Shanghai to Rome: A short film celebration of our journey so far

Greece

Bullet Points:
- We travelled by ferry from Cesme, Turkey to Athens, Greece.
- We rode for five days from Athen to Patra.
- We caught a ferry from Patra to Bari, Italy.

Details:
As our overnight ferry pulled into the port in Athens right on sun up, we arrived in Europe proper! Not without some trepidation, because while a lot of things would be so much easier and culturally familiar, to navigate this highly developed world on bicycles and a tight budget could take more creativity than ever! We also arrived with quite a lot of amazement, Anna and Ollie in Europe, in Greece!! How did this happen?! What a long way from Tibetan China!

A fun day in Athens enjoying some of its ancient wonders, and an amazing evening with our Warmshowers host Dimitris, and we were feeling more settled in. Then four days of wonderful cycling along the north side of the Gulf of Korinthos and we were well in love with Greece! The landscape was a mixture of small scale farmland, olive groves, bush covered hills and pine-clad rocky peaks. The lanes winding through this were narrow but sealed, making for wonderfully fun riding between some picturesque villages. Lots of white painted walls and orange tile roofs, and lovely Orhodox churches and squares in the village centres. The later section of riding was along the coast, again lots of bright blue sea, bright scrubby headlands and a few late-season swims!

We loved what Greek food we tried! “Pita gyros” were soft warm pita breads wrapped around tasty doner kebab pork, tomato, raw onion, hot chips and lashings of thick garlic-herb-yoghurt dressing. Delicious olives, feta (must be pronounced ‘feeeehh-ta’ to ensure understanding! None of this Kiwi speed-talking!), dense but tasty loaves of bread and the thickest yoghurt I’ve ever eaten.

We were of course interested to see how life was on the ground in a country that has been in the news so much with its huge financial troubles. In terms of what we saw, nothing jumped out at us as being very different. But we had interesting talks with a couple of people about it. There was some frustration with the government whose policy seemed to them to be to simply impose one tax after another on the population to pay off the massive debts, without trying any more creative endeavours. Each week they would find there was a tax on something else, electricity bills, buying food, building fences. One man joked that next there would be a tax on his dog kennel! Salaries had been nearly halved, but prices had gone up rather than down. Huge unemployment. We were told that some people were “going back to the land”, growing more of their own vegetables, keeping chickens etc. When were things meant to improve? 2018 was the word out there. Seems rather a long time! But people are keeping on, life carrying on. Kind of amazing really.

After four days riding we crossed the striking Rio-Anttirio Bridge linking mainland Greece with the Peloponnese. It is considered an engineering masterpiece, as spanning a plate boundary it is built to withstand tsunamis, seismic ativity and the 1 cm a year drift of the Peloponnese away from the mainland! So it has stretchable sections! Quite a buzz to ride over! We said goodbye to Greece as we sailed out of the port of Patra on a 15 hour crossing to Bari in southern Italy. We are trying to traverse Europe while staying as far south as possible, to avoid the fast-encroaching winter! Sunset time at present is 4.15pm, and for the first time in five months we are sometimes getting more than one rainy day a month! Horrors! The adventure continues!

Anna

Our Little Home

It’s been over seven months now that we’ve been slowly weaving our way across the great landmass of Eurasia. In that time we’ve passed through nine countries. Not one day is the same, I’m constantly in awe of how varied the earth is. One landscape might remind me of another but always there is something new, something different, the variety within nature seems infinite and is quite astounding. There are in fact very few things which remain constant for us.  The changes we experience as we cross another border I find quite phenomenal. Like the wardrobe to Narnia we literally walk through a building and into a vastly different culture with different foods, currency and accompanied mental arithmetic, new written and spoken language, road signage, social norms, driving styles, architecture and building materials, means of energy production, plug sockets, clothing, the list could go on. Our travelling world is dynamic and all this change can send our minds into somewhat of a dazed turmoil as we quite suddenly give up the old that has became semi-familiar and work at adapting to the new. All a great part of the adventure. All taxing stuff!

With all this change and constant unfamiliarity I find myself taking great pleasure and comfort in the little familiar things. Slipping into my snuggly down jacket, sitting down with a good book, settling into the well worn bike saddle for another day, firing up the stove to cook another evening meal, my evening diary writing session, or even the simple routine of brushing the teeth!

Yet the finest and most comforting routine is without a doubt crawling into our beloved tent at the close of another day. 98 times now on this journey we’ve enjoyed this simple pleasure. Surely the most valuable asset we brought with us, our home away from home. Once inside and the zip is closed our world suddenly shrinks into a small cocoon of familiarity. Nothing changes in this little orange dome of homeliness, it’s bright yellow lining brings brightness to any situation. Everyday is sunny inside a yellow tent!

We’ve dived inside, shivering cold and sodden wet, caught short by electrical storms in Kyrgyzstan. We’ve leapt out of it, overheating in the early mornings of high summer in Tajikistan.  We’ve not wanted to leave it and head out into driving sleet high on the Tibetan Plateau. We’ve clung on to our Big Orange as it’s been almost ripped off the ground during a particularly memorable midnight weather onslaught in Greece.

I remember fondly some of the interesting spots our little home has stood upon in these 98 nights, they are varied but the inside of the tent goes unchanged. Orchards and vineyards, petrol stations, cafes, hotel balconies, gravel pits, beaches, river banks, police stations, lakesides, playgrounds, ancient fortresses and castles, road roundabouts, public parks, front lawns and backyards, on mountain tops, amongst yurts, and even inside hotels. 

Given to us nearly three years ago as a wedding present by my family, our little tent has become much more than just a shelter. It is the one thing most familiar to us as we journey. It is our mobile home for these days. It is a daily place to retreat to and the feeling as we zip up the door, lie down and pull the sleeping bags up tight for another night is always one of happiness! As I write the rain is drizzling, the goat bells (that’s right, not cow bells) are chiming, the distant dogs are barking and the wind turbines are humming, and I’m tucked up all cozy and getting those happy vibes once again.

Thanks Whanau for our little home of 2013!

Ollie

Western Turkey

Bullet points and route description:

-  We road west for 8 days from Antalya to Fethiye, Datca, Bodrum and Kusadasi.

-  From Kusadasi we visited Ephesus, and then bused and ferried on a side trip to Istanbul.

-  We returned to our bikes at Kusadasi and rode to Cesme to catch the ferry to Athens, finishing 2500km of riding in Turkey!

Photos and some choice details:

Leaving Antalya we chose a route heading through the hills, looking for relaxed rural Turkey again after the somewhat touristy coast! We found it, in narrow winding lanes through the forested hills, in classic wee villages, and in amazing hospitality yet again! Being put up in the village cafeteria was a highlight, and we spent that evening celebrating the second night of Bayram Kurban, their four-day holiday. 

Riding the windy hill roads from Cameli to Fethiye

 

About to tuck into the third course, pomegranates, apples, peanuts and seeds. With a wonderful extended family gathered in Kizilcadag for Bayram

 

After three days through the hills we popped out on the coast again, straight into bling marina towns and wide roads cutting, instead of winding, through the hilly country. After some adjustment, we again found peaceful places to ride on the Datca Peninsula. The forested hills, calm water and idyllic inlets and islands reminded us a bit of the Marlborough Sounds.

Peaceful late afternoon at our campsite, Datca Peninsula

Beautiful boats in bling town Bodrum

We made our way north up the Aegean coast to Kusadasi, including in our journey a fun ferry ride across one great inlet. In Kusadasi we were lucky enough to stay with a WarmShowers (couch surfing equivalent for cycle tourers) host called Ege Ertas, a really top-class guy and brilliant host. We shared wonderful meals, conversations and laughs. He is studying to be a tour guide and is an enthusiastic fountain of knowledge about his country, as well as being a critical thinker about its future. It was great to get an insight into student Turkey.

Visiting the ancient city of Ephesus was really special. Inhabited since about 1000BC, for a while the Roman capital of Asia Minor, it was abandoned in around 600AD because its harbor became progressively more silted up, thus cutting off the city’s transport and trade means. It now stands 10km from the sea. It is also amazing to imagine the Apostle Paul preaching in the city, and the early church that grew up there through some pretty hard times.  We stayed right up until closing time, and as the cruise ship crowds gradually cleared off for their dinners, we had the place to ourselves, and wandering through the quiet, spacious streets was wonderfully atmospheric!

In the Grand Theatre, Ephesus. Trying out the great accoustics!!

 

Wandering the great streets in the early evening quietness

 

Leaving our bicycles and luggage at Ege’s place, we made the pilgrimage by bus and ferry to the great city of Istanbul. For us this has always been a special destination in our journey. Since Shanghai we’ve been on the road to Istanbul, with plans beyond that a lot more fluid. So it was very special for us to arrive here, coming in by ferry to the mouth of the Bosphorus, with the Aya Sophia and Blue Mosque forming our skyline.

For five wonderful days we wandered the narrow cobbled streets of the old city, gazed up in wonder at the high domes of the mosques and churches, rode the trams, buses and Bosphorus ferries, and sat by the Galata bridge over the Golden Horn with the fishermen, food sellers and the coursing bustle of city life moving all around us, listening to the call of the gulls and the call to prayer.

Downtown Istanbul and the Golden Horn

Fishermen on the Galata Bridge

Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Camii) by night

On the Bosphorus

Now we've just completed our final stage of Turkish riding, from Kusadasi to the port town of Cesme where we catch the ferry to Greece. Our last day in Kusadasi we headed out with Ege and a friendly Austian cyclist named Ursie, cruising happily on our light bikes in the Dilek Peninsula National Park for the day. Special stuff!

The bike gang!

Ege, Ursie and Anna picnicking in the National Park

We are sad to leave Turkey, in that happy thankful way! It's been a wonderful country to ride across these last seven weeks. When I think of what I'll miss most, I think straight away of the Turkish chai (cay) in it's trademark small curved glasses. On my first days in Turkey I thought these were rather a silly idea, but now whenever I see these glasses all the Turkish chai memories come flooding back into my mind and heart. Memories of being welcomed, of being cared for, of being allowed to share in conversations and village life, of being given shelter from storms and refreshment in the heat. Special times spent with incredibly generous and welcoming people. We are once again feeling so very thankful to have been able to journey here.

Anna

Mountains to the Sea

Bullet Points

-From Erzurum in Eastern Turkey we caught a train for 14 hours westward to Kayseri on the edge of the Cappadocia region.

-We spent a few days with friends enjoying Cappadocia and since then have cycled 1000km south to Mersin and west along the Mediterranean coast to Antalya.

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Arriving in Cappadocia I really had no idea what to expect. I’ve never really been one for pottering slowly around museums, art galleries or historic sites reading information boards and wowing over cultural phenomena that is supposed to impress and engage me. Often I associate these places with the guilt I feel for becoming quickly bored and tired! With it’s famous ‘open air museums’ and big reputation would Cappadocia really be any different? It was.

I was energized as we scampered around the cliffside remains of the Cavusin acient city and my imagination was excited as we wound our way around the ‘fairy chimney’ cone-shaped limestone houses of Zelve and Goreme.  I was far from bored climbing the tunnel-ridden rock towers of Ortahisar and camping amongst the limestone littered hillsides near Urgup, waking to a sky filled with all colours and sizes of hot air balloon.

Our final foray in Cappadocia was a visit to the Kaymakli underground city, an incredible labyrinth of eight levels with tunnels leading to wineries, living areas, sleeping quarters, stables, communal kitchens, food storage spaces and churches. Kaymakli was just one of many underground cities in the area, between the 5^th and 10^th centuries and was home to several thousand early Christians who would move underground when there was threat of attack.  Scurrying about in a space now well lit by electric lighting it was easy to romanticize the experience. The huge circular stones sitting ready to block any entrance ways served as a sobering reminder that this was not an enchanted fairytale experience but must have been literally dark and desperate times lived out of necessity in order to simply survive.

Yet amongst all the ‘normal’ wonders of Cappadocia a great highlight for me was slowing down and spending some very special time with wonderful friends. We were delighted to catch up once again with our friends Michael and Lulu and along with other cycle tourists Rafael (Spanish) and Heike (German) we had a very cruisy few days and fun 32^nd birthday party for Michael. We’ve now met up with Michael and Lulu in Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkey!

New Zealand may have a dramatic climate and fast changing weather systems but never before have I experienced the temperature changes of the last ten days. Over three days in Cappadocia temperatures dropped from a high of 30 degrees to a high of just four degrees. As we cycled through the Taurus Mountains we encountered flurries of snow, yet soon after were back to shorts, t’s and jandals on the beaches and banana growing regions lining the Mediterranean coastline.

Turkey is a land riddled with grand remains of a rich history. There is so so much that one can be overwhelmed by what to prioritise and we must be ok with not doing everything. Fortunately for us along our way, without having to deviate off our route we’ve sampled the beauties of the island castle at Kizkalesi, the inspiring castle remains at Anamur, and the peaceful sprawl of Anamurym, an ancient coastal city from the 3-4^th century.

Along our way the Turkish kindness has consistently prevailed. Somehow within cycle tourist folklore an expectation has arisen that in Turkey you will be welcome to camp at petrol stations. Not really knowing how true this was and how this expectation had come to be we thought we’d give it a shot anyway and have not been disappointed. Our petrol station camps have come with free wifi, chai, Fanta, showers, toilets, chilled water and even lentil soup on occasion! With the feel of a modern day Caravanserai we’ve been consistently warmly welcomed and cared for and have felt very safe, even in busy areas, camped under security surveillance cameras and with an attendant being on duty 24hours a day!

As it turns out October 15th is a very significant national holiday and Muslim celebration, Korban Bayram, we’re told similar to the significance of the Christmas holiday for Westerners. In our naivety we asked some locals if we could camp in the back yard of their restaurant, imagine doing that in NZ on Christmas day! Soon enough we were witnessing the traditional killing of their goat and not long later sitting down to enjoy the annual feast.

Navigating through Turkey on a map that covers the whole country means it’s often difficult to really know what’s coming up and certainly what the terrain may be like. Fortunately the roads with special scenic interest are marked with a green line and so we’ve based our route loosely around that. The beauty of the coast of the Eastern Med has exceeded any hopes we had and the size and number of hill climbs we’ve had to ride has similarly exceeded our expectations . To reach the flat lands of the Antalya coastline has been both a relief for the legs and an enormous change. Our quiet roads and small villages have been suddenly replaced by multi-lane highways and high-rise hotels. The friendly Turkish village roadside stall has given way to beaches filled with overweight foreigners sunning themselves to a crisp and riding camels with sun hats! Needless to say we’ve found Turkey to be a land of incredible diversity.

Where to from here? The roads are insanely busy, possibly added to by the national public holiday, roads labelled as back-roads on our map have recently been widened to four or six lane main highways. We hope to ride to Izmir, leave the bikes there and bus to Istanbul for a while before returning to Izmir and catching a ferry to Greece. With every day surprises arise so we will just wait and see what’s around the corner!

Ollie

Some things are unexpected

The item that I spent the most time deliberating over in preparation for our travels was my pair of shoes. In a two month long saga I scoured Trademe, US shoe sites and Dunedin sales tables. The reason it took so long was that I was looking for a pair of shoes that was tough, waterproof and warm for cycling in the blizzards of High Asia, while also being light and springy for trail and mountain running as we went (and costing less than $50 of course!). This single memory is now a fascinating insight for me into the expectations and mindset I held as we prepared for this great adventure from the dining room at Glendining Ave, and in what ways this has differed from what we have found.

I haven’t gone running once. Despite all our passion for trail running, and having on my feet these perfectly running-capable shoes, I have only broken into maybe a five minute jog on no more than two occasions that I can remember. I had no idea how all-engaging cycle touring would be. How much more it is than a physical challenge. My expectations were that on a half day or a day off the bikes, if we weren’t too tired we might go for a wee scamper up a hill, explore some off-road terrain and fun little tracks. At the end of any short day or day off, I read, I sleep, I email home and I eat. There’s been no running happening here.

A typical end of day

It has surprised me how much energy and time it takes to find us a safe home at the end of each day, and how to time this with having the necessary water and wholesome food that we need onboard the bikes. How dramatically the temperature and weather changes with any altitude gained or lost on the road, and how we need to find a route that puts us in the right places for the fast changing seasons of a continental climate. We are often communicating in situations where no English is spoken, and have had to learn a smattering of seven different languages so far, and expand our repertoire of mime. It takes some thought and shrewdness to maintain the security of our possessions without truly lockable bags, vehicles or homes. And to stop animals peeing on our tent every night. The food is different in each place, and it takes time in a new country to find the foods that we can carry on the bikes and create three meals a day from. Sickness has been a big challenge. We have spent a lot of time bent over all manner of toilets, with an impressive track record of giardia acquirement, and everything is hard when you’re sick. We have found how small our “bubble” is on a bike, as opposed to a car. When anything changes – weather, air quality, traffic, gradient, population density, it effects you and you engage with it. We require frequent stops for food, water and shelter, and so rely on the kindness and welcome from numerous strangers every day.

I am not writing all this to impress you all, I think most of you are already more impressed than you ought to be! We have not made a long line on the world map, we’ve cycled a few squiggles here and there through Central Asia, and made most of our progress westwards on trains. We have clocked up some kms, but it comes out at a very poor daily average if you count all the time we’ve been away. This has surprised me. I had thought we might do something quite physically impressive, linking huge areas of the globe only by bike. We have met a number of cycle tourers who do do some amazingly long journeys through some horrific conditions, and achieve amazing kilometer counts, and they deserve a lot of respect. But that’s definitely not us. Cycle touring has been a much more holistically challenging and rewarding experience than I had imagined from home. Truly remarkable, engaging, humbling and full of wonderful surprises. The learning is still going on! What will tomorrow bring?

Anna

Eastern Turkey Meanderings

Bullet Points

-We've now spent two weeks in Eastern Turkey and are now in the city of Erzurum.

-Half the time we've been riding and with the rest of our time we've been chilling out in a small town named Yusufeli and wandering in the Kackar Mountains.

-Tomorrow we catch a train west to Kayseri and hope to meet our friends Michal and Lulu to enjoy Cappadocia and celebrate Michal's 32nd birthday!

The last two weeks have been a really interesting time for us. After the high adventure of our Iranian departure I think we were perhaps left a little jaded and in need of refreshment. It took us a few days in Turkey before this realisation set in. In this few days we cycled our way northward around the flanks of the impressive Mt Ararat (made famous by Noah's Ark!) and out to Yusufeli at the foot of the Kackar Mountains. You might chuckle if you were to look at our route on a map as you'd see we've looped right back up to within 100km of Batumi (Georgia) where we were over a month ago! For a journey heading west we are doing pretty well at generally heading either north or south. I giggled to myself as I rode into the glare of the setting sun yesterday and realised very rarely have I encountered this true-west direction!

After rounding the volcanics of Ararat we passed through vast open lands, deep gorges of rock strata all twisted, bent and broken, sub alpine pine forests, precipitous canyon lands, rolling golden hill country and castle after broken castle all sitting precariously on their high perches. It all sounds dramatic, and much of it was, but amongst all this we began to feel a tiredness that we've not felt before. 

Upon reaching Yusufeli it was time for refreshing, for something different, and for some down time from the journey. We savoured some special time wandering high in the mountains, breathing the icy cold air. We took the bikes up on a bus from 600m to 2500m altitude and enjoyed the freedom of whizzing back down through gorges and villages. We spent a few days doing very little other than being in the same place, returning to the same friendly bakery and shop owners, and enjoying the simple things like watching kids wander to and from school and drinking chai alongside retired old men. Eventually we journeyed onward, increasingly aware that what we’re wanting is not just impressive landscapes but connection with people.

Thus far we’re struck by the beautiful way in which the Kurdish and Turkish have offered their kindness. This may be a spot to camp, a meal, chai, a friendly conversation, a small gift, a roof over our heads. In some ways the gift has not mattered greatly, what we’ve been touched by is the way in which it’s given. We’ve encountered a gentleness, an ease, a simplicity which has been quite stunning to be the recipients of. It’s hard to exactly describe in words but we feel so so thankful and quite in awe of the way in which these people give.

Just last night this kindness reached new heights. Arriving in a little village named Guzel Yayla, one which obviously tourists do not frequent, we caused quite a stir looking for a tent sight. Men appeared from all directions, all yelling, waving arms, laughing, disagreeing with each other and scratching their heads. Amongst the chaos emerged two real stars, Dogan and Mehmet, who cut straight through the verbal clutter and dragged us off to their little hut in the fields on the edge of town. Camping was off the agenda, they made that quite clear. Instead we were given the house to sleep in, we shared dinner and breakfast together, we drank chai after chai after chai,  and we worked our way through all kinds of conversation topics with the help of an English-Turkish dictionary and the determination of people committed to connecting with one another.

These times are incredibly rewarding and although we move on with our very different lives we are deeply impacted by such wonderful meetings. We’re left hoping that just a little of the goodness we have received, our hosts might also have received by our passing their way. When we look over our map for the present time we’re now looking for roads with lots of towns rather than wild remoteness. There is a time for both but for now that’s what we’ll enjoy as we journey on!

Ollie