Stage Tour I: from Munich to Cypres - Entries for: Greece
25° | sunny | km 400
Yassou Hellas
on 2012-10-18 in Albania, Greece
Shortly after we got up the next day a shepherd came along with his sheep and was really interested in our tent. He was trying to tell us something or to ask something, but sadly the communication was rather difficult and we couldn't find out what he wanted. But the sunrise was gorgeous and warm and even though the valley was still covered in fog we knew it was going to be a great day!
Because we slept so close to the border, we soon arrived at the Greece border. Interesting enough the border police gave our plates only a short glance before they let us pass and continue our journey. Since Latin letters are used almost only in major cities or on main roads, navigation was interesting. To find our location and the location we were heading to, we had to stop at nearly every sign to get the names of the villages right. Basically, we compared pictures with one another.
The trip went well so far, except that Fabi missed a tightening curve and had to stop on the runout of the turn.
Apart from this Basti's Speedo cable came loose, but we "only" had to tighten it again. "Only" because there is not much room for these sorts of repairs in the cockpit...
In the afternoon Basti wanted to go swimming at all cost. Unfortunately, we were somewhere in a swamp and reed area without access to the sea. After about one and a half hours we had to give up the search for a beach and agreed on looking for a campground. Even that went wrong when we realized that we forgot the time difference and the sun was setting much sooner than we expected. We had enough of this day and took the first guesthouse we found.
Because we slept so close to the border, we soon arrived at the Greece border. Interesting enough the border police gave our plates only a short glance before they let us pass and continue our journey. Since Latin letters are used almost only in major cities or on main roads, navigation was interesting. To find our location and the location we were heading to, we had to stop at nearly every sign to get the names of the villages right. Basically, we compared pictures with one another.
The trip went well so far, except that Fabi missed a tightening curve and had to stop on the runout of the turn.
Apart from this Basti's Speedo cable came loose, but we "only" had to tighten it again. "Only" because there is not much room for these sorts of repairs in the cockpit...
In the afternoon Basti wanted to go swimming at all cost. Unfortunately, we were somewhere in a swamp and reed area without access to the sea. After about one and a half hours we had to give up the search for a beach and agreed on looking for a campground. Even that went wrong when we realized that we forgot the time difference and the sun was setting much sooner than we expected. We had enough of this day and took the first guesthouse we found.
25° | sunny | km 237
Rio Antirrio
on 2012-10-19 in Greece
Our route to Athens took us over the pretty amazing Rio Antirrio bridge and the Canal of Corinth. Since we started our tour it was the first time we managed to go for a swim in the sea which felt amazing. While we swam, we set up our tent to dry it on the lonely beach which we had all by ourselves. In the late afternoon we arrived in Athens.
As we stopped somewhere to look at our navigation system for a hotel, a woman stopped behind us just to say hello and ask if she could help us. We thought to ourselves this would probably never happen in Munich...
Fortunately, after several failed attempts to find a hotel with reasonable prices we found the very nice Hotel Nefeli which was located almost in the centre of Athens (Plaka). The hotelier turned out to be the perfect guide for our two days in the city.
He provided us with a tourist map in which he explained the best areas for dining, Greek live music (Psiri) and the disco area (Gazi), whilst sounding a lot like Bob Ross. You can have a look at the original map in the pictures on the left. Many thanks to him, we had a great first evening in Athens!
As we stopped somewhere to look at our navigation system for a hotel, a woman stopped behind us just to say hello and ask if she could help us. We thought to ourselves this would probably never happen in Munich...
Fortunately, after several failed attempts to find a hotel with reasonable prices we found the very nice Hotel Nefeli which was located almost in the centre of Athens (Plaka). The hotelier turned out to be the perfect guide for our two days in the city.
He provided us with a tourist map in which he explained the best areas for dining, Greek live music (Psiri) and the disco area (Gazi), whilst sounding a lot like Bob Ross. You can have a look at the original map in the pictures on the left. Many thanks to him, we had a great first evening in Athens!
25° | sunny | km 0
Athens
on 2012-10-20 in Greece
Our pictures show you that we tried to visit most of the places of interest and unsurprisingly Athens has a lot of them. The time we stayed in Athens was perfect because of the fact that there were almost no tourists around and the weather was amazing.
You could write a lot about all the different interesting places we visited, but let's just say, Athens is a very nice city with a ton of historical sights to see. And even at the time the Greek financial crisis had already begun everyone we met was very friendly and helpful.
We can only recommend that you get some days off and enjoy the city and its people by yourself.
You could write a lot about all the different interesting places we visited, but let's just say, Athens is a very nice city with a ton of historical sights to see. And even at the time the Greek financial crisis had already begun everyone we met was very friendly and helpful.
We can only recommend that you get some days off and enjoy the city and its people by yourself.
23° | sunny | km 326
Beautiful campsite
on 2012-10-21 in Greece
This night, sadly turned out to become the worst of the whole trip. The instant we fell asleep, we heard the first mosquito. After some time trying to ignore it Denis sacrificed himself and got up to kill two of them. But that didn't make the buzzing stop! Basti and Fabi soon joined the hunt. This procedure basically went on until 05:40 which was when we decided to get up early because sleeping was no longer possible. We stopped counting at approximately 20 to 25 mosquitos that night... And in the morning we killed about 15 more...
We had a very good lunch in a Greek tavern in Farsalla even though we were more tired than normal the day proceeded quite normal.
When the sun was setting we decided to look for a nice campsite at the beach and we couldn't have imagined a better place. After we took a quick swim in the sea and had dinner we went to bed early because last nights horrible mosquito attacks. Fabi fell asleep the moment he was in his sleeping bag. Denis and Basti were still talking about the events of the day when suddenly Fabi (still sleeping) joined the conversation:
Fabi: "It doesn't matter if the butt is cold, does it?"
Basti: "What?"
Fabi: "We have to check the temperature of the chain!"
Denis: "Which chain?"
Fabi: "The chain of the bike of course!"
Denis: "Why?"
Fabi: "So that we know where we have parked it."
Because Basti and Denis couldn't manage to stay serious and started laughing out loud, Fabi woke up. After they had told him what he just said we all started laughing.
We had a very good lunch in a Greek tavern in Farsalla even though we were more tired than normal the day proceeded quite normal.
When the sun was setting we decided to look for a nice campsite at the beach and we couldn't have imagined a better place. After we took a quick swim in the sea and had dinner we went to bed early because last nights horrible mosquito attacks. Fabi fell asleep the moment he was in his sleeping bag. Denis and Basti were still talking about the events of the day when suddenly Fabi (still sleeping) joined the conversation:
Fabi: "It doesn't matter if the butt is cold, does it?"
Basti: "What?"
Fabi: "We have to check the temperature of the chain!"
Denis: "Which chain?"
Fabi: "The chain of the bike of course!"
Denis: "Why?"
Fabi: "So that we know where we have parked it."
Because Basti and Denis couldn't manage to stay serious and started laughing out loud, Fabi woke up. After they had told him what he just said we all started laughing.
25° | sunny | km 242
Better bring your own tools!
on 2012-10-22 in Greece
We packed our tents and rode our bikes out of the sand. Leaving behind one of the most beautiful campsites we had ever been to. We rode along the coast on a damp and quite slippery road to the next city.
We located a new Honda dealer in Salonika at which we bought ourselves some heavy duty tools for switching bike chains. It did cost us 300,- €, but we did not have much of a choice so we paid up and left.
After some heavy traffic we turned on a smaller road which turned into a small trail. We were glad when we finally exited onto a freeway next to a herd of sheep. We stopped at a dried out lake. Fabi wanted to drive a bit on the lake bed, but before he got to it, he fell over with his Twin. Some laughed more than others, but Fabi was not ready to give up yet. Fabi and Denis both made it to the lake bed and took some great pictures there. Even though Fabi got his bike stuck it still managed to fall over with a buried wheel. After some sweat and exercise we all managed to get his bike unstuck and got back to the road.
For dinner we bought a lot of meat for Burgers and cooked it on a nice campfire. Sadly, we did not get any beers, only some disgusting yellow wine.
We located a new Honda dealer in Salonika at which we bought ourselves some heavy duty tools for switching bike chains. It did cost us 300,- €, but we did not have much of a choice so we paid up and left.
After some heavy traffic we turned on a smaller road which turned into a small trail. We were glad when we finally exited onto a freeway next to a herd of sheep. We stopped at a dried out lake. Fabi wanted to drive a bit on the lake bed, but before he got to it, he fell over with his Twin. Some laughed more than others, but Fabi was not ready to give up yet. Fabi and Denis both made it to the lake bed and took some great pictures there. Even though Fabi got his bike stuck it still managed to fall over with a buried wheel. After some sweat and exercise we all managed to get his bike unstuck and got back to the road.
For dinner we bought a lot of meat for Burgers and cooked it on a nice campfire. Sadly, we did not get any beers, only some disgusting yellow wine.
23° | cloudy | km 404
The Road to Turkiye
on 2012-10-23 in Greece, Turkey
We took a nice winding mountain road which took us to a little village where we decided to get some lunch. By now we were not even that surprised when the owner greeted us in german.
After lunch we found a small dirt road along the coast which turned out to be an old antique road through some roman settlements. We had lots of fun riding through the old ruins and enjoyed ourselves quite a lot. So much that we sort of forgot the time.
One major decision we have made long before going on this trip was that we wouldn't ride at night in Turkey. We had heard too many stories about people driving without headlights or any sort of signal lights.
Well of course we still crossed the border at sundown. Because the border is really heavily secured with 6 control posts, it was quite dark when we entered Turkey. And to make things worse, it started to rain... At the first traffic light we saw three guys crossing whilst the red light was on. This is when we finally accepted things will be different here.
We were all very relieved when we made it to the next city in which we found a small but cheap hotel to spend our night. We were greeted by a lot of kids that seemingly did not care that we could not understand a word they were saying. After some time the owner of the hotel sent them away.
At dinner we once again realized that we maybe should have planned a bit more, but decided it was too late now and we had to get some sleep.
After lunch we found a small dirt road along the coast which turned out to be an old antique road through some roman settlements. We had lots of fun riding through the old ruins and enjoyed ourselves quite a lot. So much that we sort of forgot the time.
One major decision we have made long before going on this trip was that we wouldn't ride at night in Turkey. We had heard too many stories about people driving without headlights or any sort of signal lights.
Well of course we still crossed the border at sundown. Because the border is really heavily secured with 6 control posts, it was quite dark when we entered Turkey. And to make things worse, it started to rain... At the first traffic light we saw three guys crossing whilst the red light was on. This is when we finally accepted things will be different here.
We were all very relieved when we made it to the next city in which we found a small but cheap hotel to spend our night. We were greeted by a lot of kids that seemingly did not care that we could not understand a word they were saying. After some time the owner of the hotel sent them away.
At dinner we once again realized that we maybe should have planned a bit more, but decided it was too late now and we had to get some sleep.