June 3 - 6 Baykent / Istanbul

Our two main priorities for our stay in Istanbul (aside from visiting friends of course) were getting the essential bike parts necessary for the remainder of our trip to (hopefully) Thailand and to soak in some of the historical attractions around town.

We decided to tackle the bike parts first incase anything needed to be ordered in. Most of Istanbul's bike shops are concentrated in one small area of town called Eminönü. This was very convenient for going from shop to shop to get the best deal.

Unfortunately the main parts I needed, a new front rack and a fat tire for the rough stretches, were either sold out or not available. Shoot, but this is where it gets interesting. We had prayed that we would find at least all the most urgent and special parts we need here because the next good bike and parts shop is not until western China and I would not dare ride any further with my cracked front rack. Bags falling off my bike in the middle of the road is the last thing I want.

At this point we remembered that someone had mentioned that a new bike touring shop had opened up on the Asian side of Istanbul. In fact, it was Kenta, the Japanese cyclist, who had told us about it. If you have been following the blog for the last few weeks you will recall us meeting Kenta, who James had met over a year ago in Laos, on a hill in Macedonia. There is no way that reunion was by chance. We had wondered what the purpose of this most unexpected meeting with Kenta may be and if we would ever find out. Well, on that day in Istanbul we found out. Thanks to the info about the existence of this new bike shop, I was able purchase a beautiful Tubus lowrider front rack as well as the tire (Marathon Mondial 700/40) and matching tube I so needed. It was a bit tricky to find the shop at first because hardly anyone knew about it was well worth the effort.

To me this again shows how beautifully and creatively God looks after us. The rack also fit my bike perfectly when I mounted it next day. THANK YOU!!!

The owners of Bisiklet Gezgini, Alex and Sesil, are avid tourers themselves so it was great sit and chat with them, and drink çai (tea) of course, we are in Turkey after all.

If you are a cyclist near Istanbul and reading this, here is their website. It may come in handy:

www.bisikletgezgini.com

THANKS FOR THE HELP, ALEX AND SESIL. HAPPY TOURING AND GOOD LUCK WITH THE STORE.

June 2- Hanging out with Sahibe and Tevfik

In the morning we all drove to the seaside east of Istanbul and Sahibe and Tevfik invited us to a Turkish buffet brunch. I feel like I cannot put into words how much I enjoyed every bite of that meal. Lots of fresh tomatoes, peppers and other greens (Turkish breakfasts are predominantly savory), börek, lots of cheese, yogurt, kaymak (like sour cream but better), various baked goods, fried potato cubes, pepper-sausage stirfry, fruit etc.

THANK YOU SAHIBE AND TEVFIK FOR THIS AMAZING TREAT!

After a short stroll by the sea, we drove back, picked up some melons along the way, chilled out at the apartment and later on had another fantastic meal on the balcony.

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH YOU GUYS.

May 31 - June 1st Ride to Istanbul

The 31st was not very eventful. Just a long riding day. Could not get to the reststop we were aiming to camp at so we ended up sleeping behind the caretaker's house in a muslim cemetery. After several nights next to the busy highway and stupid dogs barking for hours on end for no reason, this was a much welcomed, quiet, restful night.

Next day we got on the large freeway to Istanbul despite the "no cyclists" sign. Those signs are well meant by authorities but just because the cars on this road drive a bit faster than on the secondary highway does not make it more dangerous. The shoulder is as wide as an extra lane and the gentle curves of the road make us visible from far away. The "safer" secondary highway on the other hand has no shoulder, passes through the center of all the towns which have conglomerated into Istanbul's sprawling suburbs, lots of intersections, terrible patched up road with cracks and bumps and tons of traffic going at least 80km/hr. Getting hit at 80 versus 120 probably does not make much of a difference on a bike so breaking a well meant law for ones own safety sometimes becomes necessary.

We stopped at a large truck stop to take a break. One of the truckers was about to prepare his breakfast when he waved us over to join him. Hakan made us tea and a Turkish style breakfast with peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and white bread. He is a driver in his own trucking company which runs deliveries all over Europe. If I recall correctly, he was just on his way back from Germany. Sorry no pictures of this. They are on my other camera and I have no computer to upload them with.

THANK YOU HAKAN FOR THE DELICIOUS BREAKFAST. HAPPY TRUCKING!

From there it was a short ride to Baykent where we were expected by James' friends Sahibe and her brother Tevfik. They live in a nice apartment overlooking the sea. So beautiful.

Before we reached their house we got some more photos printed to give away to people. At the print shop we met Ahmet who spends half of the year in Mauritius where he established a Solidarity Foundation and several schools. It was very inspiring to talk to him. When a poor lady came into the shop selling socks, he bought three pairs off her and gave them to me. So nice! He had to leave before our prints were done and when we were about to pay we were told he already paid for our order. Wow!

THANK YOU AHMET! IT WAS GREAT TO MEET YOU. ALL THE BEST WITH YOUR WORK IN MAURITIUS.

May 30 continued 2

This evening we were able to camp by the same gas station where James had camped before. The same attendants still worked there and they were quite excited to see James again. They immediately served us tea and probably would have kept refilling our glassed all night had we not indicated we needed to go to sleep. Before bed time, however, we had some photoshoot fun with the two cheeses from Caner and James' bike. Yeah cheese power!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH SOMET AND BALLI FOR THE SAFE CAMPING SPOT BY YOUR GAS STATION AND FOR YOUR KINDNESS. TAKE CARE!

May 30 (pictures for post below)

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May - 30 continued

On previous trips, James always stopped at the Yaman Peynircilik cheese store for lunch and to see how much cheese he could get for 1 Lira. Since we had just been fed by the construction workers, our cheese appetite was very low but the increasing temperatures made us stop at Yaman anyways and rest in the shade of the trees near the patio. We really hoped they did not mind us staying there without being customers.

I am not sure how much time passed because we both fell asleep for a while, but shortly after we had woken up, the owner walked past us to serve some customers on the patio. When he saw us he asked if we wanted anything. We denied, not wanting to spend money on food we did not need since we were still overloaded by what Vasilius had given us. But Caner waved us inside and insisted we have some tea. Okay, some tea is fine. My first tea in Turkey was a delightful experience. Here they drink tea out of small, pear- shaped glasses placed in small saucers, usually served with two sugar cubes and a cute little spoon to stir. (Just realized I have not taken a photo of these glasses yet. Will do shortly). Caner refilled our glasses as soon as they were near empty. Then he also brought us two bottles of cold water, two cups of Ayran (mmmm!!!) and a container with an odd substance which sort of looked liked crystallized honey. It was minced, sugared cheese!! Soo delicious!

After numerous funny attempts to try to get everybody to smile in a group photo it was time for us to continue on. As we wanted to pay, he would have nothing of it but instead handed us a bag with two round cheeses, half a kilo of white cheese and a loaf of bread....for on the road. WHAT! WOW! So nice. I hope Bicyclette will forgive me the extra weight I made her carry that evening in addition to everything else she had loaded already. She was so heavy I could not lift her anymore. Just getting over a curb was a minor feat.

THANK YOU CANER FOR THE WONDERFUL WELCOME AND FOR ALL THE CHEESE. WE LOVED EVERY BITE OF IT!!!

May 30 - Turkey!!!!!

On the road by about 6:30 and reached the Turkish border by about 8 am. Pleasant surprise: Swiss cititzens don't need a visa. Yay, just saved €15!
Long busy road heading to Istanbul. 50km of it are currently being redurfaced so there were several construction zones to get through. We came past a construction crew about to have lunch and in typical, hospitable Turkish style, they called and waved us over to join them. In Turkey, construction crews always get their food delivered by a caterer so as soon as we had rested the bikes against the boss' truck, each of us was given a tray with soup, yogurt, breaded meatballs, bulgur and an entire loaf of bread. The meal was followed by a cup of Ayran (watered down yogurt drink, super refreshing).
THANKS SO MUCH GUYS FOR THE SUPER NICE WELCOME!

May 29 - Alexandropoli...speechless once again!

James knew of a nice beachfront campground in Alexandropoli so we decided to treat ourselves to an afternoon and night by the ocean...if they are willing to let us stay for no more than €10. Unfortunately the owner was not there and the lady in the reception would not budge off the €15. Sorry, too much.
We rode down the road and stopped by some benches in the shade of a little church. We thought to go back to the campground later when the owner has returned. He should remember James and hopefully give us a deal.
We sat by the church for a while when a lady came to water the gardens. She did not speak English but were able to find out that the water from the hose is drinkable.
Shortly after she had left, a young guy came to deliver something to the little house next to the church. We thought it was empty but it turns out it houses the priests office. When we saw the priest come to the door we really hoped he would be of the nice sort and would be okay with us sitting out the midday heat beside his church. When he saw us, he smiled and immediately asked if we needed anything...water etc.? Thanks but no thanks, we just filled up.
Still, he went back inside and came back with a large bottle of cold water, a bottle of juice and two glasses. He went back inside and before we knew it we each had an ice cream cone in our hands. But that's not all. He came again with a can of Dolmates, half a loaf of bread, a chunk of cheese, a chunk of meat, a can of spam, a handful of chocolate wafer bars and about nine chocolate filled croissants as well as cutlery. WOW! We were just speechless! Thank you Vasilius! He then also sent the young guy around to unlock the washroom for us.

Since Vasilius was so kind to us, we later decided to ask him if it were okay for us to sleep next to the church tonight. He said that would be no problem for him but the police may come question us. That said he went over to the neighbour, John, explained the situation. John said he will keep an eye out for us and if anyone bothers us in the night they should come talk to him. Before leaving, the office to go home, Vasilius ensured that the washroom will be open all night, gave us another bottle of water and wished us a good night. So super nice.

We had a pleasant afternoon next to the little church. As we were about to prep some dinner, an older man showed up on his bicycle and handed us a bag with food for dinner. More bread, cheese, meat. He must have been sent by Vasilius. My goodness!

About half hour later, the same man came back, this time accompanied by what must be his grand daughter, delivering another bag with dessert. O MY GOODNESS what is going on here. He spoke no English so we could only emphasize our gratitude by repeating "efariston" (thank you). He then also waved us over to the little patio infront of the priests office and indicated that we could slep there, under cover. Soo nice.

Just as we were starting to move our things to the patio, John showed up. He had just made some coffee and was wondering if we wanted some. Sure. He went back to his house said he would bring the coffee over. So a short while later we got two delicious iced coffees to top off this incredible day.

If this day is not a miracle, I don't know what is. God is so abundantly great!

THANK YOU VASILIUS AND JOHN FOR YOUR AMAZING KINDNESS!!! WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST AND GOD BLESS!!

May 28 - Komotini

Two years ago, James was able to stay with a monk in a small town between Xanthi and Komotini. We had already arranged our accomodation in Komotini for tonight but we decided to pay Father Damaskinos a visit because he lives alone in a house next to a little chapel on the main road and seems to like visitors. He remembered James well. We hung out with him for quite a while, he made coffee and even served us Chiporo (probably spelt wrong), Greeks' national drink. Damaskinos was lots of fun to hang out with. He has a quirky, somewhat sarcastic sense of humour and could not wrap his head around why in the world people torture themselves by riding their bicycles from one country to the next for thousands if kilometers. A bit later he brought a bowl of Easter eggs, in the hope they were still edible. Unfortunately they weren't but we were introduced to the competitive Orthodox way of cracking egg.

Round 1: You bang the tip of your egg against the tip of the other person's egg. Whose egg cracks is the first time loser.
Round 2: Turn the eggs over and bang the wider ends together. If the egg that cracked on the top also cracks on the bottom, the owner of that egg loses. The unscathed egg wins the game!
On the other hand, if after Round 2 each egg has only one cracked end, you go to
Round 3 where you bang the still intact ends together. The egg with both sides cracked is the ultimate loser, the other the winner. Very fun game!
Damaskinos proudly gave us a tour of his little, yet beautiful chapel and told us of his hopes to soon get transfered to a monastery. He is sick of the ten years of traffic noise at his current location.

IT WAS GREAT HANGING OUT WITH YOU. THANKS FOR THE GOOD TIME AND THE REFRESHMENTS. WE HOPE YOU GET TRANSFERED TO THE MONASTERY SOON!

In Komotini we wanted to have lunch in the central park but could not find it so just sat in the shade of a big church next to the army base. The town was a bit chaotic to ride through so we hoped our contact for tonight was not on the other side of town.  James went to call him and it turned out he lived three blocks down the road. Great, what a relief.
Giannis made us feel very welcome. He had a safe place for our bikes (!!!) and we got our own room for the night. Giannis loves music and he has done some DJ work in local bars. He introduced us to some new bands we had never heard of such as Chinese Man and others which I cant remember right now.

THANKS GIANNIS FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY AND THE MUSICAL EVENING. ALL THE BEST AND HAPPY TRAVELS, WHEREVER YOU DECIDE TO GO.

Route maps

Hello everyody,
Finally got some route maps up on the blog. They can be found in the ROUTE
MAPS tab on the top of the page.

Enjoy.

May 27 Evening

We spent most of the hot part of the day in the shade next to a little church beside the highway. There was a water tap so staying cool was no problem. As we were lying there in the shade reading, napping, daydreaming, a wave of worry about the future rolled over me. James and I have talked a lot about the kind of lifestyle we would eventually like to settle down to: a bit of land to have a little farm with fruit trees, perhaps a small woodlot and a little house. But as I kept thinking about it all these questions came ....where to find this land, how to pay for it, how to make it all work, what to do when back in Canada...etc. Although I looked calm on the outside and did not voice my thoughts at the time, I had literally got myself into a minor panic attack of worries. I remembered how we had been in tight spots before and it had always worked out so beautifully in the end, but I was still scared. I was embarassed that I had so little trust so I just thanked God for all his blessings and protection on this trip so far and thanked him for what he had in store for our future and I also asked that he would take this panic out of my head.

We thought this church ground would be a good camping spot. The priest gave us permission to stay the night but warned us that it could get very noisy because many kids come hang out and ride their bikes around the church in the evening. We did not take him very seriously but around 8:30 when we wanted to start setting up for the night, more and more kids and teenagers showed up. Within half hour this peaceful place had turned into a noisy playground/soccer field. Great, what now? It was starting to get dark and we had no place to sleep.

We packed our stuff and went into the small town. Maybe someone could help us out.

With the help of a translated message on James' ipod we asked at a house with a big yard. The daughter even spoke some English which really helped. A lengthy, lively discussion ensued among the family members. We just stood there, not sure what to do. The tone of the discussion sounded friendly but we weren't totally sure. Finally they finished and the verdict was that we could not camp in their yard (o no, too bad) but....they have a second little house a few blocks over where we could stay! O wow, most kind!  Alexandros, the father, got on his bike and led us to their other property.
I almost could not believe it. The property had a cute little house on it with a good size field out front, one side lined with fruit trees. It was a down sized version of what we would like to own one day. To me this was like God saying, "no need to worry about anything, I will give you what you need at the right time".

May 26-27 Phillipi and Kavala

Today's destination was the historical town site of Phillipi, the location of one of the early Christian churches. Being in such old, historically significant places always gives me this tingly feeling of awe and amazement, deep gratitude for the opportunity to visit such a place (especially because the book of Phillipians in the Bible is one of my favorites) and surprise that after so many years, parts of these ancient buildings are still standing. If only these stones could talk! Imagine the stories they could tell.

That night the priest in the neighbouring town Krinides gave us permission to camp in the olive grove next to his church. James had camped there before so this was extra special.

Next day we passed through Kavala, a town right on the Mediterranean. An old Roman aquaduct made for an impressive photo subject.

Further down the road I got the opportunity to save a baby turtle from certain death as it was about to march straight onto the busy highway we were on. It was so cute and round.

May 24- 25 Hello Greece

From Macedonia we cut through a one hour corner of Bulgaria and then into Greece. Not a very event ful day. In the evening it was a bit tricky to find a camping spot, stupid barking dogs everywhere. Finally we asked for permission to camp in the big yard of a house on the edge of a small town. Marinos, the owner, was very welcoming, even said we could camp on the patio, gave us water and ended up making a beautiful dinner for us with heaps of spaghetti and greek farmer salad from his garden. Wow so good. Marinos spoke English and some German so communication was no problem.
THANK YOU MARINOS FOR THE GREAT EVENING AND THE SAFE CAMPING SPOT. IT WAS REALLY NICE TO MEET YOU!!! ALL THE BEST.

Next morning we rode town towards Amfipolis to see the stone lion. Beside the road there were numerous giant thistles which just called to be photographed. While we were there a camera friendly shepherd and his large herd if sheep came along the gravel path among the thistles. I dont know why but the sight of a shepherd and his herd is so amazing for me. I guess it reminds me of a more simple life, peaceful and pastoral yet tiring and hard.

I cannot remember all of what the plaque by the lion said about its history but it is a kind of memorial statue built in the honour of some general many hundreds of years ago. The original lion was destroyed a long time ago but large pieces of it were rediscovered which led to the reconstruction of the current statue.

May 23- St. George i St. Antoniy Monastery

Yesterday after we had left Strumica, a thunderstorm moved in. On his previous trip, James got to stay at the monastery in Novo Selo and the monks he befriended there had told him to stop by if he was ever in the area again so we decided to ask for shelter there. We werent sure if they would let us stay overnight because women are generally not allowed in monasteries at night. But the monks were super nice and even set up a bed for us in the dining, apologizing that all the rooms were occupied. We ended up staying for two nights. Father Jakov and Father Antoni were the two monks we spent most our time with since they speak very good English and were around our age.
We went for a nice walk to a little lake with Antoni and the young, extremely playful monastery dog Griffin. The view over the valley was beautiful.

I had never visited a monastery before, let alone vacationed at one, so this two night stay was very interesting for me. The calm atmosphere was very relaxing and the monks were great company. Antoni told us that one of his dreams is to go to the USA someday and visit Disneyland. The mental image of this well humoured, bearded Orthodox monk on a Disneyland ride is so funny. I REALLY HOPE YOU CAN GO, ANTONI!

The devout, monastic lifestyle made me ponder, in some ways it impressed and inspired me while at the same time I am not in the least drawn to living such a life. Wouldn't it be ideal if we could live such a devout life while still being able to have a family, a job etc.

JAKOV AND ANTONI, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE GREAT HOSPITALITY. IT WAS SO GOOD TO MEET YOU/SEE YOU AGAIN. HOPE YOUR EXAMS WENT WELL, JAKOV. TAKE CARE YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS.

May 21- Expect the unexpected

On a long downhill stretch after Prilep, we came past a cyclist riding in the opposite direction. We stopped to say hello when he and James suddenly gave each other a look of surprise. "Do we know each other?" It turns out that the two of them had met about a year ago in Laos, James east bound and Kenta west bound from Japan. They had even had some email contact for a while since Kenta had wanted some route info from James. And here we meet again, a year later, on the other side of the world. Amazing and almost unbelievable. We dont believe in coincidences so what may be the reason for this meeting? Maybe we will find out some day.

Two years ago James made friends with a family near Negotino and we decided to pay them a visit. Vocko, Blaga, Radica and Sanja were incredibly welcoming, offered us to spend the night and served us an amazing dinner followed by, of course, home made rakia. Radica's boyfriend, who had just become elected to city councilor, even came over to practice his English.

A lot of the conversation revolved around the corrupt politics in Macedonia and the high unemployment rate. If you dont have close connections to a politician, your chances of finding a job are slim, unless you can afford to bribe an employer into hiring you. Also, the wage for many people sits around €1 per hour. Gulp.

VOCKO,BLAGA,RADICA AND SANJA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WARM FRIENDSHIP AND KINDNESS. IT WAS SUCH A GREAT EVENING AND YOU COULD NOT HAVE MADE US FEEL MORE WELCOME. WE REALLY HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!! GOOD LUCK AND ALL THE BEST!!! SPECIAL THANKS FOR THE JAR OF AJVER, WHAT A TREAT THAT WAS.

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Sorry for the non chronological posts. I send them in the right order but my app mixes them up when sending.

May 22- Strumica

Nothing overly eventful on the road today. In Strumica, a kind shop owner gave us a free tomato when we went to get some cheese for lunch. A small gesture but very heart warming. We just had to get our picture taken with him.

Lunch in the park. Big block of Macedonian white cheese (mmmmm yummy), lots of veggies and Blaga's home made ajver!!!! (Ajver is a typical Macedonian red pepper-olive oil paste)

THANKS AGAIN BLAGA FOR YOUR AMAZING AJVER!