Turkey wıth a quıck trıp through Greece.

Well I made ıt to Turkey, but i decıded to head south to Greece fırst. (whıch ın hınd sıght probably wasn't a good ıdea, as I've overstayed my 3 months ın the EU )

 

Wıth the extra border crossıng ınto greece the Greek authorıtıes (on behalf of the EU) kıck me out - well actually ıt wasnt that dramatıc.  They let me ın on the provıso that I got out of the country(EU) ın 48 hours.

 

Thıs meant rıdıng down to Seres from the Bulgarıan border that nıght and catchıng a traın  :-(    the next mornıng to Alexandropoulos.   I cant claım no traıns anymore  :-(   but ıt had to happen sooner or later.    Oh well, on the brıght sıde, the dıstance I've covered by bıke ıs probably the same as ıf I'd stuck to my planned route from Sofıa down to Galıpollı and I've had a glımpse of Greece, and I got to stay wıth Stefan's famıly ın Strumajı Bulgarıa and eaten them out of house and home.

 

I've put up some more pıcs wıth comments at the normal place, startıng page 9

  Looks lıke a travel agent sıgn but ıs actually a telecomms place.  Eıther fıttıng.

 

 

 The sovıet flavour was only really vısıble ın the monuments

 

  The gorge headıng south to the greek border

 

 Grandpa & Stefan

 

 Perfect tımıng for the festıval.

 

  just before the authorıtıes gave me 48 hrs

 

 A dejected Alfred wıshıng he was outsıde rıdıng

 

 Not what you need when youve only hours to get out of the country.  A pannıer mount on the left front fork broken off and ın need of brazıng back on again.   Temporarıly fıxed wıth a metal bracket and some bolts I had to put the load on the axle.  (the wheel was never quıck release because I had them changed - but ıt certaınlky ısnt quıck release now.  Requıres total removal of the skewer to separate the pannıer rack from the wheel and fork.

 

 What my Greek shots should have been lıke.

 

Currently ın Keşan Turkey and headıng toward Galıpolli.

 

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www.whereonearthisjeff.com

Sofia Bulgaria

I remember when I was planning this trip, looking at Google maps and seeing that there was virtually no info on them.  I went scouring the web for maps and found a ripper of sofia.   But it seemed soooo... far away.  Both in distance, time and culture.   But here I am , in Sofia,  trying to learn that alphabet..

 

There's new pics uploaded and the post Hungary photos have now been moved to their correct location of a new sub album.

 

Wow, towards Turkey after this  (How hot is that going to be if its high 30's here).   I've never had a planned route for Turkey until today.  I met a couple of truckies that didnt know English, and my Turkish is as good as my Serbian (and Croation and Hungarian...)  But we communicated heaps for about an hour and shared Chi, a good drink this hot weather.

 

 Serbian Hospitality 1, free food, and he wouldnt let me go with 1

 

 Serbian Hospitality 2, I didn't need to cook that night

  Aussie Hospitality, Maybe I can help them..

 

 Serbian Hospitality 3, clothing repairs, gratis

 

 Serbian Hospitality 4, bike service, gratis

 

 The road above Nis

 

 Turkish truckies and route planners, Ismet and Jamal

 

Jeff
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www.whereonearthisjeff.com

Serbia, Belgrade

I've finally moved on and am now in Belgrade after about a week in Budapest waiting for my old knees to feel normal again.  Yes, after 3 months and 6000km I finally had a recurrance of some of my old knee issues but am back on the road and feeling good again.   I had always been aware and prepared for some times that I may need to stay put for a week for my knees, and that was one of the things that meant a long trip might be possible where a short trip during annual leave would not.  My stay in Budapest was 6 days in 3 locations, 2 days in an inner city hostel, 2 days in a rather dodgy student accomodation place - but i had a room of my own, as long as i didnt mind having no door on the shower or toilet.  the final 2 days was in the home of a local, Ferenc, hopefully the power is back on again now... 

Ferencs Place in Budapest

It was nice to have a place to call home even if needed to use my torch as in the tent - and candles.  Being summer light isn't really a problem anyway.

I'm glad I did a bit of a detour to the National Park near the Hungary/Crotia border as it meant that I went from Hungary to Croatia then Serbia, instead of what I'd originally planned crossing direct from Hungary to Serbia.  It was worth it to see the difference a border can make.  Croatia being the better-off cousin of Serbia.

I feel for the Serbs that I've met,  they have been wonderful people, sharing with me or giving away what they had.  And asking, "What do they say in Australia about Serbs"  or "What they say on the BBC isn't true" 

Serb friends

and the mellon salesman

From Belgrade I'll be heading south east towards Nis.  I'm hoping my Serbia map is more accurate than it has been so far.  Quite a few of the roads I had planned to take (to go close  to the motorway on small roads to get to Belgrade didn't exist, which meant that I either did large detours or went on horrid farm tracks for many km between towns.  (and I cant check on Google maps because google maps has no roads in Serbia at all - and with no roads to reference the satelite photos are not that much use.)    I took a dive on one of the tracks the other day. The bike has quite a bit of momentum when loaded, so once i got myself into trouble it kept going. (that's two for those that are counting) No real damage to me or essential gear, but I did find today that one of my 2 SD flash cards for the camera doesnt work, and it was the one that was in the pocket of the camera case on my belt - and took the landing (the camera and the card that was in it are OK though, thanks Canon) (images already cut to disk.. Phew)

I'm not sure when the next update will be as I normally do them from major centres at internet cafes, the next major places are Nis in only a few days then Sofia in Bulgaria (?)

Thats it for now

Jeff

Sorry for the links rather than HTML thimbs, only lowsy browser for composing.
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www.whereonearthisjeff.com

If you cant see past dresden on the map.

June 10th 2007 -

If when opening the google map the path only shows as far as Dresden - or seems to stop prematurely. Scroll to the bottom of the list in the left hand column of items and you should see that there is are additional pages. Select the subsequent page to show the next part of my trip.

JJ
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http://www.whereonearthisjeff.com/

Arrived in Budapest

Well a few more countries down..Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia - for a quick overnight stay in Bratislava before heading into Hungary.

Current location Budapest

I promised myself that I'd go through my journal and pick out interesting bits to put into the next email, but here i am in a net cafe, thinking that I need to send an update and I don't have the journals with me. Doh! (Hey, I just realised I have typed all of the above without thinking - It's a US keyboard on a PC with English as a Locale.. Yippee)

Please check the map from http://www.whereonearthisjeff.com/ for where I've been. I continued along the Elbe/Labe River to just above Prague then followed the cycle route down into Prague. Staying in a Hostel in Prague was a nice change from picking off Ticks in the tent, then leaving Prague on my birthday travelled east toward Brno to pick up a bit more of the Czech experience before heading down into the Vienna corner of Austria. Again a couple of days in Vienna in the luxury of a Hostel room before a just in time arrival into central Bratislava (Slovakia capital) As I approached Bratislava the sky ahead turned black and when I got to the river bank opposite the city centre I needed to find shelter fast. (From the previous week I knew the pattern, very overcast and wettish in the morning, stinking hot in the afternoon then the thunder & lightening wind and downpours starting between 5 & 6pm and continue into the early evening before the really strong wind and rain disappear until the same time tomorrow.) There was the UFO bridge that I could have stood under, but it would take hours to clear (as long as it followed the pattern) and then I'd have to find a home. Fortunately for me, just past this area the river bank turns into a once loved but no longer loved type of river bank, and there is bush that just sits there waiting for travellers like me to make a home in. So once again i camped 1.5km from the main city centre in bushland with nobody knowing I was there. The first drops came as I pushed in the last pegs and in the next 15 minutes I collected almost a litre of emergency water (in my billy and into a cup off the door of the tent fly (as I'd not had time to find fresh stocks). I didn't have to use this water and tipped it out the next day, but it was nice to know it was available if I needed it, and it was a good measure of the intensity of the rain

From Bratislava the path continues along the Danube (which I'd basically followed from Vienna, and will continue to follow when I leave Budapest) and I left the bike path just before the Hungarian border and headed for the varied scenery of the road and villages instead of the view of the top of a levy bank with trees either side. The Hungarian border crossing was an unofficial one - much nicer than the official one between Czech & Austria (that's another story), and I've stayed largely on roads, some of which have been the official cycle route along the Danube and others which have not (yet another story).

The border crossing to exit Czech Republic is one I'll remember. It was manned by an official that unfortunately for travellers, has nothing better to do. She was dressed for the part too. Very official, never the crack of a smile. and typed in perfect civil service manner, one button at a time using her pen the press the keys (after studying the keyboard to locate the right letter). She copied manually all the information from the first info page of my passport and finally let me through. As soon as I started riding I found I had my first ever flat tyre. Checking the tyre there was no visible puncture item, so I opened it up to find the tube had a pair of cuts from the rim, where I had hit an extremely sharp edge on a gutter to get over from the cycle path onto the roadway to where the gestapo woman was. I thought the tyres were rock hard , but obviously not quite as the rim contacted the tube and pinched holes in it on this extremely sharp edge. I big patch over the two holes fixed it and it hasn't been a problem since. So the reputation of the Schwalbe Marathon XR tyres lives on, they haven't let me down yet, no punctures through them. The entry into Austria a kilometre down the road was a complete contrast. The officer there saw the BCN stamp in the passport and asked if I'd come from Berlin. I said that the stamp in the passport should say BCN for Barcelona as that's where I entered the EU. He asked where I'd been and then couldn't stop saying Super, Super.

The other story i mentioned above was about Hungarians roads. They have this official route that follows the Danube from way back before Vienna where I joined it, all the way to the black sea (through many countries). All other roads within cooee (in hungary) get a sign banning bikes. Which I, like any locals that need to travel there ignore. Fortunately the motorists too are aware that there is no alternative road to Highway 1 (except the motorway) and so they never bother tooting or getting impatient that you shouldn't be on the road. I even went through a police road block without a comment from them - on a road marked as no bikes (or tractors or horse drawn carts). Such a contrast to BeNeLux were if you so much as look at a road the motorists will blow you away with there horns.

Well I should be out exploring Budapest - having arrived this morning after a leisurely 30km ride fro a place called Dunabogdany. (Gotta luv the name)

Here for a couple of days at least.

jeff
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http://www.whereonearthisjeff.com/

Germany almost done

Well its been a while since I sent an update, I thought I had done one more recently that what i have.

 

Last time I wrote I'd just started into Germany, and got as far as Wuppertal.  Since then I've headed up further north than I'd originally planned, as I was told the lakes area above Berlin was worth seeing.  It was very beautiful.  On the way there I passed through the tourist area of Möhnesee and picked up my new tent fly and stove parts from the Dix's in Bückeburg. 

 

I've gone to sleep with the sound of machine gun fire and shelling near Bergen. And been forced to do a military detour the next day.  And I'm not in one of those so called "scary" places yet.  NATO have been a bit busy here doing exercises.

 

Europe has finally had some rain, since last I wrote. 

Rinteln

I've managed to avoid a bit of it when sleeping under a real roof in Wuppertal & Buckeburg, and also by taking short breaks during the day at selected places.  I've only gone really wet once, and that was because I rode on with a group of school kids touring when I should have waited for a little while for the shower to pass. (They were already drenched and were heading home having cancelled the trip early).

 

en-route to the lakes

Steinhude (not those lakes yet)

 This says sleep here get shot

 

 My first restaurant (pub) meal since starting 2 months ago.

 

 one of the activities that occur on the lakes on a public holiday

 

After touring around the lakes area up north I headed down to Berlin for a quicker than intended stay there. 

 this road near the lakes was made before the war (no doubt) then only ever got patched, and hasn't made it onto the post-reunification priority list yet.

 I was in the lakes area on a Thursday public holiday and lots of people had gone to the lakes to fish, kayak, or just drink.  this meant that I'd get to Berlin on what many would take as a 4 day weekend.  This worked very well in Brussels a few weeks ago as the city was nice and quiet with everybody gone on holidays.  Berlin was a different story, where in Belgium everybody left the big city, in Germany everybody came to the big city.  There was no accommodation anywhere, and I had planned to spent at least a couple of days there.  I did the rounds of a few backpackers and eventually stumbled across a few girls who had been searching all day and only found one hotel with a room available (at €300/night).

 

 

One of the remnants to remind you.  this is the east, apparently the western side was painted (I didn't see)

 

I elected to go for the bush, but to fly around the must sees before I did.  That was a good day of riding that one.  I was on the road at 7am and finished about 11pm - in Wansee a southern outer-suburb of Berlin for a suburban bush camp.

 

I then had a couple of nights in a hostel at Wittenberg catching up with clothes washing, me washing etc, as well as looking around the old town that is quite involved in German history, and especially in the church reformation with Martin Luther and the formation of the protestant churches.

 

Wittenberg was my gateway to the Elberadweg (or the Elbe River Cycle Path as we would say.) and how I will get to the Czech Republic and Prague.  A few lazy days cycling the Elbe with its lack hills will be good before I hit the hills to come.

 

One day from Wittenberg to Torgau was memorable because I had company for the whole day.  Instead of Annette ruling over a group of 6 she had a tag along, the sole male of the group, me.   I got to enjoy some good German and Swiss (thanks Vera) hospitality, taste the local delicasies and enjoyed the first swim of the trip. (Its been quite hot the past couple of days and the swim was a great way of getting out of the worst of  the midday sun.)  The girls had a few days of getting away from home (mostly between Hannover and Berlin) and were riding up the Elbe.

 My company from Wittenberg to Torbau

 

I'm now in Dresden and looking around the historic city of lovely old buildings and tomorrow will head toward the Czech Border for the next stage of the journey, another language and a new set of money.  Quite amazing really to have riden through 5 countries so far, all with the same money no border checks, passport and visa requirements

 

Well its time I headed off for some more sight seeing.

 

until next time...

 

Jeff

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www.whereonearthisjeff.com

Into Germany with a new web portal.

Thanks, to all those that responded with contacts or suggestions regarding the replacement tent fly, I have been told that I can expect it to be in Bückeburg, Germany waiting for me in only a couple of days from now.

It looks like it is time for the new fly too.  After 6 weeks of blue skies Europe has decided to change its weather pattern to something more normal.  The next 3 or 4 daus are all forcast for rain - and it has been raining reasonably lightly today whislt I have been warm and dry in Wuppertal with René and Silvia (whom I met in St Etienne, France)

Tomorrow night I'll find out just how important that seam seal tape is and how much water gets through when there is none left.  (But at least they are replaceing without any hassle)

I have today ordered some replacement parts for my MSR Whisperlite stove, to replace the temporary fix I did.  (which works well but does lose a little fuel out the bottom of the priming cup when starting it up - so it needs to be on bear ground not a flamable surface).  They tell me that these parts should be waiting, in Bückeburg tomorrow too (Although I wont be there for a few days yet)

My Fix

 

I had a wonderful few days with Sue & Pierre, Latitia & Coralie  (I hope i got that spelling right because I have already posted back to Aus the book where I wrote it down) including an unexpected extra day with a broken tooth, patched before I left Brussels (Grez-Doiceau) - it hasn't slowed  or decreased my eating at all.

Since then I have explored a little further south and found the industrial heartland of Belgium, around Leige, although the central city and river banks are really spectacular there. (see photos)

Leige

From there it was up across the German border into Aachen, Köln and Wuppertal, where I have spent two nights enjoying the hospitality of René and Silvia, Sarah & Tim.

From here I leave to head through the central north of Germany to pick up my tent and stove parts in Bückeberg, from the house of a  friend of Grant & Wendy Nichol (one of their other volunteer families from Zimbabwe back when they lived there in 1995/1996) then on towards Berlin.

Another special thankyou here to Matt (T) & Dave at Haliplex who have got my new web presence happening.  You can get access to my Photos, Group mailings, Email Group Subscription and Map at either the old addresses or from www.whereonearthisjeff.com
Just one easy to remember URL for everything now.

From the new portal webpage www.whereonearthisjeff.com you can see my progress using google maps.   Zoom in or out as far as you like and see my route on either maps or satellite/aerial photographs or both. 

Quite a few people have commented about camping spots and how I go about finding them, where I camp etc.    If you are at all interested in this go to the google map, zoom in on one of the green tent icons then select Hybid or Satellite.  All but a couple have a photo of my camp attached to the icon and you can see in the satelite photo the exact patch of forest, how big it is and what is around it.   At this stage the end points for each line (each days ride) are as accurate as I can possibly make them (zoomed right in), only the first couple of days have actual route shown in great detail when zoomed in.  This probably wont change in a hurry but I'll try to add a few extra points to assist in route identification as I do new updates.

If you haven't seen Matt's handy work check out my new webpage here.

 

Jeff


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www.whereonearthisjeff.com