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We teamed up again and pedaled to the Turkish border at Ipsala. After four passport checks we finally entered Turkey. One of the border guards held one bicycle after the other as we were taking pictures. In his other hand he held his gun.
Becky and I split up again the next day. She wanted to go south to Antalya and I east to Istanbul. This time I was sure that I wouldn't see her again since her plan was to cycle across central Asia to South Korea and I planned to go into Iran and to the Arabian Peninsula next.
It was a rather monotonous ride to Istanbul and it still wasn't flat land as people in Greece assured me. The straight roads were hilly but not steep. There were no cycling lanes so I cycled on the motorway's side strip. It was a strange feeling to do so and I was nervous that the police would pull me over. However, after numerous police cars passed and some of the policemen even waved at me I was sure that I'd be fine. It was very comfortable to cycle on the side strips since they're three meters wide and as a cyclist you've the whole space for yourself. Every now and then I had to share it with tractors, moped drivers or pedestrians. However, the heavy traffic noise was stressful over time and strong head winds coming from the Black Sea blew into my face until I arrived Istanbul. I camped on the beaches of the Marmara Sea. It was very comfortable since there were parks on which it was okay to pitch my tent. There were even free shower cabins. The few Turkish campers around me made barbeque and smoked shisha. I met Nikolas, another German cyclist, outside of Istanbul. We teamed up and maneuvered through Istanbul's crazy traffic. When there were three lanes, car drivers made it five. And when there were five lanes, they made it seven. The road markings seemed to be just a suggestion. I never experienced such heavy traffic before. Any gap to make it through was ours. Riding through this madness was stressful but also exciting. I felt the adrenaline kicking in as we rolled into the city.
A few days later I rolled into Ankara. I passed president Erdogan's palace and was lucky to end up in a boy's student accommodation. The majority of students were gone due to semester holidays. The few guys who stayed welcomed me with open arms. They couldn't believe that someone would cycle all the way from Germany to Turkey. Fahrt, a Turkish-German guy, laughingly said: "The others usually make fun of me because I often travel by car between Turkey and Germany instead of taking flights. I'm sure this will stop now since they know you now."
If you enjoy reading this blog then please support my fundraising campaign to equip school classrooms in Darfur, Sudan. Thank you!
And if you enjoy reading it a lot, then I'd appreciate if you'd support me with a virtual cup of coffee on Ko-fi. Cheers! :) Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment.
I put together an eleven countries fast forward video of cycling across Europe on my cycling the world journey.
I started in my home town Flensburg, Germany and pedaled all the way across eastern Europe to Istanbul, Turkey. It was about 4,000 kilometers and took me a bit more than two months. I cycled across Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey. Don't forget to turn up the volume and get ready to dance before start the video. It contains some catchy music. Have fun!
If you enjoy watching this video then please support my fundraising campaign to equip school class rooms in Darfur, Sudan. Thank you!
And if you enjoy watching it a lot, then I'd appreciate if you'd support me with a virtual cup of coffee on Ko-fi. Cheers! :) Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment.
I cycled the straightest way towards Thessaloniki. I got off the main road at some point to avoid the traffic. From then on I went through the northern Greek country side. I had to take some smaller roads which were in mediocre condition as well as a few short dirt tracks connecting a few villages. It was a good and peaceful ride and there was also barely any traffic. The only saddening part was to see all the abandoned factories and other business facilities. It sort of created a ghost town atmosphere in the villages. I assume the majority of them were shut down during the financial crisis. However, those villages were everything else but ghost towns. There was so much life happening. People were sitting outside of the cafes, restaurants and especially sports bars. There was a live football match on the screens.
'Can we see your passport please?' they asked.
'Of course', I replied a bit nervous expecting a strict monologue now about trying to 'escape' from the police isn't a smart idea and handed it to them. 'Where are you going and where are you coming from right now?' they asked in a serious tone. 'North Macedonia and Thessaloniki.' 'Do you've anything illegal with you such as smokes or weapons?' I think I never heard the term 'smokes' before but assumed they meant cigarettes but since I didn't have any with me and of course no weapons - besides my pocket knife - I denied. Their tone changed immediately from serious to super nice after they checked my passport and we started to have a nice little chat. Phewww! One of them told me proudly that one of his relatives lives in Germany and how much he liked it there when he went to visit. 'Doe's your bicycle have lights?' they asked when I was about to continue. 'Of course', I answered positively surprised because nobody ever asked me about that thus far and nobody ever also seemed to care. I showed them that it was working. 'Please turn it on. It's getting dark.' I did and continued my way to Thessaloniki. I checked into a dorm room at RentRooms Thessaloniki which is well located for exploring the city and the place itself is clean, it provides really good breakfast and the staff is very kind. I spent a few days in Thessaloniki to explore the city. One day I joined a free walking tour to find some hidden gems because the beauty of the city is more about the things that are not obvious to see and to find. That day I also ended up in an absinth bar with an Austrian and an Australian guy. I never drank absinth before and had no idea that there are so many different kinds. And since it was my first time drinking it, I tried a few of the bars' selection. It really is some fine stuff.
I got a bit pissed off another day. I spent the whole day walking around the city and didn't eat since breakfast. Thus I was really hungry when I got back to the hostel. Luckily I had my plastic container with pizza leftovers from the previous day plus a plastic bag filled with grapes from North Macedonia in the dorm rooms' fridge. I was really excited to shuffle that into my mouth.
I opened the fridge and it was all gone! No way! Really? I went down to the reception to ask if the cleaning staff might have removed it although I labeled it as it's common at hostels. They assured me that they didn't which meant that one of the guys in the dorm must have taken it. So whoever it was...seriously! Just ask! I'd would have shared it with you since it was more than enough for two persons. Although the value of those things was low, the fact that someone simply took my stuff made me a bit mad. Even the plastic container was gone. At least that one could that person have left behind. So I walked a bit hangry to the nearest supermarket with a deli and got a big portion of moussaka. Luckily it even came in a solid plastic container.
Wild camping in Greece is very easy and I camped in some amazing spots on the way to the Turkish border such as on the beach or on top of hills. Wherever I camped the sunsets were beautiful. The red glowing sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon on the edge of the sea or behind another hill. Sometimes I could even hear the prayers coming from a mosque in some distance. Soon I'd enter the Islamic world.
If you enjoy reading this blog then please support my fundraising campaign to equip school classrooms in Darfur, Sudan. Thank you! And if you enjoy reading it a lot, then I'd appreciate if you'd support me with a virtual cup of coffee on Ko-fi. Cheers! :) Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment.
Since so many people asked, I finally created a detailed kit list of my current cycling the world journey. But since I started with equipment that I already had due to other shorter bicycle and also backpacking trips, don't expect some fancy stuff here. It's basically a collection of things that I gathered over the years.
In my opinion it's more important to get a journey started instead of trying to be prepared for every possible situation. I think that's almost impossible anyways unless you want to carry tons off stuff around or you're some sort of a survival champion. Finding the right gear for such a trip is a learning process and everyone has different preferences anyways. I simply figured out along the way what works for me and what not. I just got rid of those things that didn't work for me. If I identified that there was something missing in my equipment then I simply bought it along the way - usually a no name product. For those no name products I tried to find comparable ones online to give you a better picture. Also, please note that the links on this list are affiliate links. That means that I'll receive a small - rather tiny - commission if you make a purchase through them. There are no additional costs for you but it'll help me to maintain this website and provide you content about my journeys and challenges. Furthermore, I transfer 10% of all my websites' affiliate income into my current fundraising campaign to equip school class rooms in Darfur, Sudan. So thank you for your support in advance! >>> go to kit list <<<
I get often asked: 'Why are you traveling the world on a bicycle?'
There are two main reasons for that. In this short video introduction I briefly describe them.Thanks for your support and happy cycling! By the way, the audio is in German but there are English subtitles.
Click here for more information about my fundraising campaign. Any support is highly appreciated! Thank you for your support!
Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment.
Ich hatte das Vergnügen mich mit Götz und Gerrit von den Fahrrad-Fanatikern zu unterhalten, um ein paar Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen rund ums Thema Fahrrad-Weltreise und Equipment zu teilen.
Nochmals vielen Dank für eure Zeit! Beste Grüße aus Vietnam!
Once again in my life I realized how fortunate I am that I can easily travel pretty much anywhere in the world to, only because I was born in Germany. Hearing that makes me appreciate my passport even more than I already do.
It was already dark when I arrived in Skopje. The city can be seen already from miles away. There's a huge cross - Millennium Cross - on top of Vodno Mountain and its lights are turned on every night. It's one of the tallest crosses in the world and it symbolizes 2,000 years of Christianity in North Macedonia.
'You can stay here another night if you want', she said the next morning but I wasn't too keen for more awkward discussions. So I turned down the offer, thanked her for her hospitality and went back to the city center to find a hostel.
Right the first one had a free bed. So I checked into Unity Hostel for one night and started to explore the city. The center was only a couple of minutes walk away from the hostel. There's an incredible rediculous amount of statues in Skopje. They're literally everywhere and locals told that nobody really know how many there actually are. I think it could be an interesting challenge to walk around and count them all. :D
I left Skopje in direction south. I chose Thessaloniki in Greece as my next destination. The days were grueling hot and the roads hilly. One day the heat knocked me out. Temperatures were above 40 degrees Celsius. I was that much exhausted that I had to take nap in the shade under a tree on the side of the road. I used my water bottle as a pillow. I took a dirt road above the river Vardar the other day. The view down into the valley was spectacular and at the end of the road there was a grape field. I took a few and shuffled them into my mouth. They were incredible juicy and delicious. I filled a bag with even more, attached them on the back of my bike and headed further towards the Greek border.
If you enjoy reading this blog then please support my fundraising campaign to equip school classrooms in Darfur, Sudan. Thank you! And if you enjoy reading it a lot, then I'd appreciate if you'd support me with a virtual cup of coffee on Ko-fi. Cheers! :) Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment.
Location: Pristina
Km on the clock: 2,871 I slowly climbed up another hill to the Serbian border post. Today I'd leave Serbia and enter Kosovo. Although I just spent the longest and one of the worst nights on my journey so far, life was good again after a few hours of sleep and a quick breakfast at a small village store. And since I freed some puppies from a trash container in the morning I kind of felt like a hero. I could see that the border official watched me already for a while and he was laughing at me as I arrived totally sweaty at the post. I was the only person wanting to cross the border from Serbia into Kosovo. Dozens of cars were lining up on the other side of the border to enter Serbia. 'How are you?' asked the guy with a slightly sarcastic tone and big smile on his face. 'Well...it's a bit hilly here' I answered. He kept laughing as he checked my passport. 'Where do you sleep?' I answered 'I've a tent' and pointed at my bag on the back of my bicycle. 'And where do you eat?' 'My kitchen is in here' and pointed at my front right pannier. 'Okay', he said and handed me my passport. 'Have a good trip'.
'From here you'll be faster on your bicycle. Now it's only going downhill until Pristina', he said as we reached the top of the hill. I thanked him for his help, jumped on my bike and bombed down the hill into the countries capital.
I spent most of my time with exploring the city. I really liked Pristina! It's a nice but also a bit quirky place. All the major sights were in walking distance from Pristina Center Hostel. There's a Bill Clinton Boulevard and a three meters high Bill Clinton statue.
Kosovo named the boulevard after him and built the statue to thank the former U.S. president for his help when they were struggling with the Yugoslavian government in the end 90's. By the way, there's small clothing store next to the statue called Hillary. A picture of Hillary Clinton is also attached on the facade. Seems like some Kosovan's have a good sense of humor. There's also a Madeleine Albright monument and I heard there's even a George W. Bush Street. The connection to the U.S. can be seen and experienced in many places in Pristina as well as the connection to Germany. I was surprised to see many cars with German number plates and that quite many locals speak German. The shelves in the supermarkets are filled with German brand products. One of the supermarkets around the hostels corner even played some bizarre German rap music every time when I went there. It didn't really create an inviting shopping atmosphere but I was happy to get some familiar products.
One interesting fact that I learned about Kosovo is that there was no law against keeping brown bears until end of 2010. Baby brown bears were snatched from their mothers by animal dealers in the forests of Kosovo and Albania and then held in small cages at restaurants as an attraction for customers. As I heard, the living conditions of the bears were horrific in most cases and some restaurant owners and customers gave them alcohol to see drunk bears for their amusement. However, since 2013 there's a bear sanctuary just outside of Pristina to provide those bears a natural habitat but also to create awareness to animal welfare and environmental problems in Kosovo.
Although Pristina is a nice place to visit for a couple of it's not a bicycle friendly city. There are no bicycle lanes and there's also lots of room for improvement regarding road signs. It took me a while until I made it out of town and on the R6 road in direction south to Skopje, Macedonia. If you enjoy reading this blog then please support my fundraising campaign to equip school classrooms in Darfur, Sudan. Thank you! And if you enjoy reading it a lot, then I'd appreciate if you'd support me with a virtual cup of coffee on Ko-fi. Cheers! :) Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment. |
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