Sun 21 Sep 2025
Being only 8 kms from the port, there wasn’t much for me to do today except wait. I met my new Russian friend again, and he very kindly presented me with a bar of Moscow chocolate; “From Russia with love,” he said grinning widely.
At the port There was the usual confusion, or uncertainty, caused by a complete lack of signage. I checked in at the shipping office and then waited three hours for the registration office to open. One positive thig was that they paid my TRY 16 traffic fees, on reimbursement, obviously.
Once inside the port, you have to find your way to passport control – from the “wrong” side – and then get to customs. It was all quite painless, just difficult to find. Then outside again to wait.
It was here I met my new buddy, Hugo, who is from France. Riding an Africa Twin, he was on the return leg of his trip to Turkey. We had a long chat until someone came to tell me to hurry up as the boat ready to leave and was waiting for me!
The boat when I got there, carried about 50 passengers, two cars and me! It took about 30 minutes to cross to the Greek island of Chios. Entry to Greece was plain sailing; back in Europe!
I parked outside the port and went for something to eat, and when I returned Hugo was parked beside me, having been on a different ferry. Here we met up with a chap from Turkey, on is way to a Superbike race in Spain, and a Turkish lass, Nesrin, on her first solo ride outside Turkey.
The ferry was delayed, so we have a hour or more to exchange stories. When we boarded, Hugo and myself found some spare space and laid out our sleeping mats for the night.
Mon 22 Sep 2025
After disembarking, Hugo and I said our goodbyes, and I set off to find Themistocles, my host for the next two days, and a most enjoyable two days they turned out to be.
The first evening, after I had had a rejuvenating snooze, we spent in, and dined on some of Themistocles’ Mother’s moussaka. Surprisingly 😉, it was excellent!
Tue 23 Sep 2025
Today was sightseeing day! I headed to the Acropolis early, as I thought, only to discover that entry was by time slot, and the next available slot was 1245, four hours away. I debated, and finally decided to go for it.
I went for breakfast and l plotted a walking route to take in some of the other sights.I passed by the prison Socrates before climbing up the Hill of the Muses, from where I got an excellent view of the Acropolis and Parthenon. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was to be the best view I got! Then a walk round past the two Agoras, and a couple of minor things and finally a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Greek Parliament, before returning to the Acropolis.
This must rank as one of, if not the greatest disappointment ever. The site was over-run by visitors, people like me! If I had thought Ephesus was bad, this took the biscuit by a looong way. You basically have to follow a roped off pathway, in a never-ending procession of people, all shuffling along like a congregation leaving church on Christmas morning, or Easter Sunday, or on a Hadj; it was painful. The Parthenon itself was impressive enough, but less so than the Library at Ephesus. It was not possible to get inside or even really close, so it’s true scale had to be appreciated from a distance. Marks out of ten for this experience? Maybe 4, but more like a 3!
I had an enormous ice cream on the way home and then, with Themistocles, changed the oil on the bike. He had sourced the oil for me in advance, so all went smoothly. As we returned to the apartment, we were talking about tyre pressures and he asked if it was PSI or Bar. “Oh, definitely the bar,” I replied, “let’s go! I’ll buy you a beer. He refused! Not to go, but to go without his wallet.
We headed to his local, which he hadn’t visited for almost two years, but he was still greeted like he had been there last week. After a beer, or two, I was “forced” to have a shot of Bushmills, and later another, or was it two? Finally we left the bar, for a little restaurant.
During all this, Themistocles refused to let me pay for anything and the bar/restaurant staff colluded in this. When I tried to pay, even for a couple of beers, they refused to take my money. I did try!
Wed 24 Sep 2025
Feeling surprisingly unaffected by last night’s excess, the day started only a little later than usual. After a bit of breakfast and some admin, I was on my way to what proved to be the best ride I’ve had on this leg of the trip.
Once out of the city, the road followed the coast closely, swinging in and out with the bays and promontories. The surface was good and the traffic light; I was really having a ball.
My destination was Leonidio, where I finally pitched my tent in Semeli Campsite, about 100 metres from the sea. My new tent was pitched, in anger, for the first time and then I headed to the Fisherman’s Restaurant for a very pleasant dinner by the water.
Thur 25 Sep 2025
If I thought yesterday’s ride was the best so far, it didn’t hold the title for long. Today I was crossing the mountains from Leonidia to Filiatra, via the legendary Sparta. The road was something else entirely; if you’re a biker, and like twisty roads, this is one road you should put on your bucket list. As far as Sparta it was wide, smooth and virtually empty. Sometimes on the side of the cliff and sometimes running through a deep valley, it climbed the steep hillsides, by way of sweeping curves and some tight, and not-so-tight hairpins. I had been skeptical when GM had said the 200-odd kilometres would take four hours, but I quickly found out why.
I made it to Sparta grinning widely and visited the tourist office – only because I had parked beside it – where the very nice lady pointed out all the “sights” on a town map, before telling me there was really not much to see in Sparta itself, and I’d be better going to Mistra (I think). She then told me a good place to have coffee about 10 kms outside the town.
Of the ten or so sights she had pointed out, I decided to go for the statue of King Leonidas, and the Mosaic Museum. The statue was, well, a statue, but the interesting thing about it was the facial expression. To me it looked as if the brave Leonidas, advancing into combat, had a look that said, “I know what is coming, and I’d really rather be elsewhere!”
The Mosaic Museum was closed, even though the opening hours were advertised on the gate as 0900-1400, and it was 1300!
The road continued, as before. The coffee stop didn’t pan out as the man who made the coffee was also the chef and he was fully occupied cooking lunch for the other diners. I could get one, but it might take some 20 minutes or so; I opted for water!
Camping Proti, was advertised as a beach-side campsite. It wasn’t! It did have a 50 metre swimming pool though, so I did a few lengths, which revealed how out of condition I am.
As I finished a young couple arrived in a largeish camper, and struggled a bit to get parked in the rather tight confines of the campsite. Eventually they succeeded and parked next to me.
Sophia and Michael, were a newly-wed couple on their honeymoon. We had a long chat, before I had to leave to walk the kilometre or so, to town to find some food. Sophia kindly offered me the use of her bicycle, which I gladly accepted. Once on the road, I wondered about the advisability of this decision, as two vehicles flew past with only centimetres between us. Then on the way back, in the dark, I had further cause to be concerned.
Once back safely in the campsite, I joined the pair for a beer, and spent a very happy hour or so exchanging stories. For a young couple they have travelled quite a bit, having owned their camper for 5 years, so we were not short of stories to tell.
Fri 26 Sep 2025
Fo no good reason, I didn’t push for an early start today. I only had about 140 kms to go to get the ferry to start my island-hopping; you can’t “do” Greece without a bit of island-hopping, can you?
The plan was to take a boat from Kyllini to Poros on Kefalonia, and then another from Sami, also on Kefalonia, to Ithaca, for a visit to Odysseus’ palace, before returning to Kefalonia to take a final ride back to the mainland, from Fiskardo to Vasiliki.
Nothing planned firmly, so it was no surprise that when I checked the ferry times, I discovered I had just enough time to catch the one at mid-day, if I go my skates on. This I did, and thanks to a road the was in good condition, fairly empty, but pretty boring, I made the journey on good time. One annoying thing about the road was the ever-changing speed limit, which meant I never knew whether I was limited to 50, or 80, or 90, and, on one occasion each at least, 70 or 60. One sign would say 90; then 200 metres later another 50; then 300 metres, and another one said unrestricted. But unrestricted to what? Anyway, I think I managed to avoid any of the threatened radars.
Getting the ferry was a simple affair; pitch up at the ticket office, buy a ticket and go join the queue to board. The lady at the boat took my ticket and I hung around waiting to board. When the two local bikes in front of me started up, I did the same. Then the lady came and asked if I was going to Paros. “No, Kefalonia,” I replied. “Ah”, she smiled, “that’s the other boat, over there!” 🙄
So this is a picture of the boat I didn’t take!
Belfast-2-Belfast-By-Bike 