07.06.24

Ludo painted a romantic picture of our first night in Thasos on our previous post. And it was until about 11pm that evening…

Ludo and I were about to conk out in the sweaty nighttime heat, and then out of nowhere an expletive-laden rant erupted from the pitch next to us.

Two parents were shouting, nay screaming, at a couple who were camping next to them. They were angry.

From what we could ascertain, the couple had been engaging in some loud and continuous heavy petting mere meters away from the parents and their children.

Insults were exchanged which then escalated to threats of physical violence.

The two parties were different nationalities so were arguing in broken English which made the whole thing even more bizarre, like a South African Harry Enfield.

Ludo and I were loving it.

After about 10 minutes, the campsite manager got involved to stop the situation devolving into The Rock vs John Cena 3 at Wrestlemania Thassos.

08.06.24 – 12.06.24

A sweaty night’s sleep followed but that didn’t matter because we could simply stumble a few steps from our tent and dunk ourselves in the crystal Aegean Sea.

Any remaining doubt about making the call to detour to Greece had most certainly vanished.

We spent the rest of the next four days politely pedalling around the island, circumnavigating it with extra helpings of Grecian tomatoes, hummus and olives.

I know you’ve heard it all before but I simply must tell you how you just can’t get tomatoes like that in the UK.

The whole experience was all very pretty and easy going, so exactly to my tastes.

There was a lovely mix of gravel tracks, gentle up and downhill sections and quiet roads with constant views of the ocean.

I could wax lyrical about how nice it was for a few paragraphs more but I’ll pick out a highlight.

We stayed at one particular campsite in Golden Beach owned by a local Greek family. It was truly epic.

Set in a shady olive grove, five minutes to the beach and empty as it was the start of the season. The two ladies who ran it treated us like long lost sons.

Their daughter was a GP in Kettering they said, have a free bottle of wine they said, take as many of our oranges and freshly laid chicken eggs they said.

It was how I imagine Ancient Greeks lived, lazing about in the shade and eating fresh food.

We also had to poo in a hole in the ground (which I got to grips with more than Ludo) and it was Antgeddon, so that probably checks out too.

Special mention for the stray cats. They were numerous and cute.

The only drawback was that I couldn’t shift the feeling that Thasos would have been even more fun with Mel by my side.

Being away with Ludo is nice and all, but sometimes the situation lends itself to a more traditional holiday.

There was no prospect of a walk hand-in-hand along the beach at sunset for example…although maybe if Ludo and I just closed our eyes and imagined…?

Enough of that.

13.06.24 – 17.06.24

The charm of Thasos was broken almost immediately after stepping back onto the mainland.

We camped in Keramoti where bug zappers went off all night long, streetlights glared into the tent and a baby seagull crowed its little heart out for hours on end.

This terrible night’s sleep was followed by a mad 45km dash to Xanthi to catch a coach to Istanbul.

We set off at 9am and made it in less than two hours. It was already very hot by about 10am.

Over the last week or so, we’d noticed that temperatures had crept from bearably balmy at midday to uncomfortably sweaty, verging on scorching. It’s a problem that won’t be going away any time soon.

One X-ray’d coach at the Turkish border later and we pulled into Istanbul.

For those reading who may want to do this in future, we booked a coach online with the terribly named ‘Crazy Holidays’ who were happy to take our bikes on board.

We were excited to explore the city but even more so to see our friend Ieuan who was flying out to meet us. The prospect of talking to someone who wasn’t one of ourselves was surprisingly enticing.

Turkey’s capital brought more stray cats (all very well cared for may I add) and delicious cheap food, but most importantly some much appreciated time with the Welsh Kai Havertz.

Excuse the coming cliche, but seeing Ieuan and reflecting on our time riding with friends in Northern France has made us both realise that you can be anywhere in the world but good company is what matters most.

Waving goodbye to Ieuan after his brief visit was a low moment. We were hit with a different type of homesickness that we hadn’t felt yet. I missed being around familiar people and places, I’d be lying if I said the temptation to jump onto his plane wasn’t there.

We had, though, now made it to Asia. A new continent lays ahead of us.

Neither of us has properly been to Asia in any form so the coming months promise truly new experiences.

The next week or so consists of a few coaches, cycling along the Black Sea coast and into Georgia.

But for now, we’ll make the most of our coach trip to Ankara which comes with complimentary ice cream and personal screens with Angry Birds on. All for 15 quid.

Does it get any better than that?