Greek Xperience

I’ve travelled to Greece before, but never quite like this…

Back when I was in the Caribbean, I missed my family a lot. So, naturally when my mom asked me about a trip to Greece I immediately said … Yes. This is the ongoing story of this trip to Greece.  Live, happening as you read!

It took me 10 hours to drive from Bucharest to Kavala, only to find out there are no more ferries for the day.  And I wasn’t the only one stranded on the mainland… a British couple from Manchester were also quite terrified about the idea of having to stay in Kavala. Naturally I gave them a ride to the next port. We managed to catch the last ferry,  barely.

In true Greek tradition, they managed to squeeze our cars in,  like sardines in a can.  By now I should be used to climbing out the window but somehow it still comes as a surprise…

After all were aboard, we set sail for Thassos town. My folks and I got the best seats,  facing forward on some rough seas.  Nothing a good cup of coffee won’t fix – my mom said.

The moment we left port some weird feelings came back into mind. The sea looked calm but the ferry was rocking like crazy. Being used to the biggest cruise ship there is, this was quite awkward. The Oasis ( of the Seas) would only sway this much in a hurricane level storm.  Of course, this being a much smaller vessel,  it had troubles putting up with even the smallest of them.

It wad a good thing I got my sea-legs while in the Caribbean. Unfortunately not everyone was as lucky and soon some people were seasick. Trying to feed the seagulls is quite a good excuse to be near the edge…

A couple of days have passed and one thing’s for sure – this is nothing like the Caribbean. There are no huge luxurious beaches, no fancy clubs, no bling and no one trying to sell pot. Only one reminding me about my exotic experience is an African guy selling tribal figures out of a bed-sheet.

I’ve spent quite some time wandering about the small town of Potos – especially the small and narrow promenade. Everywhere you look there are small stores selling all sorts of crap… Keychains, fridge magnets,  goggles – you name it, they’ve got it. My mom and I were strolling around just curios to see what else they’ve got to offer. Of course I lost my mom the moment hats were in sight. She’s got like a built in radar for that kind of stuff… All you men out there know what I mean. So I was on my own – great!

It wasn’t long till I found something sweet. Greeks have this pleasure of mixing honey with all sorts of stuff. Everybody else has the pleasure of eating such mixes. I stumbled upon honey with nuts and I must admit, they look AMAZING. Not knowing what they taste like, one could just buy a jar and put it on a shelf. That alone would improve anyone’s kitchen… but if you dare open Pandora’s box…

And the best part? This Greek delight can now be yours for less than 2 €

I had to move on. A strange but familiar sound caught my attention from down the street. It was like an ancestral calling I could not resist, I would not resist.  As I got closer the sound became louder and more familiar. I turned round the corner and saw it! A 600 cc dirtbike.  Ok, it’s not a KTM but a Yamaha will do. I raced to the rental shop and eagerly rushed into a conversation with Mr. rental sir. Soon after I find out that the 660 XT is in for repairs, but I can have the 500 model. Not quite the displacement I was looking for, but I guess it would do.
But I didn’t get a chance to talk business… Mr. Greek just hopped on a ATV and rode away into the sunset. Not quite sure what that was all about. One thing’s certain: Mr. Greece and I will have another chat!

After being denied of my deepest pleasure and stood up by Mr nice guy, the local shops were of no real interest any more…

I found myself wandering aimlessly round town, so I was bound to sooner or later end up on the local pier.

Just like the old town of Potos, this pier was kind of lost in time. Narrow but quite long, it was only harboring a couple of fishing vessels and some dingies. Try as I might, I could not find any yachts nor any cruise ships on the horizon…

There was something in the air… This pier had a unique feeling I couldn’t quite grasp – probably be because all my prior experience with piers was work-related. All the small fishing boats, swaying in the sunset, the families walking about with their kids, the lovers stealing a glimpse from one another; and then, walking away into the sunset… A kiss.

Right! This is getting out of control… As much as I’d like to be one of them, I’m not. There’s no one here I can share this experience with. But there is one thing still bugging me. It’s been in the back of my head since this afternoon…

I need to get a bike and explore the island! That should take my mind away of such things…

After a couple of rainy days, this was a well deserved break. It started out just like any other day, but by the time we decided what to do, the skies cleared and the weather got pretty hot – just about right for a day at the beach. Boy was I glad I went scouting some days earlier. Being disappointed by the local beach, I went with my instinct and followed some shabby road signs. At first it didn’t look special, then the track continued off road and finally right on thru a forest of olive trees. Winding round the coast I could almost get a glimpse at the rocky shore just to loose it again behind a tight bend. The twisting road continued but not before long I was facing a sandy slope I could not conquer by car. Oh well… I’ll just walk for a couple of minutes
But it didn’t take that long, the breathtaking scenery wad right round the corner. The steep slope guided me right into beach perfection. A small opening in the cliffs with a red fine sand was awaiting in front of me. And the best part? – we were the first ones there; this is chillout in it’s finest form.

As the hours went by, people started to arrive and amazingly, they were all suited for this beach. Nobody was too noisy, none of them put on a show. And it all got better when the small bar just up the hill opened – the only thing missing was a cold beer.

( it would all have made for a great picture, but for reasons I’m sure you understand, bringing my cell with me was not quite the smartest thing)

I was so amazed by the whole scene, that I didn’t notice one of the fishermen waking up. Only when I heard the imminent danger did I take a deep breath and dove as deep and as far as I could.

Meet …, a old gal from the Japanese plains. She went to America in the 80′s in search for a better life and has recently moved to Greece for retirement. She does not yet have a name so I’m open to any suggestions – just leave a comment.

This being our first date and all… I’m thinking of taking it slow. We’re gonna first take a ride around the island, on the asphalt roads. We’ll play in the dirt once we’ve known each other a little better. This being said, fill ‘re up and GO!
She might be an old timer but her aircooled 650cc heart is pumping quite hard. It wasn’t long before I hit the twisties with open throttle.

It’s no wonder that at this pace, I made it to the other side of the island in a heartbeat. Naturally when I got into Thassos I had some time to spare. The local bazaar was quite a delight for my camera – so much actually, that I forgot to take out the “tricorder” and snap some pics for you…. Sorry! I also tried to visit the local ancient amphitheatre but it was as exciting as the rocks in my back yard.
On the road again, open the taps and let the wind blow in my long blonde hair…
Not far from Thassos rown, is the settlement of Makryammos – some locals told me there should be a nice beach in that area so I went to investigate. Taking on the Greek backroads was great, especially when I ran out of tarmac. I know I said no offroading for the day, but really… a bit of gravel can’t hurt anyone. And you should have seen the view. Riding along a dirt road thru the local olive orchard scaring the heck out of goats along the way. This motorbike heaven went on for quite some time untill…

… A sign saing Marble beach caught my attention. “this must be it!” – hammer on towards the beach. Just when I thought I’d seen them all. The name was adequate, for this beach had no sand or stone. Instead it was littered with marble pebbles. The whole beach just one big pebble-box. And it all was the famous white Thassos marble. Most important, I could tell from afar that this was not your regular old timers beach. The majority on this beach were in their 30′s or lower, all dancing and having a good time. And the ladies all beautifully lit by the marble all round. A stop-over was needed.

Ok so I had my fill with a cold beer. Time to hit the road again. The beautiful road carried on for a while and on the way I passed by several trucks. They were all on the side of the road, with a thick coating of white dust. Didn’t really know what it was till I hit it. Suddenly the road turned in a sea of white dust. It was as if someone spilled flour all over and sprinkled fine glitter in between. The front wheel was plowing along raising a white cloud behind me. Before I could make up my mind on the origins of this fine stardust I reached a quarry. The magical flux behind me was marbledust. It was like being stuck in snow, in September.

So the Japanese old timer can handle it all! Good to know, for tomorrow I’m planning to take on the summit.

Getting out of the quarry wad tricky but soon I left the monster machines eating away in the islands rocky surface.

Once I hit the tarmac I had to gain on some lost time. It’s 7 and in half hour I need to meet with my folks in Aliki for dinner…

Right, my bags are packed once more, it’s time to saddle up and hit the road. But just to be sure, let’s top up first.

The first checkpoint of the day is the small village of Kastro, somewhere high up on the rocky hills. It is said to be the most beautiful village, having a panoramic view over the island. So… full throttle to Theologos, and from there on it’s all dirt road.

There’s something about riding a bike in the Greek outback… the beautiful scenery, the great smell… the winding open road. I’ve said it before and will again: Greece was made for motorbike riding!

Once on the dirt road, the fun part starts. Ok, so I didn’t open the throttle as much, it isn’t my bike, the tires were bust but I still was doing good progress. It wasn’t long till I caught up with the first group of Germans, driving a jeep. Guten Tag! Ist dies der richtige Weg zu Kastro? – right… I guess so. There are no road signs. But when they saw me motoring on they followed my lead.

One can easily get lost in these dense forest and rocky roads. Since every 5 – 10 minutes, there is a crossroad. Well, I always follow my rule – if there’s no sign, follow the main road.  And so I did. It wasn’t long till I caught up with another motorbike. A small 125 Yamaha dirt bike, trying to push two people uphill. The polish couple didn’t speak English well, but in a combined Anglo-Saxon discussion, we managed to conclude that kastro should be right ahead…

The higher up we got, the more beautiful the scenery. But this also answered the old question about the wasp infestation. All you can see, on every stretch of road, there are beehives (or wasp hives). This all reached it’s climax when 10 min before Kastro, right on a hilltop I reached the wasp highway. The only portion of dirt road paved in rock, like a roman street, and on both sides hive after hive. I could see the stingers flying around… and their engines were revved up. No going back now. Close the helmet, roll up the scarf, and pray that none will get in.

Clutch, 1^st , gas GO!!!. As I entered the warzone, I was already into second gear, doing about 40. I could hear them all bouncing of my helmet and skin, and a huge zummm behind me. It was the longest couple of yards I’ve ever ridden. But when it all was over, I had to stop for a breath of fresh air – unwillingly I was holding my breath the whole time.

The Germans behind me had no problems, they just rolled up the windows and drove thru.

Just around the corner was my first goal for the day. The village is indeed beautiful, scattered on the rocky hilltop. All the houses are made of stone and on the top of the hill rests a small church. That’s where I’ve got to go.

A great view indeed, and what a lovely church. I immediately fell in love with this small place. And so, since it had everything it needs to make me happy, I decided it was time for lunch. Right there on the rocks, in front of the church. Just like yesterday, I didn’t have much to go on, 3 loafs of bread and a delicious can of tuna salad with olives and all sorts of veggies. (that’s right, I eat my veggies!)

Dumb idea… the moment I opened my can, a couple of wasps come and feast on it. I think to myself, oh well, it’s just a few, I’ll live, and try to carry on eating. But by the time I eat the first loaf, the shit hits the fan. My can had turned into a meat eating wasp hive, with over 30 of them charging away at my food. Irritated I had nothing to but step back and accept defeat. I was going to eat just bread for the rest of the day.

Furious as I was, I decided to carry on, on a different road than the one I came – trying to avoid the wasp-highway. It wasn’t long till I met a couple of Germans hiking along. Guten Tag!! Right so the road I’m on leads to some waterfall, great! That sounds refreshing. But imagine how amazed I was when following this road I reached the crossroad at the top of the hill. The one right before the highway… so, where are the waterfalls. Surely I would here them. I had to stop for a while and look for clues… and indeed, there it was. There are no road signs here, but if you’re lucky, you might spot one of these – a road stone. If nobody is playing a practical joke and moving them around, one should be able to get directions.

So on to the lake, if there’s no waterfall. Well, the road must have been better, or I’ve gotten used to them, cause I reached the lake quite soon. Following these stones by the side of the road has been quite helpful, and trusting in them has proven a good idea. But I nearly missed the lake… motoring on the what now was quite a good dirt track, doing 40 – 50 and bringing the tail out in every corner, I just caught a glimpse of a pond on my left. It can’t be! So I didn’t bother stopping, but after another 5 mins riding… it must have been…

So I turn round and indeed, from this direction, there was a rock sign “to the lake”. So, I go down the narrow path and what do I find? Of course, the lake, but more important, another rock sign “waterfall”. From here on, the road was to narrow for the bike so I leave it behind and trust my worthy converse to carry me the rest of the way.

If the lake was a pond, you can imagine the waterfall was just a shy drop of water. Nevertheless, I reached the falls!!

By the time I got here though, it was already late into the afternoon, so it was time to start heading back. I asked the guy at the lake entrance about the way to the summit, but in true Greek tradition, left – left – right – left.. with all the roads around here? And a half empty gas tank? Naaah! He did convince me to buy a delicious jar of walnut pine honey. Yummm…

So, towards home then. Anyway it will probably take another couple of hours before I get off this mountain. Still I couldn’t help wondering how quiet it all was and how loud the bees humm…

BANG!

What was that? Flat tire? No… it must have been a rifle. But how close could it have been? So loud? And I could feel it in my chest.. well whatever it was, I better get out of here. I know there is hunting going on, but I did not realize biker season is open. Around the corner there’s a guy making signs to stop. Hell no, for all I know, you wanna eat me… but then he steps right in front of me and I have to break before I run him over. Seeing that I don’t understand Greek, he points towards, the hilltop. Only now did I have the patience to realize that I’m in a quarry, again. Just this time there were no heavy machines, just this guy

BANG!

Again? What the? Oh… now I got it, seeing the big dust cloud. They are using dynamite to blow stones away. This was the first time I hear a big explosion up close, and I must say, it was quite unique. The whole bike shivered and the dust came of my glasses.

After getting the all green from Mr. explosive expert, I hit the gas once more, this time for good. Prinos was within sight and I was to leave all danger behind me.

There’s not much left to do now, but conquer the summit. Fill ‘er up and let’s ride!

The easiest and shortest way back in the mountain is the one I took y’day on my way out… Thru the quarry. This time I tried to be prepared for the dynamite encounter, but nothing could prepare me for what was to come..
I didn’t realise at first, it’s Sunday! So… Nobody’s working in the quarry.

Naturally I took the opportunity to play round the monster machines. The huge caterpillars with chains were definitely the party piece, but I kinda fell in love with the old kipper.

No time to waste, on I go. Now that I know the road I’m riding, I get a bit cocky and push harder. The tail comes out in corners, the engine backfires on every shift and I have a huge grin on my face… Before I know it, I’m more than half way there. From here on it’s just the climb to the top.

The scenery is amazing, on one side there’s a huge drop and the great view over the valley (of potential death), on the other a huge cliff going straight up. In between lays a narrow stretch of road which would barely fit two vehicles. If you’re lucky.

It wasn’t long though before I reached the end of the road. Still, I went on as close to the top. From where I was coming I could not see what awaited…

But boy was I in for a treat. Although the summit is not high, roughly 1200m, it’s all one big rock. So when you look down, you look straight down, for 1000m. And not far from where the mountain ends, there is a road that takes you to the famous golden beach.

To not have lunch here, would be madness. I don’t care how many wasps I need to fight off.
So can out, and dig in. Luckily, at this altitude the wasps are all scared off by all the birds.

The way back down was even faster. So fast actually that I had some time to spare before I had to part with … (still haven’t received comments with name suggestions). I quickly ran over to chill out beach just in time for a perfect sunset and a night time bath.

It’s pretty late in my adventure on Thassos. I’ve seen them all but I can tell from her look…

Every time I tell her about my adventures, her eyes grow big and ears go long. Yep, It’s my mom. And she’s dying to see the places I’ve visited.

Since she won’t ride a bike, and Tibi also wanted to come along, I rented a jeep. A Suzuki Jimny, soft-top.
Top down and mom squeezed in the back, all good to go.

The road to Kastro seemed much shorter now, even if I was driving much slower. I started to recognize the landscape and pretty soon I was going faster. At speed, the Jimny was great, back out in the curves and flying over pot-holes.
My happyness was short-lived though. Soon enough my Mon started to complain about her knee, and Tibi bout his shoulder… That’s what you get for travelling with old f… – I’m gonna stop here coz they’re probably reading.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long and I arrived in Kastro. Naturally, I went directly to the top of the village to show them the small church, but more than that – the view. My mom then noticed an open door. This wasn’t like this when I visited, so I went to. take a peak…

… It was the town’s ossuary. Bones lying everywhere, and some arranged in small boxes with pictures on the side. Creepy…

Funny enough, on our way out, we found the old tavern, hidden behind some houses. It was no more than a stone house with a couple of chairs out front and a big tree. It was heaven.

After a short coffee and a short chat with Kostas, the barkeeper, we headed out for the summit.

I had to drive real carefully along the way. The slightest jolt would generate endless remarks. So it took us quite a while to get to Ipsarion. Eventually though, we were there. And all pain was forgotten. It was amazing to see how the breathtaking scenery just put a cap on all complaints. Everybody was awed, staring at the view.
We had a smoke, took pictures, dreamed about jumping and then came back to our senses. It was getting late and we still had some more destinations on our list.
On the way back down we stopped by the mountaineer hurt, the waterfall and small lake in the forest.
By now, the complaints about the bumpy ride were pouring. As if off-roading was smooth…

Eventually though, we arrived in the plains and from here one, just a short drive to Marble beach.
Ok, so they hated the dirt road on the way there. But once we got there, they loved it. My mom wanted to take marble pebbles back home, if it wasn’t for the knee.

It was a long day. But I managed to squeeze three days of biking adventure into one, and showed them the most important things. Ok, so it wasn’t comfortable… At times they even hated it. But they’ll get over it. And when thinking back on things, they’ll remember the good ones.

It was late when we finally got home. And it was one of the few times I saw mom biy the sack so soon. But that’s what adventure is all about!

Right, a long way home awaits. This adventure is over. But I’m sure another will be waiting round the corner.