Roll on 2013 !

Sunday 4pm.

The inaugural Greek Horizons meeting is now well and truly over and what a fantastic few days it has been! Just a few of us remain to pester the refuge staff, myself, Taz, Joel and Martin, who are heading off south together tomorrow; Alex & Mila are also heading south but are way too much in love to want to travel with us…. Hannu is heading off north towards Albania. Dimitris and the refuge staff finally have time to sit and relax and take stock of the weekend. The few of us left have done a sweep of the site to collect any left over rubbish and true to form for a Horizons meeting there was hardly anything left to pick up, which for a gathering of 127 bikers is quite remarkable by any measure.

Dimitris looked a little worried when

the power went off

Dimitris has done an amazing job of organising this first event and I’m sure it will go from strength to strength in the coming years. As for Babis, Paula and their staff no praise is high enough for the fantastic job they have done in looking after us and always with good humour and a smile! They have had to cope not only with over 100 hungry, thirsty bikers but also with weather that just suddenly went from intense heat to a storm of tropical proportions to say nothing of a power cut on Friday night which I must add did nothing to dampen the good humour and enthusiasm of the participants!



A few of the Refuge staff relax after the event!

The presentations were a nice mix of Greek and English so there was plenty to keep the interest of the non-Greek speakers amongst us and very well put together and presented. For my money  the best of the non- Greek presentations was undoubtedly Alex Conrad with not only a most professional presentation but also truly humbling story.

This is a meeting that I can only see going from strength to strength and it is a shame that one prime HU sponsor couldn’t see their way to assisting Dimitris rather than showing utter and complete arrogance which will have done ther already poor reputation no good at all. I for one sincerely hope that they are not in attendance next year

Organising an Horizons meeting does

take it's toll.

Once again a huge thanks you to everyone (except the supposed HU Sponsor!) involved with this new kid on the block. I look forward to celebrating it’s first birthday next year when I am sure the attendance will easily top the double century!

Now that's what you call rain!!!

6.55pm Saturday. Pramanta, Greece

Yesterday saw one fantastic storm up here in the mountains. It started at about 3pm with just a few very large spots of rain and a few low rumbles of thunder. Then about an hour later all hell let loose on us with strong wind and an absolute deluge of rain for about two hours, took out the electricity supply and threatened to tear the sun shading Tarpaulin from it’s wires!



Look what I found in a Greek Waterfall !



Earlier in the day I had enjoyed a leisurely hike to a waterfall with two new friends, Angel and Christos, which is about 300ft high and just over 2km from our camp site. After the hike it was an absolute joy to stand under the plummeting torrent of water to cool off. We must have spent about an hour there before the walk back and had only been in camp a short time before the storm hit us. Mila frightened the life out of us all as she had headed off up the mountain on her own to sketch and had not yet returned. Poor Alex looked really worried and we were just about to organise a search party when she walks in as cool as anything  as though she had just been down to the corner shop !!!

Anyway with no electricity not only  was it impossible to run the presentations but we wondered if we would get any dinner; but we needn’t have worried the Pramanta Refuge staff were well used to such inconveniences and another superb dinner was served up, hot, on time and with ample quantities of everything. The evening was then passed in the best of HU traditions with beer, tsopovo and lots of great talking with friends old and new. In fact it was almost a disappointment when a generator was brought in and lights and power were restored.

At about 11pm Dimitris announced that two of the presentation would go ahead as the generator had enough power to run the projector, computer and sound system, but by then some of us had  drunk enough Tsopouro to not really care one way or the other… no names but one of the guilty parties is typing this blog… And so to bed, not so much to sleep as to pass out unconscious!



Wow! and another...



Today, as you might guess started rather  slowly! Another wonderful breakfast from the ever smiling staff delivered on time in spite of the tribulation of last night and I was set for the day. Taz had said she would like to see the waterfall and Joel opted for one of the ride outs. So off I went once more on the 5km to the waterfall with Taz. We spotted a group of 4 some way ahead of us who turned out to be some Greek  people that we had already and we had a lovely time with them at the falls before they headed off and left us to enjoy the total peace of the beautiful, remote location. I though when we got back to camp that it was to be the end of my exertions for the day, however Alex and Mila had other ideas.

I had mentioned to Mila on Friday that I would like to walk up the mountain behind the camp where she had been when the storm had struck. They took me at my word and 4pm saw us heading out of the back of the camp site to start the climb. I use the term “climb” loosely as it was not a true rock climb but certainly steeper and far tougher than a mere hike. Indeed parts of it were a scramble over quite loose, small rocks, whilst the last part was certainly a “climb” to reach the very top of the rock pinnacle and boy what a view from the top! We looked right across the camp site although most of the tents were hidden from view by the trees which provide such welcome shelter from the heat of the sun. The three of us sat right on the top taking photos, looking in awe at the scenery and just talking, it was quite a special moment for me as I had never before climbed to such an amazing place.



You may not spot me but

 I'm up there somewhare!



It was then that reality struck… I had to now get down again ! Getting down from mountains is never as easy as one thinks, yes it is all down hill but it if you slip or trip the consequences can be far worse than on the way up! So it was slowly, slowly on the way back. Alex had offered to give me push on the way up if I needed it and repeated his kind offer on the way down ; I declined!!!

What we hadn’t realised whilst at the very top was that we had been spotted from the camp site and many people it seems were taking photos of us; I haven’t managed to get hold of one yet but would really like too. I sit here back by my tent and look up at the needle and can still hardly believe that I have been right to the top of it; another memory that will stay with me for a long, long time!

By the time we returned to camp the electricity had been restored much to Dimitris relief so everything was back to normal and the evenings presentations started early with a talk in Greek about first aid before dinner; and what a dinner!  Babis and his team had once more done us proud with barbecued Souvlaki. Two Chicken, Two Pork and a huge spicy sausage served up with as lovely fresh salad and tzatziki  as you could eat; add an ice cold beer or two and we were in heaven!

Now this is getting a bit serious



The camp site from the top !





Alex and Mila don't really need a mountain, they are on a permanent High !



The evenings presentations were mainly in Greek so I spent the evening chatting quietly with new friends…a great way to end a memorable first Greek Horizons.

It’s now 7.30am Sunday morning and first of the early risers have already departed. Breakfast will be up shortly and then we wait to see just what the day brings. There has been yet another change to my plans as Taz, Joel and I have had a very kind offer of a house on Chios, one of the Greek Islands just off the Turkish coast to use for as long as we wish over the winter… So tomorrow we will probably head south towards Chios to meet up with Angel and Christos next weekend, then being so close the Turkey it would be a little foolish not to tour at least part of it before we once again turn north

Alex giving his Presentation

That’s the first day of the Horizons Unlimited inaugural Greece meeting over and a great success it was ! About 70 of the expected 120 have arrived so far. Last night’s talks were fairly well attended and as usual, the presenters did a great job. Top accolade as far as I’m concerned must go to a young German guy Alex,  who having suffered severe depression following the offer of promotion which was tied to moving to America, was inspired by reading Ted Simon’s Jupiter’s Travels to try a different kind of therapy…Adventure Motorcycling, and it worked!

Having successfully completed a relatively short trip of a few months, during which he also met a rather beautiful young Russian backpacker, he returned home, prepped his bike for a much longer trip, quit his job and once again set off to see the world. He makes a little money on which to live by writing articles for a German Agricultural magazine and having once again met up with Mila, they are now travelling together heading east ! 

Mila and Alex

I found his story intensely  moving and inspiring in that something like Adventure Biking could so completely turn his life around in such a positive and joyful way. I wish them both every happiness in their travels and indeed in their lives together.

However, before the presentations started Joel patiently suffered the attentions of Face and Body painting  artist Suzanne. Coming all the way from Australia with her paints, Suzanne not only painted an Horizons teeshirt on his manly torso but then proceeded to bring out Joel’s alter-ego with a superb full head paint job. Sportingly,  Joel then did his presentation still in full makeup!.

My updated presentation seemed to go down quite well. I started off by showing John’s superb 4 minute taster which suffered a little due to lack of volume on the sound system but still seemed to get the audience in the right mood for the rest of the talk and slide show. I gave out quite a few stickers and was also asked for cards by several of those present, who were either interested in joining a trip or felt they could possibly offer assistance of one kind or another.

I must also mention the Pramanta Refuge’s catering which has been fantastic. The buffet they laid on for dinner yesterday was not only plentiful but superb, with this morning’s breakfast following the same pattern and all served by a team of staff who are always helpful courteous and smiling, a model  the Uk’s Ripley meeting could do well to copy! I can’t wait to see what is served to us this evening both for dinner and in the way of presentations.

As for the rest of the day I think a walk is in order to try to clear the Tsiporo from my head and body before it all starts again tonight !!!!

It all coming together!

Slowly the organisation for the weekends meeting is coming together, people are gradually arriving from places far and wide. Taz and Joel arrived from Meteora yesterday afternoon so we are now up to 7 of us with Martin, another Brit also arriving yesterday so out multinational gathering now consists of 2 Brits, 2 Germans, 1 Canadian, 1 American and a Russian !

The loos and showers are all functional, the bar is sort of half done, we have had the projector and sound system all set up and working, in fact we even had a test Skype call to Grant and Susan - Mr & Mrs Horizons Unlimited. At the moment a team are working on erecting a tarpuline over the presentation area for shade in the heat of the day, although there is a reasonable chance that if we get a strong wind it may well take off complete with the roof of the Refuge attached to it !!!

The weather has cooled down a bit at the moment and we even had at least 6 spots of rain yesterday and lots of cloud cover. When I awoke his morning the cloud base was just about the tent, completly blocking out the huge mountain peaks behind the tents. However the sun is now shining once more with just a gentle mouintain breeze to keep us at a comfortable temperature.

I've Arrived !

Sunday July 22nd

Friday sort of came and went… I spent the just meandering ( there’s that word again!) through the hills and lanes south of Ioannina. More spectacular scenery, more fantastic , some times scary, roads to ride until I eventually camped up in a field somewhere around Krapsi… has a nice ring to it… Krapsi! Whilst chewing over my dinner of Greek salad with a vinaigrette dressing with Giant Greek beans I was also mulling over the choices for the weekend. I’d made a few notes at the exhibition in Monodendri as to places that looked interesting and that I might visit, high on that list was Dodoni which is apparently one of the largest Amphitheatres  in Greece and it wasn’t very far away. So that was Saturday taken care of.

Well, yes and no really, I went to Dodoni and it was well worth the trip but as I arrived at about 9am by 11am I was back on the bike looking to head off. When I had gone through Ioannina yesterday I had noticed a walled part of the town which had looked interesting and worth a look so back to Ioannia I went. There is far more to this town than a first glance reveals. The huge lake dominates by running the entire length of the town and then some. Whilst the end by the camp site is a little scruffy, the rest of the town is really very nice. I spent an interesting couple of hours wandering around the old castle which not only has Aslam Pasha’s mosque and tomb within it but also houses a Byzantine museum and a good part of the original town.

On returning to my bike I found a card had been tucked into the map pocket on the tank bag inviting me to a Bikers River Party at Granitsa so off I went to look for Granitsa. My GPS found it OK, but would it route me to it ????? Not on your life! So I headed off in the general direction, found a sign pointing me left, up into the hills and off I went. Now when you’re travelling on tiny road that threaten to kill you at every twist and turn I accept that I may have missed the next sign to Granitsa, but try as I might I just couldn’t get anywhere near to where my GPS showed it to be, at least not without disappearing down hillsides on tracks that I simply wasn’t prepared to ride with a fully laden bike

I’ve only done about 20km this morning and I’ve stopped by the road side high in the hills to take a photograph, but to be honest I’m not sure if I can capture the essence of the view that I am seeing. The sun is high in sky, slightly towards the view so I’m shooting almost into it. Before me I have six layers of misty mountains stetching as far as the eye can see, the sort of view you see in brochures advertising Holidays in the Himalayas. The silence is absolute other than the rare passing car, even the Cicadas are quiet for a change. Nothing disturbs the peace and stillness of the moment!

I arrived at the closest village to the HU meeting at around lunch time to be met by Hannu, a German guy who was in the local bar with Dimitris. A couple of beers later and we are off to the camp site, me by bike they on foot (about 2 hours walk!) Then comes the first surprise; the site is up a very steep unmade track which has recently been “repaired” with rather large and very loose stones. All went well until a hairpin bend about 400mts short of the site when the front just washed out on me and down I went. Once again, fortunately no damage to either man or machine other than to pride. I know have the unenviable record of being the first to drop the bike on the track although I suspect that I may not be the last. We have been told that some regrading is to be done before Thursday, but whether that will make it better or worse only time will tell.

My little camping spot

Last night we got the projector and sound sent up using my computer and had a great evening swapping stories and watching youtube clips. However the wind got up once again during the night (we are at about 4500ft) and this morning had a distinct chill about it.This morning was spent having a 1 to 1 masterclass from Hannu on the Garmin Montana GPS which I bought just as I left the UK which has been enlightening and most usefull as I now have a variety of maps, waypoint, points of interest (including Minefields) and various other very usefull information loaded on my Montana; Many thanks Hannu!

 A bit more to do this afternoon helping to get things ready tor the bulk of the people who will arrive on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday. Also plenty of time to chill and enjoy the mountain air and environment and hopefully to get in a couple of walks before the meeting starts properly on Thursday evening..



Our Host, Dimitris

The Vikos Gorge Bites Hard!

Thursday 19^th July

Last night’s revelries with Christian and Anja went on rather longer that anticipate, particularly once the Retsina came out… Therefore it was somewhat later than inteneded  that I set of back to Monodendri for the start of the Vikos Gorge walk.  I was really looking forward to it, as reading the tourist leaflets I had collected a couple of days ago and looking at the view from the rim near where I am camped it should be a spectacular day, also at 10 Kms length it should be well within my capabilities in spite of the grading of “hard”

I stopped for a coffee at a restaurant on the edge of town which also enabled me to stock up on ice cold water. I carry a 3 lt Camelbak when hiking (and riding) in hot climates and the brochure assured me that water was available at a spring towards the far end of the gorge all year round.

Parking the bike in the designated car park I headed down into the gorge. It was a decent of somewhat over 500metres to get things started and in spit of last night’s alcohol I was feeling good. The initial part of the walk was through a wonderful Beech forest on paths that whilst quite steep were not too difficult. Once at the bottom the path ran alongside the dry river bed which came as a pleasant surprise as I had thought it was actually along the bed which was strewn with huge boulders and would have made for very slow going. The brochure had estimated 5 to 6 hours andf I was confident that my level of fitness was at least equal to that.

I had my nice new GPS in my pocket so I could keep an eye on my progress and also out of interest see how high or low I was. It read 10832Km when I started… The walking was simply spectacular, everything I had hoped for and more, I was still missing that ultra-wide lens though!

I had one slight problem troubling me, which was how to get back to the bike from Vikos. I had been told that to get one of the locals to take me back would cost me 40Euro which made me wince just a little. So it was a question of do I walk to the end and hope for some good fortune in getting a lift back ( it was 30Km back by road) or do I walk to a little over half way, retrace my steps back the the bike and do the other half tomorrow from Vicos? I deliberated over this as I walked.

I found the water supply at about 6Km and replenished my Camelbak and had most of the picnic I had brought with me, then it was decision time! Of course, you’d already guessed it, I carried on, thinking I’d worry about about getting back once I got to Vikos; I hate leaving a job half done!. The worst that could happen was that I couldn’t get a lift this afternoon so I would get a room for the night and set out fresh by road back to Monodendri in the morning. After a short rest I pushed on, revelling in the scenery and the warmth of the sun. Temperatures have dropped just a little out here at the moment peaking at around 32c which is quite hot enough for hiking.

A while later I checked my GPS and it was reading 8km and showing  a further 7km to go, but that was on straight line reckoning as it could not calculate the distance along the path. OK so it was going to be a few Km more ! Of course a river rarely runs straight and that is particularly true through mountains and the Vikos was no exception… but the brochures had all said 10Km so…

At the 20Km mark I was starting to get just a little concerned as I could still see no possible way out of the gorge appearing and I was still right down on the river bed. A couple of times the path had risen quite steeply and I had thought that the end was within grasp only to drop back down to the river bed once more. Finally the path started to head up the side of the gorge… just as I ran out of water. That was nearly 6 litres I had consumed so far! I was a little concerned but not too much so, as I was surely now very near to the end. Well yes, but over 500 metres below the rim with no water and little food left. I walked on slowly, trying to breath only through my nose to conserve a little moisture in my mouth. Some time later I had my last tomato. Ah! Moisture, that tomato was the best I have ever eaten. Hmm now down to one small piece of cucumber which I decided to save for later. I was now on the steepest part of the track so far, and getting very tired. 24Km came and went, dehydration was starting to sap my energy and lack of food was also playing a big part. My blood sugar was at an all time low.

I was finding it hard to focus on putting one foot in front of the other on the steep, narrow rocky path, and the drop over the side was sheer and huge. Finding a shady corner on the track I rested. I made myself sit quietly for ½ an hour to try to regain some strength in my legs. I had the last tiny piece of cucumber, heaven! 

Surely it couldn’t be far now, the GPS was showing  just over 500 metres but I could still see no possible gap in the sheer wall of rock above me and I was only at an elevation of 560mts; Vikos was closer to 1000mts. The track twisted and turned, back and forth across the rock face. I was feeling so weak I didn’t see how I was going to make those last few metres, every step was an effort now, I had done over 25Km on supplies that had been picked for 10km plus a bit for contingency! I was completely exhausted with no energy reserves left to draw on. I virtually crawled those last few metres out of the gorge, it was as though I was very drunk! Hitting the road, thankfully there was a tavern almost opposite, I staggered in and ordered a large bottle of water and a Coke to try to rehydrate and get some sugar into my body. The owner must have seen it a thousand times as he was expressionless as he passed over the life-giving liquids. The Coke disappeared in seconds and the 1 1/2 lt bottle of water in not much more. I ordered a second Coke and a huge ice cream. I didn’t care what flavour I just needed the sugar! I was starting to feel better already!

I explained my problem to the owner of the bar, who said he could get me a lift back to my bike for 25 Euros; a bargain! I took the offer. By the time the car arrived, I think it was his son, I was feeling fine, even my legs were not aching and my boots had behaved splendidly with no more blisters. My exhaustion was purely down to lack of food and water.

One other very lucky escape I had en-route was thanks to my Dragon biking glasses. Somewhere around half-way I stumbled over a rock and as I lurched to my left a large and very sharp broken branch hit me directly on the left lens very hard. Had I not been wearing such strong glasses I would undoubtably have sustained a very severe injury to my left eye which given my location and the fact that I hadn’t seen a single person since starting the walk could have been a bit of a problem. Thanks Celtic Vision for the recommendation !

So what went wrong! I can only think that the distances given in the leaflets are taken as direct GPS or map bearing and that nobody has ever bothered to check out the actual distance walked; a very serious, indeed potentially life-threatening basic error. Had I known the walk was 26Km which it turned out to be, I would still have done it, but I would have carried far more supplies and even an emergency bivy bag for an overnight stop if required.

However alls well that ends well and as I returned to reset up my camp on the same field as last night I discovered  to my joy that my friends Anya, Christian and Julias were still there. So a quick pop back to town was made for some beers and Raki as we had drunk all their supplies last night. A quick shower and change and guess what? I was invited to share their meal of Greek salad with bread and lots of olives..all washed down with a couple of ice cold beers… What a way to end a day!

It’s now Friday morning as I sit in the sun quietly typing. My friends have not appeared yet so maybe they had another bad night with Julias, or maybe they are just relaxing.Either way I will not be making the same mistake as yesterday and walkng up to their camp which of course sets the dog off barking and so wakes anyone who may still be asleep!

Time to start packing away my kit, have a shower and head into Monodendri for a coffee and some WiFi before I once more ride those amazing hairpins up to Papigo where there is some sort of folk festival allegedly happening today. Where I sleep tonight I know not. I am now sitting here with a beautiful butterfly sat on my big Toe and I don’t have a camera to hand…Damn!

I wonder what adventures lay ahead for me today !

  

That's camp sites for you !

Wednesday 18^th July

 I guess it should come as no surprise that yesterday went out more or less as it started! Not only was the camp site situated just about at the end of the Ioannina  International Airports main (only!) runway, right next door to the camp was a restaurant/bar on the edge of the lake whose very loud so-called music didn’t cease until 2.30am… so not a lot of sleep was had last night. Hence it was a bit of a slow start this morning, I just couldn’t get my mojo working !

 I finally got on the road about 10am for a leisurely ride back to Monodendri to be in a good place to start the Vikos Gorge walk tomorrow. On the way I spotted a sign for the Perama Cave, so did what a good tourist does and popped in for a look. At 7 Euro I can’t say it was stunning value for money as you had to have a guide who for my liking just rushed through it all far to quickly and gave the distinct impression that it was time she looked for another job!  But I must say that the cave which was only discovered by accident in 1940 when the villagers were looking for somewhere to hide from the Germans, is fantastic. Never mind the 30 minutes of the tour (which should have been 45 according to the signs!) I could easily have spent a couple of hours or more wandering slowly through. It was also a bit galling that photos weren’t allowed, now I can understand possible problems with flash photography but with out flash… what possible issue can there be?

Anyway, back to the Vikos gorge, logistically this presents a bit of a problem. The walk is reckoned to take about 5 ½ hours which looking at the terrain is probably about right for the 10 km. But how to get back to the bike afterwards ???? There is apparently no taxi available, at least according to the young lady in the Tourist Information Office I stopped at. So the only solution presenting itself so far is to just do half of it tomorrow and walk back to the bike, then to the other half on Friday… could work but I’ll have to see how I go. My feet are still not completely recovered from the Olympus trek , and on top of that I managed to spike my right foot in the sea the other day which is still sore as there appears to be a small piece of thorn in it which I can’t easily get at to remove, so I may not even manage half of it!

I spent an interesting half hour or so chatting to the girl in the Tourist Information Office, it appears that the Greek tourist industry is completely on it’s knees this year as everyone is afraid to come due to the economic crisis. In particular the Dutch have stayed away in droves… So if your looking for a cheap break get down the travel agents as there may well be some bargains going.

Whilst there I also gave here the “old grumpy” treatment (gently of course) regarding the total lack of camping facilities inland in general and in the National Park in particular. I explained that many people will stay away simply as there is nowhere for them to stay other than relatively expensive hotels… I have no idea if she will pass the message on but if nobody says anything it certainly won’t change.

So tonight it’s back with the bears! Yes, wild camping once more, this time in the Stone Forest just above Monodendri, and guess what I have neighbours… two Germans, Anya and Christian with their 7 month old son Julias and dog are parks up in a Transit just  a couple of fields away and what’s more have invited me over for a beer!  And I promise not to mention the war !

Some Days are Diamonds...

If yesterday was Diamond then today has definitely been something the cat dragged in…. The wonderful camping spot I found last night turned round and bit me for starters. It began with a gentle cooling breeze last night which was great, but during the night the wind just got stronger and stronger till I had a full blown gale tugging at my little tent precariously perched on the edge of the mountain… that’ll teach me! So not a lot of sleep was to be had with much rustling and flapping. Needless to say as the weather had been so good I hadn’t thought to put out guy lines or, to be honest, even pegs at the corners. My little home is usually quite stable with just me and my clobber in it. I though perhaps it was just a night blow, having sailed in the Ionian I know that they do have odd winds at particular times of day but dawn broke with the wind still howling.  I didn’t bother to get up to early still being optimistic that as the mountain warmed up the wind would drop; some hope! In the end I decided I would have to get up and pack. I skipped breakfast as I didn’t think there was a cat in hells chance of getting the stove going, at least not without setting fire to half the mountain. I headed off just as a herd of goats came round the corner… I’m not sure which of us got the biggest surprise!

The plan was to continue to make my way north towards the Albanian border. Now you may recall I have mentions a coup[le of time about the roads, where part of the carriageway has just disappeared down the hillside…well today it finally happened, I rounded a bend to find that  there was about 100 metres of gravel then… nothing! Yes, the whole shooting match had just gone walkies down the hill. There was no warning, no diversion, no road! So I had no alternative other to turn round and head back the way I had just come.

Not really too much of a problem as I had no definitive destination in mind I was after all just meandering, however something else was bothering me as well, I had noticed that I had flecks of oil on my rear tyre and I couldn’t work out where it was coming from. The left side of the gearbox had a bit of oil film on it whilst the right side was dry. At first I suspected that the oil pressure switch which stopped working some weeks back, was leaking. (Dimitris our host at the Greek HU meeting has picked up a new one for me.) So I cleaned off all the oil that I couild, topped up the oil with about 200ml and pushed gently on, thinking I would head over to Ionnina for some shopping whilst keeping a close eye on the oil level and leakage.

The next time I checked about 10 miles further on I couldn’t believe my eyes. The right hand side of the tyre tread was running with oil and as I parked on some gravel, a pool of oil soon formed under the bike. As with many problems once it gets that bad it is much easier to find and the source was soon traced to a leaking banjo bolt on the oil cooler pipe. I tried tightening them both up but to no avail. So I removed them both as it was difficult to be sure which was leaking and applied a smear of gasket silicon to each washer face and replaced them.

To give the sealant time to dry I wandered off to a garage I had passed just before I stopped to get some more oil and a cold drink. When I returned the leak remained, it seemed the only solution was going to be to replace the copper washers; not something not something I have in my spares. When I went for the oil I had noticed a VW/Audi service garage almost next door, so removing one of the banjo bolts I went along with it and a washer to try my luck… and to be sure lady luck was with me! Four new washers procured and the guy wouldn’t take a cent for them… Yet another of those Random Acts of Kindness that I mentioned. New washers fitted, leak sorted, oil topped up and I was on my way to Ionnina for the second time on this trip.

However, this time as I approached I spotted a camping sign, so tonight sees me “going official” once more camped right on the edge of a huge Lake with showers, WiFi and cold beer! I wonder what tomorrow will throw at me, but then that’s the joy of travel !

Monday 16th July

Today has just got better and better! I awoke to an almost mirror image of last night’s sunset but shining on Corfu; a deserted beach and a wonderful refreshing dawn swim in the Ioannion Sea. It was then back to Igoumeitsa to try to replace my sandals and hopefully get a haircut ( yes there is still just about enough left!) Well 50% ain’t bad, got the first failed on the second.

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I then spent a very pleasant hour or so sat outside a café which happened to have WiFi, lazing over the best Frappe so far whilst also updating my blog... However I must say it made me feel pretty old watching two young lovers sat on a park bench opposite completely oblivious to all and everything around them! As the old song says “ young and foolish, we haven’t long to be” never has a truer word been written.

Anyway, it was time to get my arse into gear and head for the hills. The plan(!) was to head back towards the Albanian border but further inland, heading to Kerasovo, a ride of only about 80Km. What can I say? if I ride any slower I’ll fall off! Joel & Taz really have worked their spell on me. After more stops for than a number 9 bus to take photos, I round a corner in a mountain top village to spy one of the most picturesque café/bars that I have ever seen… and it was about 1 o’clock, so I did the decent thing and gave them a boost to their profits by having a couple of ice cold Cokes and a Greek salad, which consumed another hours or so of my day.

 Onwards and upwards… well yes but the road sort of kept running out. The higher I got the worse the road got, and I’m not just talking about a bad road surface. No,no,no I talking about no ROAD! Yes, in a couple of places the whole shooting match had up’d and headed downhill ! It’s  a bit daunting to say the least when you round the corner on a fully laden GS to find a great gaping hole, even at my leisurely pace. Well to be fair they had sort of replaced it… just not quite at the same level or in the same place.

Then at bout 3.30pm, yes that’s right 3.30pm (it’s not a misprint!) I spot what looks like it be a perfect wild camp as you can see from the photo. So here I am. I am comfortably hidden away on a track that I can easily get back out of and with views, well judge for yourself from the photo.  The tent is up with just the fly sheet and mossie net over the top as think it will be way to hot for the inner tent tonight even though I am at about 1000 mts.

Oh! While I am on the subject of exiting from wild camp sites… You may recall (if you read that far!)that I was just a little “ concerned” about get back up from the beach last night. Well, no problem, what I hadn’t realised until I watched everybody departing late last night was that I had come in by the “back door”. There was a perfectly easy track at the other end of the beach. LOL

So here I sit in the shade of a very convenient tree contentedly typing whilst trying to drink water as quick as it runs back out of my skin… I think I’ve developed a few (million) leaks!. Temperature is still well into the 40s, it was 38c at 10am this morning. If I can be bothered , it’s Greek meatballs and pasta with a garlic and tomato sauce for tea… on he other hand it may just be a glass of water and a peach.

Oh, and if the earth moves for me tonight, I’m in deep DoDo!  It means that the ledge I’m camped on is heading down the hill to join back up with the road it lost last winter!

Could Do Better !

The bears, horses and warden all stayed clear of my encampment last night and I slept like a baby, undisturbed by man, beast or nightmares for about 9 hours. It must have been the exertions of yesterdays typing as it couldn’t have been the riding; looking at the track log I downloaded from my GPS last night I managed a whole 96.4 miles yesterday… Joel will be proud of me!

Yes, I rode it all the way up and all the way down again !

I am slowly discovering that there is a lot I’ve got wrong on this trip, starting with the planning such as it was! The overall plan was way too ambitious for the allotted time frame, something I guess I have always been guilty of; trying to cram in too much into too short a space of time. Although in my defence, in the past I have usually only had two week in which to play, so time was of the essence! However, on this and hopefully future trips that is not the case, so as Joel and Taz demonstrated so admirably, less can well be more. Another interesting statistic from the GPS track; my average speed was, wait for it….just 11mph!  Wow, I could do better than that on a push bike, that is until you look at the plot of the elevation !

The second thing that I got wrong was packing… I have always been guilty of “belt & braces” when it comes to kit and this time I have excelled. I have identified a whole pannier load of stuff which I haven’t used and that I am unlikely to use. Bivy bag, Hammock, Tarp, a couple of spare storage bags, all sorts of electrical gizmos and at least 50% of my clothing. Although to be fair some of it is cold weather gear which I did need until I got to Spain; France was very cold and wet on the way down. Oh, and do I really NEED 4 very sharp knives? Unless of course I get serious about the bear hunting and not to forget about 6 ways to start a fire !!!

My  third and possibly most serious error was my choice of entertainment i.e. reading material and music. Given the dates of the trip and my current state of mind I could well have chosen something more suitable than The History of Conflict in Afghanistan!  Perhaps Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance, or even Monty Python’s The Life of Brian; needless to say I have barely opened it. And Celine Dion, well do I have to say more?

And of course there are a few quite important things which are missing. I guess top of the list for me must be my pillion passenger, as I commented to Corinna in a text the other day; I never realized what lousy company I was till I had to spend 5 weeks with myself!  Then come a few practical bits and pieces such as a decent pair of sandals. Joel tried to convince me to spend 48 euro on a pair whilst in Italy but I was too tight and now I’m paying the price as mine disintegrate around my tootsies! Some hand/foot cream would be nice as my feet are so sore ; and whilst on the subject of feet,some  Compeed blister patches would have made sense as I knew I was hoping to do some hiking.  

My ultra wide angle lens, what was I thinking leaving it behind in favour of my tele-zoom when coming on a trip where the landscapes are to die for! In reality I could have done with both as the telephoto is great for candid portraits; important had I got as far as I had planned.

One of the many reasons for not travelling too fast!

Silly bits which I have found useful  are mainly to do with food. Top of the list must be my little folding table as it keep food off the ground and way from the myriad of ants and other crawly things that abound over here:  my herbs and spices, which can turn the ordinary meal  into a feast; an art at which Taz excels.  Although I lost a lot of them in the drenching I got in France.  The non-stick frying pan which having purloined from my kitchen, with the handle suitably shortened does so many jobs so well; not least my breakfast staple of sultana bannock! Hot from the pan with a nice cup of Lipton’s Yellow Label Tea; a joyous way to start the day.

Talking of which I guess it’s time I had a brew and got moving. Chores and ablutions long since completed, all that remains is to get the cooking kit packed away and head off into the sun. It’s now nearly 9am and I’ve been up since 6. The morning is nice aired and time to leave my lair and head to town for supplies. Hopefully, tomorrow my feet are going to stand up to a 14Km hike through the Vikos gorge so I may well be back here tonight ready for an early assault in the morning.

Err! Slight change of plan, on the way down to Ionnina this morning II spotted a war memorial by the side of the road. So parked up and walked up to it… all 385 steps up and of course 385 steps  down again. Not a problem as such but it did make me think that perhaps my feet aren’t quite up to the hike yet! So having had had a pleasant but sometimes frustrating ride round the coast to Prevaza and Igoumenitsa, I now camped right on the beach, and a semi-private beach at that, just yards from the Albanian border! I saw the beach from the road and watched as a campervan came up the track. I walked down a little way and it seemed passable; mistake! I should have walked the whole track although to be fair I wouldn’t now be camped in this wonderful location just north of Sagiada. How the hell I’m going to get up out of here tomorrow I have no idea. I suppose if push comes to shove I could always walk up with the panniers, but not a job I relish. The problem is that the track is a lot rougher and looser than it looked and the best of the car tracks is of course the one closest to the edge !  Oh well! I’m sure it will be fine…

The reason for the frustration on the ride today was these damn new roads. They just seem to cut through and block off the old side roads so that there is no visible access to them, so I ended up doing a few u-turns before I found the right one and my Michelin map dated 2008 has so many of the new road missing ! Comes back to what I said the other day… No wonder Greece is broke, she’s squandered all our EU dosh on un-necessary motorway!

I always go on about the innate goodness in people, and today I have had two random acts of kindness directed at me. The first was in a Petrol station where I stopped  for some drinking water. He didn’t have any large bottles so I picked up two half litre ones which I promptly drunk, having first been ushered into a shady chair by the attendant who spoke not a single word of English. He then pointed me to the hose pipe used for the car radiators so that I could cool off by dowsing myself with the cold water. Then when it came to leaving he wouldn’t accept any payment for the water but instead thrust a third bottle into my hand. Then tonight having been granted permission to camp which was first refused, when I went to fill a water bottle from the tap, as I returned I was greeted with a 1.5Lt bottle fresh from the couples freezer! It couldn’t have tasted better if it was ice cold beer!

Having swam in the Ionnian Sea until I resemble a prune, I suppose I’d better sort myself some food. As I need to use up the last of the Chorizo, I think I will have it with a nice Greek salad and some of Taz’s recipe dressing. Now an ice cold beer would go down well with that! Oh well mustn’t be greedy!

Now sat on a deserted beach watching the sun  set behind Corfu… Priceless!

Friday 13th !!!

Yesterday was cancelled ! Not only was it Friday the 13^th, but I was also suffering from a huge hangover; the result of two or three Metaxas too many whilst talking to a French family at the camp site. Now Friday the 13^th doesn’t usually hold any fears for me; I’m not particularly superstitious but perhaps due to the Metaxa, yesterday saw me full of gloom and doom. Not only was I convinced something terrible was about to happen, worse still I didn’t really care!

The riding was OK, some stunning scenery once more, culminating with a track around the Aoos Lake which was absolutely stunning, but I simply couldn’t take a lot of joy from it. Then  last night saw me wild camping once more, something I love,  and in a great  spot complete with river… and possibly bears! Idyllic, yes but…

The other day my sister asked me how the new book was coming on, to which I replied that it wasn’t. The raison d’aitre of this trip was never about the new book, it was more about trying to get myself together and to sort my head out. I guess on that level  so far it’s only been a very partial success! Strangely, today is the first time that I have really felt like writing. Up to now the blog has been something of a chore if I’m honest, in that it keeps dragging me back to reality; a place I find somewhat uncomfortable these days. It’s been almost three months since I returned from Gambia, but the trip still haunts me. On many levels it has been the most successful trip so far but it has left me with a huge mixture of emotions that I am struggling to reconcile, not least will there be a 2013 trip!  Now here I sit at a small café on top of a Greek mountain, sipping an ice cold Coke (whilst all around me are sipping Ouzo) trying desperately to make sense of a senseless world.

Today’s ride has so far been nothing short of spectacular, it’s like Snowdonia on steroids, Scotland on speed, Norway… no on second thoughts it’s nothing like Norway, not enough water. ..  I’m in the Northern Pindos National Park heading slowly towards the Vikos gorge, and believe me you would not want to going anywhere too fast on these roads as they have a rather nasty habit of slipping down the hillside, leaving rather large gaping holes where the carriageway should have been!  I’ve even stopped by the roadside this morning, had a brew and  made a nice savoury pancake with some Chorizo, Bliss!

Who knows, perhaps I’ve turned a  metaphorical corner.  And corners there are a plenty to turn both metaphorical and on the roads! As I wrote the other day the roads appear on the GPS as though they have been shot out of one of those party string aerosols ! Thank God I changed the front brake pads before I came away, I may well need another set by the time I get home!

So one more Coke for the road and I’ll be heading a little further north before I camp up for the night. Camp sites are very scarce in these parts and although there may well be some in the Vikos gorge area as it is a little more touristy, I think I’ll look for another wild camp; not only does it save money, who knows I may yet spot that elusive bear!  On that “touristy” note I stopped at Metsovo yesterday, a small town praised highly by the guide books but not a place I would choose to return too! I must say that it didn’t help to find that it was full of pimply American school kids by the coach load! Oh, and the roads had the worst cobble stones I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to ride a fully laden bike across, and at walking pace !

Tonight I have found a wild camp once again, just don’t tell the national park wardens! I’m camped right on the edge of the Vikos gorge next to the river, a little too close to the road for comfort really but it’s a very quite road and can the warden be any worse that that elusive bear? Hopefully I’ll not see either although I did have a herd of horses trying to nuzzle up to me earlier whilst I was cooking supper! I found that starting the bike soon got shot of that lot.

A few more pics from Meteora

Meteora

After a night in the oak forest I’m back in the luxury (?) of a campsite with pool, wifi, bar and lots of noise! My baby has had all her oils changed; engine, gearbox and final drive. She deserves it with the heat she has had to endure over the last few weeks and we have done over 10,000 Km since I left Wales. Even then, being a cheap-skate, whilst I changed the engine oil and filter before setting out, I only topped up the gearbox and final drive. So here I sit by the pool, relaxing in the heat of the afternoon sun (it was 31c at 8.30 this morning) and more like 41c now at 3.30pm.

Went for a ride through Meteora this morning to have a quick look at the monasteries perched high on the pinnacles of rock. Breathtaking is the only word I can think of to describe it. Particularly the monastery with what looked like a home made cable car across to it, which I saw a priest and a nun  step into and cross the ravine… and I didn’t see either of them cross themselves or utter a prayer of deliverance first!

I didn’t get round to visiting any of them as I was a bit late, that is the tourist hoards were already in attendance with their fleets of coaches.. Also my feet are still far to sore to trudge up the hundreds of steps to each of them, but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to manage it tomorrow. So staying put  for two nights at The Cave Camping, or at least that is the plan at the moment.  So 9am will see me outside the gates awaiting the grand opening !

Yesterday as I mentioned I went up to Prespa lakes, once again a stunning location of which Greece seems to have a surfeit! But something which has been bothering me a little over the last couple of weeks surfaced in my mind once again. Now we all know of the dire financial situation in which Greece finds herself, it must be said, along with Italy, Spain and indeed although not readily admitted to by our politicians, the UK; but everywhere one goes in Greece there are what appear to be abandoned projects and Prespa Lakes is no exception. There has been a huge project to reinstate the natural wetlands to the benefit of the environment and the indigenous wildlife to say nothing of the local inhabitants. There are signs everywhere telling us of the involvement of the EU, the World Wildlife Fund and other such organisations and indeed a huge plaque extolling the benefits to the ecology of the first 10 years of the project which was commenced in 1990… However,  it would appear that since 2000 the whole project, which must have cost countless millions of our Euros, has just been abandoned.   And yes I do know that WWF is a charity, but therefore it’s funding still comes from us, Joe Public !

There is are huge Hotels which don’t appear to have a guest for years, a wonderfully modern tourist information office with no staff or tourists, a relatively new industrial complex who’s gates haven’t been opened in decades ! Other signs of dereliction abound, hotels half built, sports fields abandoned and if one widens the geographic area whilst still within Greece. I have seen a huge flyover that literally was the road to nowhere!! in fact so long had it been doing nothing, the local farmer was using it’s arches to house his sheep and this wasn’t just a case of the road not being finished; there simply was no road other than the little lane which I was on, for miles around.

Whilst on the subject of roads…. Now there may be some grand scheme afoot of which I am completely unaware; after all I am the first to admit that I am not in any way politically minded nor a great economist but I also travelled yesterday alongside one of Greece’s fine motorways.  The road I was riding was a fine road with a good surface and nice sweeping bends, not hairpins and was to all intents and purposes empty… as was the motorway running alongside it; a road that must have cost countless billions of our Euros. Yes, you read that right, OUR euros, as it was funded at least in part by the EU ! WHY? Yes I know it’s a bit political and I don’t do politics but I do get a bit p***d off hearing how skint all these countries are when their politicians are hell bent on frittering away money on projects that are unnecessary, unrealistic and frankly unsustainable. I lump Italy and Spain into exactly the same league as they too have wasted billions of our Euros on empty motorways. Oh, and just before I end my rant of the day I stopped by the Greek motorway for 10 minutes at around midday and counted just 12 vehicles passing (that’s both carriageways), just 72 vehicles per hours. I’m sure there are far better mathematicians  than I out there that can work out the cost per vehicle mile of said motorway! So why, oh why do we keep giving these cretin politicians more of our folding stuff to waste?



The Deserted Tourist Information Office

Incidentally, I think I have converted the guy that owns the bike shop where I had the oil changed to an Horizons Unlimited attendee. He had never heard of the site of the forum or meeting but is adamant that he will be at the Greek meeting at the end of the month. I’m going to pop in tomorrow with all the details for him.