Going Underground

 

Time to relax a little after the bike adventure as we headed inland to Cappadocia for a three day tour. We did not get to our cave hotel in Urgup until around 7pm but still we took in the wierd feeling as we settled in for the night. We made a mistake by taking the easy option and eating dinner at the hotel instead of clambering downtown to find a local spot but the tour was at least underway. Then we climbed into our cave and left the world behind.

 

 

This was gentleman's touring as we met our guide and driver the next day at 0930 and, as was to be repeated over our time here, we had finished the tour by around 3.30pm each day.

 

So over the three days we visited caves, churches, monasteries and underground cities in this fascinating part of the world. Our guide was an excellent host as we tried the local food and wine as we went along. We also took several 4-5km walks in the area in the Ihlara valley and Red Valley areas and all in all we enjoyed the tour.

 

We had enough time in Urgup to relax with a drink or two and we also caught up with our internet obligations and the world outside.

 

The last day in the area was the day for potato harvesting, all done by hand and mainly by women of course and it was clear the autumn was well underway with the poplars in the valleys turning colour. So we cannot run against the weather any longer and we now head for perhaps the biggest historical cross over point in the world-Istanbul. There, this adventure terminates and we face the prospect of heading down under and picking up with backward facing Team Australia. What an exciting prospect that is!

But we will look forward to catching up with family and friends and turning ourselves towards Christmas.

 

 Postscript: During our travels we try to get as local as one can as a stranger in town. One way we do this is to explore how the medical and hospital scene works. During previous travels we have tried emergency and outpatient reactions to potential heart attacks in France and we have tested Swiss reaction to head injury after a fall. So this time we have tested the Turkish emergency with eye problem areas.

Yes, it could have been serious with Yvonne seeing flashes and sparks at night over the last few days giving the idea that perhaps she has a potential retina detachment, . So we had to pick Turkish Independence day (not that big a deal it seems) to rapidly get to know Istanbul and to deal with language issues as we ventured into and out of three hospitals before ending up in a major eye hospital where, thankfully things were resolved. So now we can rejoin life and see a bit of Istanbul.

Turkey Shirtfronted

2.30 pm 18 October. Team RANDY (R and Y-get it?), boarded the Vesta 1 Sevil, as directed, in preparation for the assault on Turkey. On board we were directed to our suite and shortly afterwards we met the other members of our assault team; one English born, one time Austrian, now Canadian middle aged woman, one very fit senior German man whose wife is a member of the European parliament, two middle aged American women from New York, a married couple from Canada (both very fit), and a couple of younger Germans, a software engineer and an accountant who were clearly assigned to keep us all in working order. We could all easily communicate in either English or German.

The workup dinner was duly held that evening and the mission planners Ali and Peter conducted the first of many briefings. Shortly before dinner we were introduced to our bicycles and final adjustments were made.

 

Unlike the often mythologised, always exaggerated and now politically unashamably exploited assault on Turkey in 1915, this trip was expertly planned and proven to work. We left Marmaris after a leasurely breakfast and sat out on deck preparing for our initial venture to Sarsala beach. We were landed at the small inlet of Asi Koyu and headed off over hill and dale and came into the beach from the rear, via Dalaman, a total ride distance of about 50 kms. The beach was duly conquered and we enjoyed a quiet rendezvous with our boat. The weather had been fine all day and we mixed it with the unsuspecting locals at cafes along the way. All riders had a good first day, with the last down hill sweep to Sarsala being a highlight.

 

 

 Day 2 saw us start from Gemiler Bay and mount a very stiff climb to Kayakoy before laying a feint to make for famous Oludeniz beach where we enjoyed a great swim. At Oludeniz, the place was abuzz with hang gliders who operate here without any obvious OH&S rules. One woman happily sitting with her partner on the beach and quite close to us, was almost landed on and had to be untangled from the parachute lines but our team emerged unscathed to call the day a victory. We rode about 48 kms that day.

 

At this point our mission notes are still classified as too sensistive for internet use. So I will describe the remaining mission days in more general terms rather than give a blow by blow daily description.

But to give our overall impressions. Weather wise, the week started off quite warm and dry. Clouds built up about Wednesday and rain was ranging through this hilly, coastal area from Thursday, never to quite leave us. Friday was re-planned several times with the last plan being to ride at the start of the day being the correct one as the rain came down in buckets that afternoon as we bussed back to Marmaris.

The daily riding expeditions were really enjoyable. The typical distance being about 45 kms per day and the terrain was often hilly and challenging. We stopped every couple of hours for a break and lunch was in local establishments.

The group of 10 mixed in well and we have made some good new friends. Quite a few of us are repeat 'Island Hopping' customers and we enjoyed great exchanges of past trips. Most of us are already planning our next adventure trips.

The people here are very friendly, interested in what we were doing and experts at extracting money from our wallets. Our guides have excellent historical understandings of the Lycian Coast and Turkish events and we have come away with a much improved appreciation of Turkay's place in the world.

The itinerary from Wednesday onwards had to be made on the fly as the rain commenced and the seas roughed up. The boat did suffer some damage one day and the engine had problems another day straining to take us to a scheduled start point that was never to be reached.

Marmaris was conquered as we enjoyed our Hamam Turkish bath. We are now ready to head inland to Kapadokya.

Merhaba Turkey

It was good to be back in England. I am not sure how it happened and it seemed to be not long after I had nodded off with Jack Johnson in my ears as the fast catarmaran left Rhodes. A cursory glance at the passport control and we were quickly out of the port terminal and looking for a taxi.

It was good to see that all signs on shops, cafes and the like were in English and that Zorba the Greek, although good listening at times, was no longer the music of choice.

As with back home in Kiwi land, the taxis drivers here must be on 457 visas. Most of them seemed to be Turkish and they were keen to help get us to the hotel. So it was not long before we were checked into our international hotel and enjoying our international fare along with others in the large buffet dining area.

 

We were blending in well with our other slightly over weight guests, about the right age but we could do with a tatt or two to really blend in.

 

After dinner we took a stroll along the seaside promenade where we walked past quite a few hotels, many remarkably similar in presentation. And as with our hotel, the staff were mostly foreigners. Where are we?

 

The next morning after our international breakfast we took a walk along part of the 11 kms of boardwalk heading back towards the port area. We were looking for the point where we would rendezvous with our gulet the next day. We debated whether we should return later to watch Hamilton versus Dundee United at one of the many waterside bar but decided against that. That done, we returned to our hotel.

 

Yvonne did remind Randall that it was not so long ago that he often expressed a desire, especially during busy working times, to just take a break and find a nice resort with good facilities, a pool and space to just veg out.  This is one of the places on the planet where this can be easily done.

 

Randall was due for a haircut. Yes, there are a few hairs left on the head! And whilst Yvonne enjoyed a cup of very hot but pleasant tea watching the event, the hair was trimmed, as were the Howard like eyebrows, ears and nose as he had the works done like never before. Just a few moments of wonder with the tearing off the once hot wax used before Randall emerged a new man.

 

Whilst here we managed to re watch the movie 'Titanic' as part of our pre sailing training programme and we are now ready to find 'Vesta 1 Sevil' , a boat of just 32 metres, and to meet our shipmates and crew.

 

Randall reflected that tonight he is missing a re-union with old school friends which is a pity. One of the many choices we make as life presents itself.

 

As with most missions, it is time to go incognito and to adopt silent running communication techniques. We should be able to resume our blog maybe after next weekend.

By then we should have found Turkey.

Fare Well Greece

So now we have completed our fitness training and heading for Turkey. Not sure if octopus, pasta and ouzo followed by gelato is the best choice for training but perhaps we have the carbohydrate loading at good levels.

 

Rhodes is an interesting mix of history, tourist travel and sunny living. The streets were a bit too touristy and busy, especially when Queen Elizabeth was in town for the day but we did manage to avoid most of that side of things and to see the parts of the city we were interested in. Staying in the old town for 4 days was a good decision as it gave the time and space to plan our activities.

 

We have caught up with summer. It finished last weekend and we hear the direct flights from Europe to here finish in the first week of November. The shops are closing earlier each night and soon they will either close for the season or open only when cruise boats are in town.

We spent almost a day in nearby Lindos but found it to be somewhat too busy, even at this time of year when the season is ended. And the only rain we have had arrived just as we selected our lounge and umbrella in anticipation of some swimming training.

 

 

 

Greece is still an eclectic mix of the world's people. We have mixed it with Germans, other Anglos, Scandanavians, Moldovites, Bulgarians, Romanians, Albanians, Italians, Turks, a few Arabs and of course Greeks. We have loved the fact that, unlike countries like France, one can get a meal or a drink almost any time of the day and nothing is too difficult for visitors. The French would do well not to close up and go home for lunch and to think more about just where their euros are coming from. Maybe their deficit will be big enough to encourage them to change their French ways before we get back there.

 

Meanwhile, people here seem to be bit like the Irish in that whilst things might be tough, one just gets on with living. The Greeks love a laugh and a joke. And they are good at teaching us the language in a friendly way.

 

So fare thee well Greece and onto non European Europe in Turkey. We are thinking of becoming temporary Kiwis whilst there, given current circumstances in the country of my birth. 

 

Looking forward to a few Turkish hill climbs-not.

The ipad widower

It used to be that we turned up at the accommodation and asked things like 'Has it got a window over looking the square?' or “ Is the bed size double, twin or queen size?” Now it is more like 'What is the wifi code? And can it handle more than one computer connection? (We have only 4 computers this trip).

It used to be that we had a struggle to find the accomodation in the first place. Maybe a team meeting to decide which street to turn down next. Maybe an argument over our map. Maybe we asked a local. Now we can go to google maps and follow it along.

It used to be that we used word of mouth to choose our accomodation, or a travel agent or “Lonely Planet”. It used to be that we ate where the place looked attractive, or the touts hooked us in or it was just close by. Now it is booking.com and trip advisor.

So now the ipad widower gets to negotiate arrangements with ipad chief. Booking.com now sends her welcome alerts a few days ahead of our arrival anywhere and follows up with a questionaire afterwards to which he has to contribute. 

 

Now we can skype or viber the kids and grand kids from almost anywhere on the planet. Now we can watch vidoes of the growing baby grandaughter as we sit on a ferry or wherever.

Ever since the ipad widower gave the ipad to ipad chief (and it was more than hinted that he was a bit of a cheap skate to buy the smallest memory device), life has been different.

 

Is this a good thing? Sometimes it can be frustrating with a wish to go back to when we made our own way and our own mistakes as we went along. But these days we do more travel as part of our lifestyle rather than treat trips like this as holidays. So we take more time to get anywhere. We spend more time in places than we really need to as tourists. We keep up with home news and with any business needs. And we keep up with family happenings.

I could go on as I sit here waiting for a latest home call to finish and for us to check exactly where our ferry to Turkey will land in relation to our hotel. But the day is getting by and we do have a few more things to see in Rhodes before we leave.

 

Oh, and behold, as I climb the old city wall in which our lovely hotel is located, there is the Queen Elizabeth sitting about 100 metres away. I did not hear her arrive! Another day in old Rhodes is underway.

Mighty Meteora

 

With the rain and the changing colours of leaves on the trees we are clearly having a race with Autumn. With just a few more days before we dive south to Rhodes, we are gambling that we have our timing up to the mark. It was always going to be a close run on this trip and so far so good.

Ensconced in our small guest house in an elevated part on the edge of the centre of Kalambaka we were in a more rural, even traditional and peasant area. We enjoyed a couple of long walks and quite an exhilarating time visiting four of the monasteries in the area in sunny weather conditions. These are unique places and well worth the effort to get there. Great place for our fitness training although we opted out of the possibility to tour by mountain bike. We did not see any others on bikes either-the shops had lots available. Tour buses are the go here, especially for the over 60's, and there are plenty of those. Mainly eastern bloc visitors it seems.

 

 

 

The rocky areas themselves are awesome and endlessly fascinating. We are not climbers but we did see a few about.  We thoroughly enjoyed learning a little on the religious life in the monasteries.

 

 

 

From Meteora we have now moved east to Thessaloniki, another place that appears to be central to the history of this part of the world. The bustle after Meteora is almost Asian in feel and when combined with the sometimes ramshackle road and footpath constructions, we are having fun running the obstacle courses.

 

 

 

And of course it is better to be coming through this part of the world as a baby boomer traveller than one of the millions of the various refugees that have relocated throughout history or as a POW on your way to four years of Stalag camp life as Randall's father was when he passed through Salonika in June 1941.

 

 

The weather is back on track and it looks like our gamble with Autumn conditions has paid off. (The last time I said that in Corfu the rain promptly arrived to spoil things).

People wise, almost everybody we interact with is very friendly and extremely helpful. Ticket collectors, fellow travellers, taverna operators, guesthouse owners, shop assistants, you name it. It seems to me that most Greeks are confident in themselves and here in Thessaloniki, they are enjoying life. The cafes are full, the coffees and cakes are going well and whilst the country has infrastructure and political issues, show me a country that isn't having problems at the moment. This is a country that is just getting on with it, much as they always have done.

From here we fly to Rhodes and pick up a bit more on our history lessons. We also have been notified that we have a change of gullet for our boat and cycle tour and a slight change of itinerary, now Marmaris-Marmaris not Marmaris-Kalkan. Everything else remains as planned.

When summer left Corfu

 

 

 

So now we are headed for Corfu and another, different, look at the Ionian islands. Weather holding up just fine. 

 

And as we approach the time to pass close by Mt Olympus and the gods in a few days time, we have had our reminder from the Oracle of Chifley whose words from last blog are repeated above:

 

'Weather holding up just fine'. Not any more. It has been raining for most of the last two days and we are set for some English autumn cast off weather. Our days on the coast deferred. Our backup idea for the Archaeological museum thwarted as it is under renovation till September 2015 at earliest. So make and mend. A bit of TV, internet music, reading books, catch up on emails and other boring stuff. Great. More rain predicted on this the island supposed to be the greenest in all of Greece and the highest rainfall.

We are also supposed to be in late training for our bike ride. Well, you could call walking in the rain a form of training and the cobblestones are a doddle in these conditions. So yes we are getting a slightly different view of these islands.

But Corfu is a jewel of a small city with plenty of Venetian influence and a smattering of French and English influence. Still quite a few tourists around especially when the cruise ships unload their passengers as they do several times a day.

 

At least we are well away from our latest xenophobic manipulations down under and AG's over the top constraints on individual freedoms. But we are checking under our beds for bugs just in case. And generating plenty of metadata to be collected at great expense, most notably on young Anabelle, now three months old and making her presence felt. At this rate she will be tracked from cradle to grave in the icloud!

 

What a mess has been created since Keating left the scene. Nothing short of disgraceful but I guess you get what you deserve. At least until we get a chance to vote them out, eventually.

In the meantime we enjoy our multicultural educational trip and a great time together. I will also have to have a serious talk with those I left behind to mind the stock market whilst I was away. They have a few questions to answer.

Tomorrow our rest break ends and we are looking for ferry and bus connections to get to Meteora.

From your Paxos Pilgrims

Thanks to our friendly taxi driver we found ourselves settling into our room high up in the small hillside town of Parga. Several beaches mostly filled with English tourists. We find out later that the season has just ended and many tourists have gone back home.   But to us, this is enough for the little town to cope with.

 

 

After being on the move for a day and a half we needed time to recover. (Ed note; now a few days later when we land in Corfu, we see our intended 'Europeanlink' sitting forlornly at dock. This is the boat we were supposed to catch from Italy but, as per the following, a rock got in the way, apparently!).

http://gcaptain.com/europalink-captain-chief-officer-arrested-following-grounding/

 

 

The way out of town was one of two ways; to find a boat that would take us the next day to Paxos or to get a taxi ride back to Igoumenstia and from there catch one of the regular ferries. We had no luck with the local boatmen so we contacted our new best friend and set the time for the next day. We were getting back on track.

 

We had a good night's sleep and our hosts could not have been any friendlier. We also enjoyed a Greek breakfast in one of the many cafes operating along the Parga waterfront. And at 1100 we were in our taxi and flashing down the road to Igoumestia.

And after a quick stop at the bus station to pick up a schedule (we will need this in a few days time) we were settling onto our ferry and on our way to, we hoped, Paxos. After just two hours sailing and then quite a long walk along the inlet we were in our villa on the edge of Paxos and in another world. It felt good to be back into our planned routine.

 

 

Paxos was great. Our room was right on the water and the lapping waves sent us off to sleep perfectly. We were one of only two guests and received special attention at our palatial palace.

 

 We walked a few kilometres one day and found a great spot for lunch and a swim. We found out that the season is now over and things are already closing down and quite a few Greeks will shortly head back to Athens for the winter. The daily boats from the mainland are still coming and the numbers are there. But in just the couple of days we were in Paxos we could feel the numbers dropping off. Several quiet meals is great settings were enjoyed.

 

 

 

There were times when we had some places to ourselves or nearly so.  A secluded and quiet beach, a bit of sun and amazingly clear waters.  And then a short training walk back into Gaios town

and home.

And we met up with people running the Greek version of our impending Insel hupfen boat/sail tour in Turkey. After a chat we were shown over the boat with a view to doing the Greek version one day, which is reasonably flat. However we were told that bike riding on the Turkey trip is 'challenging'. Yvonne is pleased she took her bike option.

 

So now we are headed for Corfu and another, different, look at the Ionian islands. Weather holding up just fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ooops-Slight deviation

In 2005, when we last visited Greece,we went with our backpacks and moved by local bus and ferries. It worked well and I especially enjoyed the very long ferry trip from Crete to Lesvos. Over 24 hours and we slept on chairs outside on deck in a small wind protected area, enjoying the simple things. In fact I liken boat travel to walking as you really get a feel for the voyage and the subtle changes happening along the way.

 

And just to prove that we are still young enough to need not too many creature comforts on the road, we are trying a repeat ferry performance this year. This time we are in aircraft style seats and with bags with wheels as an indulgence.

 

 

At the start of the trip we are happy to say we are still a few years away from regular cruising it seems. Our ferry mates seem mostly a healthy mix of eastern european truck drivers and a few travellers. Not many women on board and probably no other Australians that we can glean. Barely any english to be heard anywhere as we check out the casual seating and dining areas where some serious card games are happening. Although when our quiet little seating area is invaded by about 40 turks, part of a Kabanya sports club tour group it seems, we go through about an hour of territorial dispute before things settle down. This is a very basic trip we have signed up for.

 

As we steam along the Adriatic and into the long night (the trip turned out to be about 23 hours long), we hear Hong Kong is enjoying riots, French pilots have yet again agreed to go back to work after striking (they have been in industrial turmoil since Bleriot first flew), Italy is besotted by Mr and Mrs George Clooney and Turkey (our final destination this trip) is still at the cross roads of the world.

 

As it turned out the ferry we were supposed to be on hit rocks the week before so was out of action for repairs and we were on an older and slower ferry – hence the 23 hours.
 

 

It so happens that we eventually arrived in Igoumenestis to find 'no ferry to Paxos today my friend.' So a slight change of plans and after a taxi ride with our friendly ferry meeting taxi driver, we end up in the small seaside town of Parga some 50 kms away. But more detail of that little deviation will come in our next blog.

We are not ship wrecked like Ulysses was around here and we are not dealing with the cyclops. What will tomorrow bring?

Leaving Italy via Ancona

 We moved by taxi/bus/train and shank's pony to our overnight stop in Ancona. An appropriate link as Randall recalled that his father, who would have turned 100 today, had also stopped overnight in Ancona in May 1945 as he was on his way to be repatriated to England, after spending most of his war time in Austria. And now we are heading to Greece where Randall's father had been part of yet another piece of political misjudgement. We will go over part of the area in Greece where the Allies were routed and quite close to where many Australians and Roy Kingsley were captured. Learning ancient and modern history as we go along.

Perhaps a little surprising for us but we have found that during our few days here, the Italians seem to be very relaxed and at ease with the world. Almost everyone is friendly and helpful when required. Stress levels seem very low indeed.

 

As a port city Ancona has its less attractive parts but we did enjoy a Sunday promenade along a very attractive main street, a wander through a large antique fair and a couple of rest stops for a drink and our evening meal.

On these trips I sometimes wonder why we travel this way with an almost constant need to figure out and then operate the various connections and bookings. The Web is a great thing and a boon for people like us with loads of useful information. But there is always the small stress of the unknown that raises the blood pressure just a tad as the time draws near for the next step in the travel plan to actually happen.

But we like it this way and we like the idea of spreading our spending locally as we go along. And for the first time, this trip we are stopping three nights where we used to work with two.

We could rationalise that by taking three days at a time, we get to know places better and we argue that in new places it takes about 24 hours to get a reasonable feel of the city/town.

But perhaps the hard reality is that maybe we ARE getting a bit older and slightly slower. Just kidding, plenty of life left in us yet.

That is it from Italy for now. Chow!!! (or do you have to say Ciao?) Looking forward to crossing the Adriatic tomorrow.