Hellenic adventures

Warm sunshine, clear blue sea, swimming in it, an ouzo or a glass of retsina, delicious food, interesting places to visit, good roads... what more could we have asked for this part of our honeymoon adventure?

The last couple of weeks have been ace. In Lesvos we ventured north to Mithymna / Molyvos and experienced some proper hills (and thus a lot of sweating). Unfortunately part of this jaunt included Luke rather spectacularly falling off his bike at high speed on the way down a particularly steep and windy road. Thankfully he didn't have much more to show for it beyond a couple of nasty scrapes, a small hole in his favourite t-shirt, the shakes and a very pale face. We spent some time relaxing the following day in a remote and ancient thermal bath house right on the beach at Efthalou - alternating between a dip in the sea and floating around in a 46 degree pebble bottomed pool.

We then took a ferry to Chios and did some leisurely riding around and admiring some of the mastic villages and landscapes on the south of the island. We travelled overnight by boat to Athens and have enjoyed using up the last of our wedding present hotel vouchers. It is an impressive city, and great to wander about in. Ahead of us on the bike ride from the ferry port into the centre very early on Sunday morning was a view of the Acropolis at sunrise; tomorrow we will take on the weekday Athens traffic as we notch up some final kilometres on the way to the airport.

However, regarding the pipe dream of getting home overland... we did our sums properly and went for the easy option; we fly home tomorrow. This is not a bad thing, we are looking forward to spending a couple of months reverting to the van and touring the UK, catching up with family and friends while we have the chance.

Farewell Asia Minor

This update comes from sunny Mytilini on the Greek island of Lesvos. Whilst we are very happy to be here, we felt a little sad waving goodbye to the Turkish mainland as we took the ferry from Ayvalik yesterday; our time in Turkey has certainly been the highlight of the honeymoon. This undoubtedly has something to do with it being our long-sought destination. But it has much more to do with the warm welcome shown to us almost everywhere we went - and people's kindness was yet again something we won't forget. Here's a photo of us at Mehmet's place - mentioned in the last post (he even put up with us playing the mandolin and recorder at him).

Since our last update from Gallipoli we have had some of the best cycling of the trip. From south of Eceabat we crossed by ferry to the lovely Canakkale and took a coastal route south as far as Ayvalik, passing the ruins at Troy and Assos, which were real highlights (especially cutting Luke's hair in the ancient theatre at Assos whilst enjoying a panoramic sea view). The sun has been shining consistently and we have our suntans back.

We've also passed the 5,000km mark which is a brilliant feeling, though Soph feels cross for forgetting to check for the actual moment on the cycle computer. Mytilini has a vast bike shop and Soph is relieved to have had some of the major parts replaced on her bike, which were finally worn out so that she can efficiently cycle once again (including a bigger gear range so hopefully she can overtake Luke on the hills more often from now on). In the coming days we hope to explore Lesvos before taking another ferry to Chios and on to Pireus (Athens). We have a vague plan to reach the south of France via Italy and then find our way home to England...

The slow road home

Istanbul is a grand place and we have been priviledged to be looked after there for some of our stay by David & Sally, Sophıe's parents who flew out to meet us and generously booked us into the best accommodation we've stayed in for the whole trip. We spent three sunny days with them sightseeing, eating nice food and braving the interesting pavements and traffıc of the city with Sally's wheelchair - an adventure in itself, but not as difficult as feared thanks to Sally's patience and determination, and Istanbul's well meaning efforts to make the tourist centre wheelchair friendly, notwithstanding access to some of the bigger attractions.

Faced with the question of what to do next, we have spent much time ponderıng over çay and baklava and have come up wıth an answer: to go home.

The challenge complete, the return journey wıll make judicious use of ferries and local trains and will hopefully be rather less of a physical effort than the outward leg. Nonetheless, we are attempting to travel home with the bikes and without flying - a project we may have to abandon if the weather gets too bad.

The fırst day didn't go exactly accordıng to plan. A 5am start to catch the ferry south to Bandirma and heavy rain all morning affected our judgement a bit and after a couple of detours to get us off the main road, we wound up pedalling in the dusk and caked in clay stıll miles from a hotel. Once again though we were rescued, thıs time by a friendly young imam called Mehmet who gave us a bed for the night. It was a pleasure to spend part of the day cycling in the company of a French couple, Vincent and Magali, cycling a similar route.

Istanbul

The sharp eyed amongst you wıll have notıced that our map marker ıs now suspended over the bustlıng megatroplıs of Istanbul, formerly Constantınople, formerly Byzantium. We made ıt 3 months to the day after those photographs of the two pasty people leavıng Norwıch were taken. The sprawlıng cıty ıs rammed wıth people and cars. The squares, parks, towerblocks, Ottoman mansıons and bazaars are punctuated every 100m or so by the towers of a grand mosque. It ıs expensıve and somewhat overwhelmıng but we are here and gradually unwındıng and rechargıng.

From the Bulgarıan Black Sea coast we clımbed steadıly and sweatıly up ınto the Stranja hılls and the fınal border crossıng. Arrıval ın Turkey was fabulous: we cruısed down from the border (sıtuated on a 560m high pass- the hıghest we've been all trıp?) on excellent empty roads ınto Kırklarelı whıch smelled and sounded pretty exotıc. Turkey ıs easy- food, refreshment, accomodatıon and ınternet are readıly avaılable, people are welcomıng, frıendly and helpful ın the extreme.

We struggled agaınst fıerce wınds, raın and cold for a few days to the outskırts of Istanbul, sustaıned by baklava, varıatıons on a kebab theme and free tea every 200m. The rıde wasn't very pleasant and we repeatedly got soaked, chılled and (ın Soph's case) blown off the road. We passed vıllages, towns and kms of roads and farm land that had been ravaged by floods ın the last fortnıght or so, but we rolled bravely ınto Çatalca at dusk to fınd the town's only hotel.

Unfortunately, the town's only hotel was full, the weather made campıng all but out of the questıon and the next hotel ıs 20km on on bıg roads ın the dark. What do we do? We have learnt from thıs trıp that the only thıng to do at such tımes ıs to look a bıt pathetıc and somebody wıll rescue you, ıt helps ıf you're totally bedraggled and ıf one of you looks lıke they mıght cry, that's the ıcıng on the cake.

Hopıng for the offer of somewhere dry to put our mattresses down, we appealed to a bloke ın a shop who'd jumped up and forced tea on us as we pedalled ın. Thıngs looked good except that he had no Englısh and 'hello', 'thanks', 'hotel', 'tea', 'kebab' and 'good' ıs not enough vocabulary ın Turkısh, even when accompanıed by wıld arm gestures, to explaın such a delıcate sıtuatıon. Fortunately, hıs frıend Ahmet (the Turkısh Mınty from Eastenders) was a busınessman wıth good Englısh. Ahmet could not understand why we'd want to stay ın such a hole anyway and told us hıs brother (the Turkısh Bılly Connelly) would drıve us ın hıs Levend (Turkısh LDV) ınto central Istanbul ın tıme for dınner- payment out of the questıon.

We hesıtated and thought long and hard about the moralıty of refusıng all lıfts, avoıdıng all publıc transport (ferrıes asıde) and pedallıng all the way to Turkey only to be drıven the last 50km. It took us about 5 seconds to say yes.

So here we are and ıt's stıll raınıng after 3 days. The end? maybe... maybe not...

The Black Sea

Wow: updating the map makes us look really close to Istanbul. Bulgaria so far has been a pleasure; the weather has improved, road surfaces are good and rooms are cheap enough that we haven't needed to camp in a while. All the trappings of eastern Europe are still here- litter, feral dogs, vivid domestic animal roadkill and potholes you could get lost in, but it seems somehow easier to deal with... maybe we're just aclimatising.

We have had to cope with a few hills, but that was expected as we deviated from the Danube and took the shortcut to Varna, which is a cracking place. The road out of Varna was an uncomfortable experience; who knew the rural coast road was the longest redlight district in Europe? We're guessing, not being experts. We have also found ourselves to be local celebrities after doing a roadside interview for BTV news about our trip. An incredible two people have now recognised us! Hopefully this is the correct link so you can see the interview online: http://www.btv.bg/videos/?video_id=21306&section_id=1.

We are presently about halfway down the Bulgarian Black Sea coast at Nesebar, right next door to Sunny Beach, hub of Bulgaria's less attractive tourist infrastructure. The sandy beaches are gorgeous, but it's equally amazing to drift through overdeveloped resort towns that are all but dead this side of the season. If this were the UK in the temperatures we've had, the beaches would be crammed with bodies; we've got the place to ourselves.

Through the Iron Gates: the edge of Europe

Our entry and exit into and out of Romania have been the least official of all border crossings so far. In no-man's land between Serbia and Romania, we witnessed much trading of dubious goods from the car boots of Yugos and Dacias. On the way out of Romania border officials joked about charging us a Euro to pass. Only a cursory glance at our passports at either end.

Romania is part of the EU, at times this was difficult to believe but the Romainan chapter is more memorable for the experience. The first 48 hours were filled with hilly cycling and spectacular views of the Danube passing between steep cliffs - the foothills of the Carpathians on one side and the Balkans on the other - in the Portile de Fier (Iron Gates) national park. Hot, hot, hot and cheap, cheap, cheap. That seems like a very long time ago.

Beyond the Iron Gates, we had the feeling that we were in a different country. Rapidly the landscape flattened out, and our slow road east took us through one rural village after another. Roads were sometimes unsurfaced, usually pot-holed; livestock was in abundance on the main road including geese, turkeys, chickens, cows, dogs, pigs; some of the sights included gaggles of toothless old ladies in head scarves, cardies, long skirts, wooly tights and wellies who waved to us cheering 'Drum Bun'; and horse-drawn carts almost outnumbered cars for five days. During this time accommodation was sparse to say the least. We resorted to a mixture of dubious camping and over-priced hotels (we were thankful they existed).

Despite this, we still found ourselves stuck in Bechet in the pouring rain at dusk after riding nearly 100km (where the state hotel shown on the map had long since closed down). Here, we were rescued by a shopkeeper who gave us cans of beer. He phoned his mate, Marian who was exceptionally kind to us. He took us to his home where we had a dry place to sleep and where he and his wife shared their evening meal with us. Once again we have learnt a lot about hospitality from people in strikingly more humble circumstances. We hope that we will do the same for others in future, maybe we would not have been so ready to before this trip.

Romania was a bit of a trial, not least the last couple of days when the weather turned from hot and sunny to bitterly cold, wet and windy, compelling us to bring out all our cold and wet weather gear. Our last day in the country was marked by having to cycle 156kms in search of a bed, luckily the wind was behind us.

Arriving in Bulgaria felt like emerging from a strange bubble. There are other tourists here, we have internet access, a choice of places to stay here in Ruse (Rousse), and a chance to take a day's rest. It is still raining. It is still really cold.

Serbia: highs and lows, but mostly flat

Bike issues resolved and hangovers fading, we covered the distance from the border town of Backa Palanka to Novi Sad, host of the Exit festival and holder of prestigious title 'Norwich's twin town'. Serbia must be lauded for making a big effort to signpost the Danube cycle route, but it still needs to grasp the idea that a cycle path needs to be cyclable. Approaching the city we were joined by Sam, a French cyclotouriste (the first we'd seen since Budapest) on a much more suitable mountain bike, who was on a 10000km tour of Europe.

Novi Sad was an enjoyable place to visit with a grand Vauban fortress and a decent central square, unfortunately we took it in turns to succumb to mystery bugs and had to stay 5 whole days. Luke will remember with some clarity a day spent at the mercy of the Serbian health system being hooked up to successive drips. Apparently this is the first course of action for all patients in Serbia, but he can report on the treatment's efficacy. Soph will remember with clarity the mystery bureaucracy and charges associated, as well as the anxiety caused by being told her husband had a 43 degree temperature (the doctor added that she shouldn't worry as he was a very nice man, strong, and that she was very lucky to have him!). Throughout the ordeal, we were looked after in an exemplary fashion by Miki and his team at the hostel Sova - recommended.

Out of Novi Sad, we passed the 3000km mark, avoided Belgrade, sampled a Serbian communist era hotel, an excellent homestay with Olga and her breakfast burek and rakija; and an out of season campsite where Goran refused to charge us, but also refused to clean the squat toilets or control his dogs.

Serbia was a pretty good experience overall with friendly people (amazing considering we bombed the hell out of them in recent memory), reasonable road surfaces, hot sunny weather and brilliant TV, including three channels of relentless Balkan folk music and dancing. Landscapes were grand but we found it hard to stomach the amount of litter and fly-tipping which was sadly everywhere.

Slivovic for breakfast

We write this entry from Serbia, which has not got off to a good start though through no fault of the Serbs or their country. More to follow, but nothing more serious than a dodgy tummy and a few bike issues. However, the gist of this update will be in full praise of Croatia and its wonderful people. We hadn´t even thought about crossing the border until the day before when it seemed like a cool idea to do a tiny detour, delay Serbia and add another country (number 8) to the list.

Sophie got into trouble on the border by taking pictures of the diplomatically sensitive "welcome to Croatia" sign and was forced to delete them by a rather joyless border gaurd. From this point though, the country provided us with wholly pleasurable experiences.

The landscape immediately changed as vine covered hills emerged from the plain and hospitality during the whole stay was unsurpassed. We camped one night in an old couple´s garden who, for a small fee, forced us to eat all their food and drink all their booze, including an 8am breakfast rakija. This was perhaps a good preparation for the rather sobering experience of passing through Vukovar, a Danube port town that was devastated in 1991 during the war and still bears the very obvious scars.

Searching for a place to eat that night in Ilok, we walked into a restaurant where a private party was in full swing. The restaurant was closed, but that didn´t stop Marco and friends forcing us to eat all their food and drink all their booze. See a theme developing? Their hospitality was so generous that our cycling the next day was limited to an afternoon limp across the border into Serbia where Luke´s back wheel promptly contributed to the hangover by losing a couple of spokes and having to be straightened twice. We went no further that day.

The Great Hungarian Plain... a bit like Lincolnshire

South from Budapest we followed the Danube down into the Great Plain. Hungary was marked by good weather, people feeding us Palinka (fire water) and passing thousands of chilli peppers drying in the sun.

The cycle path is getting to the point where we may have to abandon almost all offroad sections of the Danube cycle route, but we´ve been lucky to have got so far with so little road use. Mosquitos, sand and very loose gravel are conspiring to make all ventures on the "cycle tracks" slow, frustrating and almost dangerous.

Camp sites have been basic where they exist, but happily light on our budget.

The skies have been enormous and the people kind and welcoming, special mention to Tamas for looking after us in Dunafalva, tolerating our terrible German and sending us off with a good bottle of Palinka to speed our route.

Round the bend

We have cycled to Hungary and are nearing a somewhat impressive 2500km. Our semi-regular musings reach you today from the rather grand city of Budapest where we are engaged in wandering along impressively lined streets in the sunshine, taking in the many sights. We are heading for a swanky thermal spa a bit later and will be suitably relaxed for the next leg tomorrow.

Getting here from Slovakia was very straightforward: we crossed the bridge into Hungary at Esztergom and the sun shone down on the scenic southward swing of the Danube (Duna) bend. The cycle paths rivalled Holland for signposting and surface and in the course of looking for lunch we discovered the world's best fish and chips. Really tasty battered catfish (?), who'd have guessed?

Budapest sprawls a bit and we had to fight our way in, making full use of Soph's navigation skills and lucky guesswork. The main central artery though (the last 4kms into central Pest) had conveniently been pedestrianised for the day for a street festival involving lots of interesting pedal-powered transport. We felt like we blended in well.