great friend Richard Donovan for ongoing support of the run. Richard’s North Pole Marathon www.npmarathon.com is known as the ‘world’s coolest marathon’. He also organises the Antarctic Ice Marathon & 100k www.icemarathon.com at the other end of the planet, which was Lonely Planet’s top marathon pick for adventure travel in 2014. Richard’s Volcano Marathon www.volcanomarathon.com in the Atacama Desert is one of the highest marathons in the world and was recently listed by British Airways as the second most scenic marathon in the world, one place behind the North Pole Marathon!

Hi Again. Spot not updating this morning. I am in Becej about 80km from Hungarian border. i hope to cross on Thursday. I will be heading for Baja where I got an invite from well known Hungarian race director Gyula Erdesz
I expect to arrive Friday, Thanks Gyuala I look forward to the goulash you and your mom have promised me and also the shower!!
I hope Hungarian ultra runners can come out and run. I will not be running into Budapest, sorry heading for Bratislava. Where I got another invite from Josef who is Vlastik’s brother. Some may remember Vlastik from Burnie, Tasmania, he is an ultra runner also. He made a daring escape from former Czechoslovakia. I blogged it then if interested in archives around end of Feb 2013. It will be interesting to hear from his brother.
Oh almost forgot 46,000km yesterday, I am taking these things far too much for granted. I tell you that thousand was amongst the toughest, pushing Nirvana on the very narrow roads with no shoulder. I remember estimating pushing her is about an extra 20% effort and obviously I am a lot more tired now. Fergus Owens will be sad to hear that me and Nirvana are having ‘ relationship problems ‘ at the moment, for she is like an unwanted child to me now, I wish I could escape her!!
Thanks to the man who stopped on the way into Becej and stopped his car on a narrow bridge to hand me a burger. I have to be honest I was thinking to myself East Europe has many nice people but people seem so afraid to help as mentioned before… I am afraid to say cold is the word that comes to mind There was  cyclist called Yugoslav who gave me an invite in his house but I would have had to go back 3km and was a bit too much pushing Nirvana. However I agreed if we could get someone to mind Nirvana overnight, in a barn and there were many. We asked at about six houses, I am not authorized seems to be a favourite saying here also in Bulgaria and Turkey. A man did but I would have had to return before 5am before he left for work. I didn’t accept the invitation, I just ran another 5km and camped in a field. I was not asking for much, just to park Nirvana, so this was still playing on my mind but this man handing me the burger put a smile back on my face and it tasted so good! Thank you mister

I am also in touch with tough female Hungarian ultra runner Edit Berces. Edit needs no introduction to ultra runners  as she is the holder of the female 24 and 48 hour world treadmill records among many other records. She seems to be very busy and moving around a lot but I hope we can meet up on the road somewhere near Bratislava.

happy Independence Day to all my American readers and friends!

Am doing well in Serbia now.

July 4th 48km

Total 45,848km.

Please watch out for a picture blog of Iran coming soon, about 30 photos.

I hope to do same for Turkey in a week or two.

I thought it would be wise to wait a few days in Serbia before posting this just in case Bulgarian border patrol are reading!

Thanks so much to Barry Drennan for sponsoring my two night stay in Zoran’s hostel as mentioned in last blog.

.

First night in Bulgaria I got rained out. Let’s just say I didn’t put my tent up properly, I learnt a big lesson as I spent the whole morning trying to dry my down summer sleeping bag out. I decided to run with it on Nirvana in the afternoon.
I run as far as the outskirts of Svilengrad town. Just been thinking to myself that I ran Iran and Turkey and did not see a single church. That is not to say these countries are intolerant as Iran has a sizable Jewish community living unhindered in Tehran.
In Istanbul one man told that churches are there its just they prefer to be discrete. I was especially surprised in Turkey.
I stop at a cafe to take a photo of a statue of a border guard and his dog which is just across the road.

“Communist? “
I ask a man called Dimitri. He tells me no.
The inscription says 1972 so I don’t know
As I  drinking my tea a Bulgarian Orthodox Catholic priest called Father George comes in and gives me some chocolate with my tea.

That's Father George in the middle.

I am just about to go when the proprietor puts a knife and fork down on my table.
I am told to sit down and eat a huge Bulgarian salad compliments of Father George  This gives my gear an extra half hour to dry outside on Nirvana.

Next day 32km to finish at another TIR restaurant in the village of Byalo Pole. It was another sluggish day running along the quiet roads in the Bulgarian countryside. I ran over short rolling hills past wheat fields where quizzical farmers stopped to see what I was up to. People always address me in their language expecting me to be fluent in every language under the sun from Thai to Myanmar, Hindi, Farsi, Turkish and now Bulgarian. They surprisingly almost always seem surprised when I can’t answer!

People may have been wondering what I was looking forward to as I was running towards Europe and may be surprised to know one of my desires was to be able to have a good shop in Lidl supermarkets   Ah yes, wine gums, American hard gums, oatmeal, good chocolate and more. Well that’s what I bought in Harmanli’s Lidl.

More power to the sheep

Also another box of liqueurs which I didn’t get to eat on the road. Think I am becoming a right old Sheila as my Aussie friends would say! I need the calories is my excuse.  I hope I can stop eating when this is all over!

I am told Bulgarians don’t find it cheap living here. A couple of people told me they earn about 200 euro a month. In Iran a head master told me he earns 500 euro a month while a petrol pump attendant earns the same in Turkey.

That day I ran 37km on the glorious back roads through some nice villages called Dushevo, Gtadnitsa and Berievo.

Many elderly people stopped me and like babies trying to communicate without a language I always know what they are asking… Where are you going Where are you from and what are you doing…
I swear all that changes is just that order!
Sometimes I stop and take their photo but always wave and smile.

Ladies on the road to Hell!

That night in Berievo I went into a restaurant and stayed late for there were a lot of people watching world cup football. A man and his cousin said I could stay in his cousins house that night. We communicated in Spanish as this man lived in Spain and many Latin American countries for twelve years. His and his cousins  names I never wrote down, shame on me!

Mr. Road to Hell!

Like most people here they drink too much alcohol unfortunately. The shops are used as bars which sell 2.4 litres of beer for about 1.25 euro.
He told me the cousin earns 120 euro a month when working but there is not much work.
He also tries to dissuade me from taking the road I am taking for it is like a Chris Rea  song he says… The road to Hell! Because of the Gypsies and bandits and the ticks in the forests which can transmit Lyme disease.

Yes the latter is the one that concerns me most but I did think he was too much of an alarmist especially when he told me my map was wrong, a new edition I add and the roads were closed. His advice was to go via Sofia over 100kilometres longer, so that would take me over the 50,000 exact figure I want for the finish.

I was invited to stay in his cousins house that night and we mended a puncture in the morning.

I continued on my way without any major problems.

However on the road to Hell on the way from Vratsa towards Montana many hookers plied their trade some wearing lingerie which could be sexy night dresses as they stood on the side of the road or sat on small fold up chairs. They had bags of food and a couple of litres of water to keep them going while waiting for the frequent cars and trucks to stop. I was told they were gypsies.

Once I took a photo which enraged the girl. I ran faster for a while!

Some more days, some good distances and I feel I am really on the road to Heaven and not Hell!

Ah Yes we are a long way from Iran... The road to Hell for sure! I couldn't help thinking of Chris Rea's other hit... I don't know what it is but I like it!

There is very little traffic on the back roads but the roads are in poor condition. It seems truckers use the main road from Vidan near the border with Romania so as not to pay for a ferry. Most trucks are from Poland and Hungary. I would have thought the European Union would have updated. Perhaps they did, perhaps the funds have been embezzled.

Thats what happens in this part of the world. I remember about ten years ago when Romania and Bulgaria were preparing their EU bid the payment they got for their preparation fund was ripped off!

I very well remember hearing on George Hooks radio show on Newstalk 106 an astonished George and am sure  most Irish readers can hear his charismatic tones in their minds ear…

” But hold on minister, Hold your horses….Are you seriously trying to tell me the EU knew that the hard earned tax money me and my listeners work hard for has disappeared into thin air….. Down the Swanney said George.

(Well maybe the Danube George!)

” And, And we got to pay this preparation fund to them again?? Is that what you are seriously saying to me for crying out loud? ” Continues George.

” Yes George. We Know they are corrupt but how do we sort them out. We have decided we will get them into the EU family and then straighten out their corruption from inside the European Union ”

There is little or no shoulder on the narrow roads but I don’t need it here as there is so little traffic on the back roads but I wonder about bandits, perhaps lonely roads are better for them.

Grass and shrubs grow out onto the road. It is like a jungle, Bulgaria does not seem to maintain the hedge ways either. It is difficult finding camping as I got to wade through this jungle when I finish for the day. Most garages refuse me to pitch a tent, only the odd one but I got to ask many. It seems people are scared and I am not sure if this is because of crime or still in their mindset from communist times. There was a night when I asked a man who stopped me in the village of Slavotin. He was standing in his doorway and I stopped to talk as I was angling for a safe camp spot in his spacious backyard. He had been conversing with me and surely could see I was harmless. He flatly refused. End of conversation, sorry no more road show!

I have been told the winter temperatures drops to around -30 C in these parts. I remember the USA and how people housed, fed me and looked after me on the road during the only real winter of my run. How people came up to me and asked me what I was going to do when the storm blew in,

My mind is very tired now, just as tired as my body. I write a blog and hope I am communicating well and indeed if I am correct in calling this man ‘ mean spirited. ‘ Do I have any expectation, No I guess I shouldn’t have, that’s his decision. Perhaps I just impose myself too much on people.

I am getting renewed energy now and running well and strong, well strong for me anyway. I can sense the end of Europe now, the month after next I will be running the UK. But I wish and long for a rest day in a nice suitable place but can’t find anywhere. At least I don’t stick around to ask. Some days my legs feel like wobbly jelly, perhaps like footballers cramp, I never experienced that in my life. I am taking plenty of electrolytes and water.

I meet a security guard manning a factory entrance. He is a security guard with a difference for he is a runner. When I ran by he was doing hill loops back and forth about 100 metres each side of the factory entrance! He is getting paid while he trains for his next marathon! I wish we could have communicated better!

There is a Red Cross centre there. I ask if I can lay my sleeping bag down in a corner. I am told no that it was not a hotel, fair enough. So I ask the question again why am I pissed off with them, do they really have a duty to look after me. Surely it’s my duty and nobody elses to look after me?

I go into a bar and drink a couple of energy drinks there. The people are nice, though don’t talk to me at all. one of the workers takes me into the kitchen. There are six large sacks of large mushrooms and he really wants to give me some for the road! No sorry to disappoint, not sure if they are magic mushrooms and I wouldn’t be able to cook them.

Everyone confuses the Irish flag I fly from Nirvana to be Italian. Even an Italian trucker waved his green white and red tri-colour out his truck window. Bon Journo and Ciao I get all the time and Italia, Italia.

I have already picked out my location for that night. Directly outside the bar on the pavement there is a really good shelter from the roofing which extends all the way across the path. I will just pitch my mosquito pop-up and sleep beside Nirvana where she is parked outside the bar window and hope I wont be asked to leave. I really wanted a hotel that night but this town has none. Ah Yes The Road To Hell, Gypsies and bandits or am I being irresponsible.

Some more beautiful running through small picturesque villages with monuments dating back to the First World War and even the late nineteen century. Some gypsies continue to ride their horse and carts. Yes I was warned about the gypsies but they gave me no harm only the biggest smiles. Jesper Olsen my great friend said the same about the Romanian gypsies when he ran through there on his world run, a much maligned people.

Here in Bulgaria 20% of the work force earn the minimum pay of just one euro an hour.

It has to be said in all fairness that too many Bulgarians drink far too much alcohol. Every village I run through no matter what time there are people out drinking outside their houses, shops and cafe bars.

Next night my last night in Bulgaria I am about eight kilometres from the Serbian border. I had run a good 36 that day and decided to stop in a village called Kireevo. I went into a grocery store where an exceptionally friendly, a motherly figure of a woman greeted me. I bought some snacks and coffee noticing there was a community room of sorts next door. The door was ajar and I could see there were posters of the village dead posted on the walls, This is what Bulgarians do, It’s a bit morbid as one man said it seems there are more people dead than alive here.

There was a table and two benches inside so I asked the woman if I could sleep there. No problem she said. So I popped my pop up mosquito net tent on the table!

The community room with the dead posters. Hoping when the Bulgarian police read this blog I wont see my poster here!

No sooner had I settled down when three officers of the border patrol stopped by. There were some city workers in brand new high-viz vests drinking beer as they sat on a park bench just across from where I was. I am certain they called, just like old communist times, And one of the police officers that spoke English to me stank of beer. Just like old communist times also, no I don’t mean speaking English.

So they ask me where I have been and going, take a look at my passport and get back into their jeep and drive away.

Tomorrow in Serbia will be the 100th anniversary of the start of World War 1. I will be crossing tomorrow,

Trouble follows me everywhere!

In Turkey there was a mining disaster when 301 miners were killed when I was there. Here in the east of Bulgaria 12 people were  drowned in flooding in Varna and another village.

PS 29/6/ Taking opportunity of a rest day

June 28th I crossed into Serbia, my 30th country of the run. I wonder what I will be doing this time four months, not having to lace up my shoes will seem so strange!

Think I need a haircut and a new pair of legs!

Serbia a country of just over 7 million with a low population density is one of the former Yugoslav Republics.  It has been an independent state since 2006 when Montenegro dumped them after a referendum.

In 1989, Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia. Milošević promised reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, where his allies subsequently overtook the power, during the Anti-bureaucratic revolution. This ignited tensions with the communist leadership of the other republics, and awoke nationalism across the country, that eventually resulted in the Breakup of Yugoslavia, with Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia declaring independence.

Serbia and Montenegro remained together as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).

Milošević  faced up to much opposition and demonstrations before finally resigning his post.  The subsequent Yugoslav authorities tried him on suspected  fraud and embezzlement. When the charges did not stand up they extradited him instead to the International courts in the Hague charged for war crimes  including genocide  and crimes against humanity in connection to the wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.

Milošević elected to represent himself and you know what they say… A person who represents himself in court often has a fool for a client. However he died in his prison cell in the Hague in March 2006.

Serbia, a landlocked country located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, in the Balkan peninsula.

I am told the reason Serbia didn’t get EU membership with the last enlargement was because of this bitter war the country was involved in.

In 1992 war torn, ragged Yugoslavia qualified for the European soccer championships hosted by Sweden.  They were not allowed  to participate due their to the countries instability and at the time alleged war crimes including a policy of ethnic cleansing. Denmark who did not qualify for that tournament was selected to replace them. The Danish football association recalled players who were holidaying on beaches around the world and famously went on to win the tournament beating a first time all reunited German team 2-0 in the final.

Serbia is now an EU candidate country and negotiations are ongoing at this time for their entry.

A fairly modern country yet I am told it is surprisingly cheaper here than in Bulgaria whose people come here to shop. Serbia has one of Europe’s lowest per capita incomes at less than $6,000. In my short time here some people have told me that life was much better and easier under the old system in Yugoslavia. Now people do not have as much state safeguard and have to work harder to survive in the capitalistic world.

My arrival day was the 100th anniversary of the start of World war 1 when the assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Young Bosnia organization, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia.In defense of its ally Serbia, Russia mobilized its troops, which resulted in Austria-Hungary’s ally Germany declaring war on Russia. The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against Serbia activated a series of military alliances that set off a chain reaction of war declarations across the continent, leading to the outbreak of World War I within a month.

I was stuck with the equivalent of 70 euro in Bulgarian Levs which I am told nobody wants Bulgarian money in Serbia. It would have been too time-consuming to return as there was no nearby town and besides too difficult as I am now pushing Nirvana.

Just then I met two very nice Serbian cyclists called Viktor and Zoran.

Victor called his friend to help me change my Bulgarian Levs. Zoran on the right.

They were out for a spin on their bikes around the border area. They made a phone call to a business  friend who changed for me!

It just happens that Zoran runs a small hostel for students who attend the local medical and technical school here in Zajecar. The students are on holidays now so I was able to take a bed, a rest and a half day today. The lads also helped me with a few chores I needed done. Thanks lads!

Back at Zoran's house with Victor.

I have packed away my logbook and too tired to get it out again, but from memory the latest distance is around 45,675km for 1,042 road days.

Press HERE to see my planned route for the rest of mainland Europe

Hi everyone

Still running Bulgaria and will cross to to Serbia in a couple of days. I am putting the final touches to my Bulgarian blog.

The Bulgarians are so nice even if their roads are terrible!

I have been asked many times which country is my favourite country. Well it is  between the USA and Iran. I can’t separate them and I don’t want to.
However the feedback from Siobhan re last blog on the interest  my homecoming is generating is  very exciting to say the least.
She and her Blue Bubble Marketing Company are working so hard. There are lots of offers coming in from runners that both want to run and give me a place for a night. It is possible I am told I may not run a single step on my own running around Ireland! Amazing

My charity Aware are coming on board and we plan a huge nationwide collection for them. I am so delighted that at long last I will be able to fund raise properly for them and at the same time being an ambassador of sorts for this wonderful charity.
It is possible Ireland may be my favourite country when this is all over in four months time!
Just to clarify anyone can come out and run anywhere they like with me announced or unannounced as in my mission statement but for specific offers of help and to take the pressure off me and especially all the communication involved we ask to go through Siobhan.
Readers will be amazed that it can take in the region of 20 emails communicating stuff like
When exactly time and day will you arrive?
What you eat?
And I had exchanges like…
What way you want your steak cooked ?

And I’m thinking won’t I be there..!!!
Salad dressing??
Drink??
Allergies???
Etc etc!
I am simple a sleeping bag on a floor or a couch and I am happy
No special treatment necessary!

See you soon. Got to run towards Siberia sorry I mean Serbia!

I continued running through the beautiful Turkish mountains. Most days it rains, I am so tired in the mornings I can’t get going early.. So tired. I am almost comatosed. When I stop for my breaks I can see people looking into my eyes. I wonder if they think I am a druggie. I have to straighten my eyes out almost like in a cartoon!

So tired I worry about pushing myself too much. I stop from time to time just to sit on the guardrails wondering if I will have a heart attack. I am digging so so deep I can’t see the shovel anymore, ready to collapse on I run for 52km that day. I remembered at the start the way I could just hammer out a nifty fifty.. There are no more easy days.
Road day 1,000 on May 16 I manage a 46. I thought about stopping in a hotel to celebrate but at $35 this is crazy.. I keep saying turkey is as expensive as many European countries… This is Asia  repeat.
That evening I had a great sleep in a bus shelter which was well off the road. On the way up the mountain I get an email from a man called Tom Enright offering to help with my Ireland route for I have just decided as dog tired as I am I will do a full lap of Ireland. About 1,625km.
To be honest at first I was planning a short lap about 850km. Reason being I am so embarrassed about my pace.
Then I say to Hell I will do this run the way it should be done and as Tom said in his email I will finish in style. I don’t have to answer to anyone anymore. The only people that matter are my friends and decent people.
I remember my last night on the road in India. A couple of men brought me into a Sikh temple to see if I could sleep there. I was so tired, stumbling as I always do when not running that I was asked to leave. They thought I was a drunk and said so.
So this man Tom is great. He offers help with the logistics of my Ireland route.
Tom introduces me to Siobhan Clifford who has a public relations/marketing company called Blue Bubble Marketing.
I am amazed by their generosity and help. This is a Godsent
Also Kevin Scanlon in Wicklow is working on my finishing route. He has been doing some of this now since I asked him to about a year ago.
Within a short while Tom, another runner Ger and Siobhan have a first draft for me. I am excited. This gives me added energy on the road.
They send my route to the marathon club of Ireland and suddenly I am told there are lots of runners asking to run with me and offering accommodation. I am so excited. The Ireland lap begins on September 13, it will take six weeks. I will finish here with 50,000 km exactly on the finish line. The calculations are pretty close, this gives me renewed energy. Just over 5,000km to go the distance across America and I have done that almost nine times since the run began.

I can’t thank Siobhan and Tom enough.

Road day 1,001 dawns and I wash some spare clothes in a sink beside the bus shelter. I will dry them as they hang from my pack.
Turks are like Thai people, hardly anyone speaks English.
I read a report that stated the more nationalistic a country is the less likely they are to speak a foreign language.
I have not even seen one business sign in English, or road signs almost as though it were against the law.
Another 46km day broken into two halves a 22km slugger for I needed a breakfast that day. After breakfast I run hard and non story for another 24km I am delighted by the end result.

Nobody offered me any water or anything else, Turkey is no Iran, that’s for sure. People continue to overcharge me especially in restaurants and petrol stations. The often don’t scan the items and when I ask I suddenly get a price reduction. The PO petrol chain have been notorious. I have to watch almost everytime.
They let down the decent people of the country and continue to enhance Turkey’s scam reputation.

I need to keep the pace up for the Irish embassy in Ankara, in particular Erok have been working hard to try to get a permit for me to run across the Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul on June 7th
I make a mistake in Susehri, or water city lasking an ambulance can I sleep in their centre for I think its like the Iranian Red Crescent. They don’t understand and think there is something wrong with me for asking. I get fed up and can’t get rid of them as they follow me on the road. Eventually I do and stop at the Total Excellence petrol station where a nice man called Haji fills me with tea. I got a place to sleep on top of oil drums in a storage area around the back. I make it comfortable by spreading out cardboard on the drums and climb up.

Next day I finish at 30km as the rain is heavy. I cheekily make myself comfortable by spending the night in a car port, sort of tarp covering over poles for an old mans car.
The old man returns and I have to jump up so he don’t drive over me! He gets a bit of a start and leaves the car out in the rain overnight. A cup of tea would have been nice I thought, ah yes if this was Iran!

On the way to Koklu some workers on a construction site bring me into their canteen and feed me a delicious lunch. My faith in Turkey restored.
They ask me where I sleep and I say most nights in the mosques or prayer room in petrol stations but in the women’s separate section for there is less chance I will be disturbed. I am often locked in till the next day without anyone knowing, which is OK by me. The workers seeing how fond of tea I am ask how I manage for my evening cuppa. They are impressed when I take out my beverage heater. I just have to make sure I go to toilet first and fill up my water bottle.
I don’t think this is disrespectful as they eat and drink in Iranian mosques. OK this is Turkey but don’t they drink alcohol, flaunt their hair and do the forbidden ‘ harmonious movements ‘ meaning dancing, which so enrage the Iranian Islamic police.
I continued running and running towards Istanbul clipping out a 50,54 and a 54 in a huge push for Europe. To be fair to the Turks in this area they were really helpful.
One night I was told I could sleep in a function room adjoining a restaurant and the family fed me breakfast. Only two km up the road two men and a woman stopped me for another breakfast, so I didn’t offend. They sat on their porch cross legged. Its been a long time since I could sit like that. Often I have to lie down on my stomach and face them as I eat!
Another night I slept in the workshop of a mosque in a small  village called Murseller. Nobody saw me enter. On the workbench were two coffins, I didn’t check them out
Next day I think I am seeing things when I see a price for a kilo of pistachio nuts is $20!

Then I run through a hamlet called Kamil Koc! I kid you not and there is even a bus line by the same name.
More and more rain and a couple of tired fifties like a dart player hitting the wire of the bulls eye.
2km before Bayan I think I am stopping at a cafe but its a craft shop. The man there makes me tea and gives me biscuits before I’m off two kilometres down the road and on he left he said I would have no trouble sleeping.

I am in the darkness in my sleeping bag when a man comes in but the gent he was didn’t say anything. He just went outside and said to those outside that there was a tourist sleeping inside. I could not imagine being left in peace if this was India!

Anyone that wants to hire an energetic marketing company please contact Siobhan Clifford at:

Greetings from Bulgaria and the European Union Camping in a petrol station near Swivelgrad for my first night May be in Bulgaria for about eight days them its Romania Lovely people. First impression roads and signposting are terrible and no shoulder to run on. When I ran up to the border I ran through the disinfection lane with Nirvana by mistake. So we got sprayed by accident.. Then again on the way out much to the border guards amusement. So I started telling the young lad about how great it was to be able to run into Bulgaria because when I was on my cycle trip all those years ago Bulgaria was closed to me…. Behind the Iron Curtain was like another planet. He just laughed as if to say ‘ dont go crying on my shoulder Granada!’ There was no welcome to  Bulgaria sign as the whole area was literally a construction site to add lanes for ease of movement. Then the next immigration officer told me he worked in Ireland for a few months. How times have changed Europe is going to be a bit like central America… A country a week for about 13 weeks! Bulgaria is country number 29. Talk soon Back in the EU… You don’t know how lucky you are boys.. Back in the EU… Back in the EU Well the Ice Cream girls really knock me out they leave the west behind And Munster girls make me scream and shout! OK tony enough of that!

I am aware I didn’t post pictures in Turkey due to my smart phone and website incompatibility so here goes.

I prepared the piece below in advance of today’s presidential election.

Turkeys arrogant  prime minister narrowly scraped to victory, virtually unopposed, perhaps because of his success in turning around the countries economy. Here I tell a bit more about this unsavory character.

Crossing from Iran to Turkey.

I am thinking prison cage but which direction!

Turkey was also a tea experience just smaller portions for a big mouth!

This nice shopkeeper didn’t charge.

Curious eyes

One day I suddenly stopped at the side of the road. I took off my worn out 43rd pair of shoes and gave them to this poor onion seller. In my pack I had my 44th pair. I now wear the ON brand of running shoe, a Swiss make.

More tea? I sat in this highway construction traffic island with the workers for a short while to refresh.

Late one night I stopped at a mosque to see if I could sleep there. It was locked up. After a discussion these people brought me to this house. One of them spoke some decent English. I rely on people like him for my information much of my text may seem generalizations, many are the opinions of the ordinary people I meet on a daily basis.  So we chatted and I used this man to interrogate  the others while they fed me dinner.

The Turks are so friendly.

Then in the morning they brought this delicious breakfast. Nobody seemed to live in the house, I think it was some kind of a community house.

Turkey is the Islamic worlds only secular state I am told (perhaps Azerbaijan may have something to say about that I wondered)  founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who was a Turkish army officer. He was the first president of Turkey.  He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey.  Born in 1881 and died in 1938.  His surname, Ataturk -which means Farther of the Turks was given to him in 1934 and by law of the Turkish parliament can not be used by any other person.

I found it was mostly the older generation that respected Ataturk, younger people seemed to almost spit his name out.

An extremely mountainous country, the reason I decided to send Nirvana on ahead.

Turkey had some of the most amazing scenery of my entire run, A beautiful country but a shame they don’t do picnic sites like the Iranians to enjoy it more. Funnily I found the Turks to be less ‘outdoorsy’ than the Iranians.

There were many days when I had to stop and admire, Yes Turkey took my breath away.

Always time for a chat.

One day I spotted a police car in the distance. Not wanted to be bothered by a passport check I put my head down to pound my way past. Then I realized it was an immitation to encourage speeding drivers to slow down! Very original.

Mountains. And….

More mountain passes to be run over.

Only men frequent the tea shops. I often wondered how I would fare if I were a woman. In Iran I know I would not have gotten my visa for independent travel.

One day I was invited into a construction canteen for a huge lunch.

And only two kilometres was ordered to stop again!

I wondered about this place, Mangan Madenas!

One big weeks running to Istanbul

The infamous, notorious Turkish dogs did not bother me. Perhaps I have become a ferocious sight for them on the road, Many big dogs whined or ran away, others just wagged their tails as I ran towards them

Doing what I do best! Ah yes Ann will tell you butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth and always willing to listen

Note my own proper size ‘tea cup’, no little girl tea cups I used to say! One man called it my dog bowl!

One night I stopped at an arts and crafts shop thinking it was a cafe. The Russian man who owned it gave me tea and biscuits and told me there was a small mosque two kilometres down the road I could sleep in.

One day I just kept running and running for there was no place to sleep. I was rapidly approaching Istanbul. I had run 64km that day arriving in a small town called Izmit. For me and I know the pictures don’t do it justice this was the most picturesque town on my entire world run.

The skyline was lit up in a beautiful array of lightning reflecting off bridges, high rises.

 A beautiful marina, fashionable cafes and restaurants while city workers out planting flowers after dark! So pristine, everything I looked at seemed to be freshly painted.

Istanbul outskirts and a huge slog through Turkey’s biggest and most famous city. Remember Ken Thompson the Irish ambassador to Turkey had assigned the wonderful Erok to get me a permit to run over the non pedestrian Bosphorous bridge which connects Asia to Europe.

However I arrive a day early. Erok managed to get me a permit to cross on the 7th June.

I show these police officers my permit to run across the bridge. Unable to find an internet cafe and have it printed out I have to keep showing the download on my smartphone. My phones  battery is rapidly draining. There are many phone calls. One officer has a Turkish/English translate app on his smart phone and we go into a very long conversation. This was the first time I ever saw such a feature. I just spoke into his phone and my words were translated into Turkish text for him to read and vice versa, isn’t technology wonderful. I can see the day when tourists will be walking around with headphones and microphones and have real time conversation. I wondered about this possibility recently after reading Skype wants to add this feature for phone calls.

Here nobody picks up on the date that I am a day early. Eventually the officer on the right is assigned to escort me across the bridge.

So off I go towards Europe a couple of kilometres away.

I stop and wonder who this fellow ‘ Larry ‘ is because he couldn’t be happier than me

I got handed over to this police officer on the European end. I did not see the  ’ Welcome to Europe sign as I was on the left side of the bridge.

This officer just let me run on.

However at the end of the bridge proper there was a pathway less than a metre wide between the railing and the guardrail you can see here. This pathway was about one kilometre long. I was terified another officer on a motorbike or in a patrol car would stop me and as very few Turks can speak English I didn’t want any more hassle so scrambled my way through here and onto the mainland as fast as possible. Thank goodness I didn’t have Nirvana, I thought.

I have been told to keep my blog postings shorter! Yes a picture blog does that nicely. However ‘ Motor Mouth ‘ is back from vacation.

Recently I have had emails and comments to the blog re: my Bulgarian and Indian blogs and my comments about their countries, If they only knew what I left off they would thank me for being so kind!

Thats funny because in every country I have been to since Australia I have been told my comments are pretty much accurate regarding the social issues face in those countries. Not wanting to digress too much here but tonight as I write this posting in Vera’s house in Brno, Czech Republic. Vera my host asked me to describe politicaly correct and politically incorrectness.

Telling her I believe in telling the full honest story and not the brushed under the carpet job Vera advised me to have a second edition of my book published.

I will if the first edition is sucessful I said.

So Vera makes me laugh when she says.

” No one edition will be the politically correct edition and the other the politically incorrect edition! “

Ah! Yes I love it, I have Monty Python in my head.

 ” And which edition of Mangans run would you like sir?

” The politically correct or the politically incorrect edition? “

Anyway Turkey, Here goes!

I made it to a restaurant for dinner after getting over the Bosphorus Bridge and then took a taxi to my friends house that night. I would return to my finishing spot when running out of Istanbul.

My host had also taken delivery of Nirvana last March and was still minding her – a  man called Baris – a Turk who lived most of his life in England and still has a very strong English accent. A vegetarian, environmentalist and lover of life especially the life of his hero, John Lennon.

Like many other Turks he is despondent by Turkeys almost totalitarian government, a so called democracy with military rules like Myanmar as it has been described to me. When I told him I had already run over the bridge he suggested I run over again with my permit the next morning as initially planned.

Six local runners wanted to run across with me including another man called Ercan who has helped me enormously. I had to submit all their names to the transport authority via the Irish Embassy in Ankara, so we emailed as required in order for us to all run across.

That’s what we did a couple of days later after I took my first rest day in 51 days since the Iranian desert, a record for the run.

Saturday morning  after breakfast we set out from the Asia side and ran across to Europe.

That is after waiting for the prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to be escorted through at high speed.

Some more thoughts on Turkey and their  insensitive prime minister, Recep  Tayyip Erdogan, whose abrasive response to the Soma mining disaster in which 301 miners were killed in April.

He visited the site of the accident and during his visit he managed to  infuriate a region in mourning.

During protests of Mr. Erdogan’s visit, an aide to Mr. Erdogan was photographed kicking a demonstrator who was being held on the ground by military police officers. Mr. Erdogan himself responded to the heckling by defiantly taunting protesters and allegedly slapped one saying.

” If you insult me, your the Prime Minister you will get a slap. “

The dork then revisited the area in his presidential campaign and used the same word ‘ slap ‘ to describe a victory for him would be a ‘ slap ‘ for democracy over his rivals. I would certainly hate to be married to this creep, if I was a woman!

Speaking of Turkish women. ” Women should not laugh in public.” So said Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc in a recent speech about “moral corruption” in Turkey. “Chastity is so important,” he said. “She will not laugh in public.”

Baris extreme left and Ercan third from left. Three runners wore Gezi Park protest tee shirts

Many Turks I have spoken to can’t understand how this man, though well educated and a former lemonade street vendor amassed an estimated 50 million US dollar fortune. In March this year people asked this question on Twitter which was subsequently blocked for a 24 hour period until he realized, no not a good idea and restored the social media site. Facebook and You Tube have also been targets of his after questions of his financial dealings. However the questions are not going away.

Baris was asked to remove his Gezi Park tee shirt

I have also learned that journalists of the Zenden Daily newspaper who have been asking the really big uncomfortable questions to Erdogan have been ejected from Erdogan press conferences and  also his finance minister presumably on the orders of the  prime minister Erdogan at a FT press conference abroad.

I did not mind when Baris wore a Gezi Park tee-shirt to demonstrate. Gezi Park a very sensitive subject for many Turks.

Gezi Park

Imagine the Irish Govt deciding they wanted to knock down St,Stephen’s Green Park for building offices. Imagine the outcry there would be, well imagine if the Irish police went in with riot squads and tear gas canisters killing  many protesters and innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or in London’s Hyde Park, New Yorks Central Park.

Thats what happened in Gezi Park.

Erdogan is not a very popular man and many people ask me to guess how he got into power and was then re-elected twice, Ah yes much the same story I have been hearing throughout the run.

His three terms of prime minister is the limit under the Turkish constitution. He cannot stand again. I had been told long before his July announcement he wanted to run for office of the Turkish president in a soon to be held presidential election.

 Well that same constitution he wants to change to give the Turkish president more powers. And yes he announced he wanted to be a candidate.  Few doubt he will not succeed.

Turkey a country where 1,6 million children between the ages of 6 and 16 are working in jobs meant for adults is very much a polarized country.

Many people believe this division means votes for Erdogan’s  ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, known as the  A.K.P.

I asked several people did they think Turkey had any chance of becoming a member of the EU. Many people said no because of ‘  the Muslim thing ‘ as one man put it.

Another man said they EU don’t really want Turkey as they already have a

 ’ Special Relationship ‘ agreements with the Turks, This man believed the EU is a closed shop.

I am afraid my own sad impression of Turkey after about seven weeks running through is that democracy as we see it, or even the bit they have here is about to be dismantled. Erdogan though not a popular man probably still gets the Muslim vote for his strong Islamic beliefs. He is pulling Turkey further and further away from the EU and membership seems to be low on his priority list.

I can’t help wondering that perhaps in the not too distant future Turkey may even be an Islamic Republic state. Or as one of the militants in the self declared Islamic state in Iraq worrying said, ” With no western garbage like democracy. “

I also wonder will the west be defeated by our own democracy?

Hi everyone.
Sorry for this title!! I know my Hungarian friends were throwing their eyes to Heaven and saying
” Oh No not the Hungry comment again!!!
I crossed to Germany today and am having some getting sorted problems re phone battery crashing/ taking huge amount of time to charge even a little, so time spent charging. looking for internet and camera broken! Cant do anything in Germany on Sunday!! yes I have lost count about 7 cameras!
I had amazing help in Czech rep. Am in such a rush but …special thanks to the two Tomas’s, Martin, George and Camilla, Irene and Charles and wait till you see the picture of their two dogs!! Michel who drove out from Prague on Saturday to drive Nirvana on 5km to Stribro and then push another 26 to Plana!! Hope I havn’t forgotten anyone!!
Oh yes, Tomas son David 17 years old and his friend Andrew 15 never ran more than 5km before. Well about 3 days ago they ran 49.6km as on Andrews gps. They were full of chat at the end, so much that they ran around the church yard where Tomas had arranged for me to sleep, then they got the 50km, only a couple people ran 50 with me!Great lads!!
Then Pavel, Maria, John and son John gave me dinner and I showered before returning to the church accommodation to sleep. The family brought me breakfast in the morning and snacks for the road as did Tomas, so I was well fed there! Thanks everyone
833km to Calais – end of mainland Europe!

Am now about 15 from 47,000km!! sorry for rush. Lovely bicycle trails today. talk soon

At Long last back on European soil!

I have been singing that song with gusto these last few days…. It’s the final countdown!

Today I ran across the Bosphorous Bridge in Istanbul. This bridge connects Europe and Asia.

Thanks to Erok in the Irish Embassy for helping me secure a permit for running across this non pedestrian bridge.

Also it was great to run with six local runners. Including my host Baris and great helper Ercan.

Alper; Agnieszka; Ayça; Ercan; Tony; Necla; Baris

Thank you all for making this a most enjoyable experience, Four continents have now been run. North America, South America, Oceania and now Asia the toughest of them all.

Approx 44,900km have been run since October 25th 2010. Only a little over 5,000 to runm thats all just the same distance from New York to LA! My finish will include a full 1,600 km lap of Ireland before the grand finale at the finish line of the Dublin City Marathon on October 27th 2014.

Please stay tuned and tham

Thanks for your support

No I didn't fall I am kissing the European ground!