East Macedonia and Thrace

Yesterday was again one of those special days. I had just cycled 20 km or so and arrived at the Greek coast when suddenly a car overtook me and stoped a few hundred meters further down the road. I could see the guy getting out of his car and waving at me. Ahm… not sure if I did something wrong!? As I came closer, he introduced himself as Nicolas. Nicolas lives just 300 meters away and wants to invite me to his house for breakfast (luckily, I hadn’t eaten my 2nd breakfast yet which was supposed to be a monstrous 190 g heavy chocolate croissant). Without hesitating, I immediately followed him to his house. His wife Georgina and two kids are at home and warmly welcome me. Georgina knows already what’s going on and is not surprised about my visit. Nicolas brings many cyclists to their home because it is located next to a very popular road - one of those gateways that leads cyclists to
Istanbul.
Nicolas is an outdoor enthusiast who is particularly interested in cycling, climbing and hiking. Of course we have many stories to share. He has been to the Bodensee, Freiburg and many other places that are close to my hometown. Also, he shows me some photos from one of his tours to Mount Olympus that was even documented in a Greek sports magazine. Quite impressive what this man has experienced (Should you ever need a mountain guide for Greece, there is certainly no better one than him). We could talk like this for many hours. Nicolas asks me if I want to stay for a night. But I don’t want to be too pushy as he stills has to do some work. Anyway, Nicolas told me about a magic place with hot pools about 40km away. Oh yes, that’s exactly what my body needs and I want to spend the night there!
Before I left, Nicolas gave me some fresh lettuce and spring onions from his garden. Finally, some vitamins and not only junk food!

After saying goodbye to Nicolas, I cycled along the coast. It’s still off-season and there are just plenty of dreamlike places for wild camping (no one cares during off-season).

I arrived at the hot pools and the abandoned houses. The pools are not only outside but also inside the old buildings. Never seen a place like that. The water is up to 40 degrees hot and this is just the perfect recovery for my body. There, I also get to meet another Greek Dimitri and a couple from Graz, Austria. The two Austrians travel with their massive truck towards Georgia and have in fact chosen a very similar route to mine. If I need assistance along the way, I have it now! They invited me for a beer and some snacks.

As I was walking back to my tent, I spotted a guy that somehow looks familiar. That’s Nicolas over there! He just arrived with his friend and wanted to check on me. What a lovely surprise. We went together to the hot pools and had another vibrant discussion.

Well, I must also admit that I had my very first kind of awkward situation. I noticed a guy who was straying around the hot pools for some time. I felt a little like being followed. Indeed, he did follow me after some time and asked if I was German and want to have sex with him. Wtf, of course not! Get off you creepy little something. I was not scared of this dwarf, rather, that he would misappropriate my bike and gear that I left behind when I went to the hot pools again (Aleks, the Serbian Destroyer, be prepared my friend). Just to be safe, I took a photo of his registration number. Never saw him again afterwards.

What a day! I slept like a baby after the hot pools.

Today is very much the opposite. There’s a strong breeze along the coast and the rain comes from all sides. Seems like the positive effect of the hot pools didn’t last for too long.Read more