Grey, wind, gloom. Goce joined us to the Greek border before we continued along the straight, flat road into the headwind. It was totally uninspiring and we had to push ourselves (me especially) to get some kilometres done.
It is amazing the difference the weather makes. It didn’t rain, but it was cold with a fairly strong headwind. The grey skies and mood made the farmland landscape unenergizing.
Still, we did enter a new country – Greece.
We stopped in a small village and were allowed to camp on the lawns in front of a church. A storm will be cooked up shortly.
It is a different feeling cycling in a grey, overcast, cold landscape. Sleeping in and eating is more appealing than cycling. We made our way to Bitola and called it a day. We had a lovely evening with Goce – our warm shower host in Bitola. Greece tomorrow.
The summer infrastructure of our resort also felt grey in the cloudy skies.
We crossed some plains, and then climbed over a pass of over 1100m before dropping into Bitola.
A lovely evening chatting and eating with Goce and his father. We had ijvar – a secret Macedonian fondue. Yummy.
It was Mr. Harris, with the inner tent in the bedroom. Staying in the Cluedo murder mystery, back to the 70s lake resort, James and I reminisce the fantasmogorical day cycling around and then up over the stunning Lake Ohrid.
Drahtesel preparing herself for the climb
I don’t know where to start. Pictures tell more than 1048 words. We pfaffed around at the beautiful camping spot overlooking Lake Ohrid, watching the sunrise, and listening to our stomachs advising us to eat a hamburger for breakfast.
Sunrise at our campsite on Lake Ohrid
A quick stop-off at Viagra Beach before pigging out in Ohrid town.
Viagra Beach
Ohrid town
Pigging out in Ohrid
Ohrid town
Ohrid town
And then the most glorious amazing climb up to 1600m in the soft, orange evening sun, with a view to die for over Lake Ohrid. Man, this ride was amazing.
Spot James
Some curves in the road
I’m the king of the world!
Approaching the summit
The summit
The view the other side
With darkness approaching, we scooted down the mountain. Our first choice of lodgings was in an abandoned hotel on the lake shore. After a minor incident with a dog, where my loud screaming finally scared away the growling, teeth-bearing dog, we opted to continue down the road along the lake in the dark. We are staying in a luxurious resort from the 70s, ideal for an Agatha Christie novel. It was Dr. Harris, with the inner-tent in the bedroom.
The murder weapon
James leaving the scene of the crime – the bedroom
Welcome to Macedonia, and hello again, James. In Macedonia the roads are smoother and built such they are less steep although the landscape is the same. A walk in the park as I cruised along a gorgeous valley in the sun to Lake Ohrid where I joined forces with James again.
Our tents on Lake Ohrid
James had described it, and it was true. Everything changed at the border. It is probably mostly in the mind, but, I too, felt more relaxed. Everything felt more orderly, better built, and more relaxed.
I passed a few milestones. Firstly, country number 13.
Country number 12. Macedonia
Then 4000km with a nice view out over a lake.
The 4000km mark
While cruising along the road through the valley, nestled between steep, high mountains, I could only try to compare and determine what is different. Why is it so easy cycling here? Why is the road less steep? Well, the road didn’t suddenly drop to cross every little stream, but rather there were some (slightly) longer bridges. The road was also cut into the mountain more, meaning that not every bump needed to be traversed. Whatever it was, I zoomed along and was chatting to James at lunch. I put my tent up next to his with a view out over Lake Ohrid, and we spent hours sharing stories and making plans going forward.
Its less than 3 months now before I leave on my big bike trip from Eindhoven in the Netherlands to Australia. I have done the first wave of sorting out my clothes, papers, other ‘stuff’. Next week will be my training run – testing out all my equipment, when I will cycle to friends in Limoges in the centre of France. Stay tuned for a practice blog on that trip.
But now, I am updating and refining my planned route. I will have a whole 3 months to make it from Eindhoven to Istanbul, and I think I will really need 2 or less. No problem. Europe is beautiful, and there is a lot to see. If I have time, I would like to see more of Greece and then south western Turkey. It is hard to find suggested gpx routes through Greece. This alternate route through Greece is the Eurovelo 8 route ending in Athens. After Athens, I could take the boat to Izmir and continue on in Turkey. Click here to see a zoomable version of the map, and download the gpx.
Alternatives in Albania and Greece
Do you have any tips for getting to Athens? And, more importantly, do you know about which boats run in the winter (November)? I could even think about cycling along Crete, then to Rhodos, and catching a boat to Fethiye in Turkey, although, I don’t think there are any boats running in the winter. I guess and hope there will still be boats between Athens and Izmir in the winter..
I’m looking forward to seeing more of Greece. I hope it eventuates!
My route through Europe, on the way from the Netherlands to Australia by bike is complete. Well, I have a draft route with lots of options. And I will definitely end up cycling something else. That’s part of the fun. Still, it’s nice to have a basic plan to make some timing estimates.
World Bike Trip 2014: Route through Europe
The starting date is 13 September 2014. Here are some expected dates (very approx):
Stelvio pass 28.09.2014
Trieste 05.10.2014 – then one week on the Istria peninsula
Thessaloniki 30.10.2014
I plan to arrive in Istanbul the start of December. Clearly I will have about one month extra up my sleeve, so, depending on how I feel, I will do detours on the way. One I have in mind is cycle to Athens, then take the boat to Chios, and then cycle up the Turkish coast to Istanbul. Let’s see.
Once arriving in Istanbul, I will take a break for about 3 months for the seasons to change. I will spend Christmas in Australia before returning to Istanbul to continue the trip.
Many thanks to lots of friends and people from the cycling forums for their tips and advice. A lot of it has been built into the route. In fact, in many countries, I have lots of different options for my route, which are visible in the links below. See how I feel when I get there. Here are the more detailed routes and notes on the different countries in Europe.
The planning of my route through Europe (as part of my cycle trip from Eindhoven in the Netherlands, to Adelaide, Australia) is getting towards the exciting, most unknown part. For me, Albania and Macedonia feel the most foreign and exotic of my European destinations. I have read many people saying that Albania is ‘interesting’. I am looking forward with great interest to visit this forgotten but beautiful corner of Europe.
Like on earlier trips, I am planning a route, and letting people out there in internet land shoot at it. Here are my planned routes for Albania and Macedonia.
arctic-cycler.com 