I confess and apologise, I got confused! This should really be part 2 of Daryl’s story, and last week should have been part 3. If you were confused about how Daryl and Michiel reached Italy, well now you know it’s my fault, sorry. So here’s are some edited highlights about getting how they got through Turkey and Greece. As always, you can read the, highly recommended, full version here: The long way home part 1, Turkey and Greece, August 2024 – Tales from the Saddle
After eight days of sitting around waiting for hardcore adventurers to roll into the transcontinental checkpoint, it felt strange to think we were now heading out on our own adventure. We knew we had over 3,000km to cover before we would be back in our homes and were really excited to get started.
The journey from Çanakkale in Turkey to Igoumenitsa on the west coast of Greece was a real unknown to us, as there seems to be little in the way of advice online by other cyclists regarding routes, conditions, Etc. The other challenges on this part of the journey were going to be heat, and obtaining enough liquids and food out on the road. The plan was to aim for the ferry in Igoumenitsa in nine days, just over 100km per day.
On day 1 we took the main road along the European edge of the Dardanelles Strait to Gelibolu, the current name for Gallipoli, where we stopped near the ferry for breakfast and a brew
The first 80km of the day were reasonably flat until we had lunch in Çeşme, then we turned northwest up the E87. The temperature by then was starting to climb, as was the road. It was only 5km up the climb at 7% average, but at 40oC, fully loaded and side-by-side with heavy traffic, it felt hard.
On day 2 we crossed over into Greece and back into the EU. The queue of vehicles at the border was very long, so we took our place at the end. After a couple of minutes, we were waved to the front of the queue and our passports were checked. We were then sent into no-mans-land past the cars, over a bridge covered in barbed-wire and guarded by armed military staff in small guard stations. Once you start to roll in to the Greek area, it is much more relaxed, and a lot more ram shackled than the Turkish side. They also waved us to the front, and we passed through within minutes. The joys of being a cyclist.
At the end of the day we had shuffled the bikes up into the hotel room, bought a couple of tins of lemonade from the hotel reception and sat in the stunning garden, with the hotel dog. Idyllic!
We had a walk down to a taverna in the middle of the town for our evening meal, sat under the trees in the square, where we were treated to a mass return home by thousands of sparrows, chirping as they fought for position. I love Greece already.
At the start of day 3 we left the hotel at 07:30 with a pack-up breakfast. W wanted to be on the road before it got too hot. It was still 27oC when we left, but at least it was still in the 20’s. Thankfully, the afternoon was a steady downward run to the sea, which we hit in a town called Nea Karvali. The road along the seafront is made of square cobbles, approx. 150mm, with big gaps between them, so the going was painful!
In the evening, we decided to just buy a couple of wraps and a 1l bottle of iced tea instead of a big meal. We then found a seat on the front soaking it all up under to gaze of the stunning fortifications overlooking the bay.
Day 4 included a gentle climb through a spectacular forest, with high cliffs behind it. The road became very quiet. Halfway up the climb I felt the front of the bike getting wayward and knew puncture number three had got me. I managed to ride to a bus shelter, which protected us from the direct sun, and we slowly found the thorn, then fitted a new tube.
It was only 10km from there to Loutra Volvis, a small town on the edge of Lake Volvis. As soon as we arrived we discovered that the town had been abandoned about six years ago. The economy was based around the large spa hotel on the edge of the lake. When this hotel closed, all but a handful of properties had been left, almost as they were, chairs outside, doors open, giving the impression of a ghost town.
Our hostess at the guest house made us an amazing, but overpowering breakfast on the morning of day 5. We did our best to clear the table even if it meant putting some stuff in our pockets for later.
As we set off, we had the big lake to our right for a while, then we passed a second lake, Lake Koroneia. Halfway along that lake, we took a left turn and straight into a 10km climb, taking us up 400m and offering an amazing view of both lakes. While we sat, soaking up the view and another litre of fluid.
When we got to our accommodation, we followed our usual routine, which was now becoming automatic; shower, charge batteries and wash clothes. When riding back-to-back days, it is so important to be organised in this way, otherwise something gets missed. After that, we had a great pasta meal down by the pool, along with several drinks trying to top up lost fluid. My Garmin at this point was estimating 6l of fluid loss. We were finding that most afternoons by this point the temperatures were in the low 40’s.
11th Aug, day 11 was a big surprise. it started with a 12km climb over 500m in the most beautiful forest. This equals anything I have come across in France or Spain, truly stunning. Suddenly, the forest gives way to an open landscape rolling out into the mountains.
One of the strangest things we had noticed over the last few days was flies. It seemed that below 900m the air was fresh and free of flies, but once you reached the 900m mark they would start to hover around your face, ears and eyes, which was so annoying. We also encountered a few wild dogs on this day, something we had suffered in most of the remote areas. Thankfully, I was on a slight incline when these four started to run at me, so I managed to out sprint them.
As we took a left turn, we were greeted by the most beautiful blue lake, which we had to our right side for 15km, each corner offering stunning views. This area of Greece is a very well-kept secret and judging by the lack of cars in the area, the Greeks don’t know about it either. This was probably the most remote we had felt during the journey so far.
The restaurant owner we met at lunchtime was in his 70’s and full of questions about where we had come from, and where we were going. Lost in translation, at first, was the fact that we were doing the whole journey by bike, not by car, and doing a few random bike rides. When he finally understood this was our only form of transport, he was amazed, and proceeded to tell the staff and his friends. It was a memorable lunch spot and will stick with me for a long time.
Day 12 was our last day in Greece. As we reached this small blue and white bust stop style construction with a big Greek flag where we took a right turn off the main road. From here we started to climb through some stunning scenery, along the edge of the river, then climbing through Raveni, and Keramista until we peaked out at 600m, and another Greek flag. A quick check of the route and we discovered we only had 30km to go to the coast and it was only 11:30. We might actually make the 14:00 ferry.
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