Iásio

The question is, how shall we cross from Bulgaria into Turkey? Shall we do a longer leg in Bulgaria and a very short crossing of Greece? Or head south and cycle through some of the Greek mountains. It turns out we are just too tired to decide… time for a rest day!
A day on and we are off again refreshed - direction Greece. Once over the border (on yet another pass) we descend to a flat warm agricultural plain with a possible glimpse of the Aegean sea. Greece smells different!
We are off the tourist trail and on the hunt for a place to rough camp. Alain asks at a rural Petrol station if there might be somewhere near by and we are warmly invited to pitch the tent in his garden. Next morning, as we are packing up after breakfast, he arrives to open up, bringing with him our second breakfast - homemade chicken soup (with gas stove to reheat), salad, fresh rings of sesame bread and authentic Turkish coffee. Yum.
We tackle the long climb into the mountains on a good and very quiet road. Once on the top Alain queries our route… why aren’t we taking this road next? And indeed, why not? It will take us into the national park and be more direct…
We pedal on to the turn-off and realise that the new route is a dirt road. Hmmm.. shall we, shan’t we? We are here for the adventure, lets go!Read more