This morning, 06.06.24, we crossed the friendship border tunnel from Greece to Bulgaria 🇬🇷 —> 🇧🇬
Soon after the border we met a very old man on a very old bicycle without gear and without breaks 😱 He was so funny, talked with hand and feet and in his own language, we answered in swissgerman 😅
And finally, after a couple of km in this new country we could leave the mainroad and cycle (+ hike a bit) on a super nice offroad track through green nature and shade giving woods 😍
Marc's father rescued a sea turtle that was trapped and tangled in garbage. The turtle was exhausted from fighting for survival, but it swam away immediately after being set free. Hopefully, it will be okay and live a long life 🐢 ❤️🩹
We visited the petrified forest located on the western side of the island. It's a unique park, not only because of the petrified trees, but also because the trees are still in the same place where they were found. We were amazed at how clearly the wooden structure is visible.
Wikipedia says: The petrified forest was formed by successive volcanic eruptions which took place between 17 and 20 million years ago, covering a large part of the island in lava and ash.
Honestly, our two-day stopover in Patmos was a lucky coincidence that came about through a name mix-up 😂 patmos, piraeus... 🧏♀️ I don't know... thanks to my legastenic brain and the stressy situation at the ferry ticket office 🤷♀️
The ferry crossing was already amazing 🤩, but when we arrived in Patmos and were warmly welcomed at the vegan restaurant 'Pernera' with our loaded bicycles, we were very happy about this confusion 🥰 !
Sidenote: The neighboring shop initially wanted to send us away and said we should park our bikes in the parking lot at the harbor... yea of course... not!
In the beautiful 'Pernera', we enjoyed a vegan and gluten-free menu, prepared with love from organic and local ingredients 🫠. And besides the delicious food, our souls were nourished by the inspiring and motivating conversations we had with the people there 🫶
The search for a campground in the picturesque small bays was a bit challenging. Either the beach was too narrow for a tent or private. Fortunately, it was still off-season, and we were able to set up our inner tent in the bay 'Kampos Beach' next to the beach bar, as the beach taverns and sunbed rentals were not yet active.
After we stopped at the Islands Leros and Lipsi we reached our destination, the island Patmos. The ferryride in total was 5h. We enjoyed it a lot, especially because we could see all these incredibly nice islands (at least the harbour vilages). #traveling#greece#islands#patmos
We left the island of Rhodes, took the ferry and sailed (speed catamaran 😉) for quite a while along the Turkish coast. How beautiful this deep blue sea! 💙
The night in Rodini Park in Rhodes was quiet, nobody bothered us anymore after the incident with the teenagers. But we didn't sleep very well. We were still on alert and wore all our clothes to be able to react quickly in case something happens. Early in the morning, we packed everything up, left the mystical park, and cycled to the lively, sunlit harbor. #cycling#greece#rhodes
Our campsite in the middle of Rhodes...
When we found this place in 'Rodini Park', there was not a single person visiting this deep green park. So we thought we could go to bed early and spend a quiet night. However, we did not expect a group of teenagers who had come to play 'hide and seek'. As soon as they spotted us, they started throwing stones in our direction. So we got out of the tent to show them who we are and to talk to them. Finally, they understood that we are travelers who just want to spend a peaceful night here. After exchanging some famous football players and some curse words in different languages, they finally ran away.
The morning when we left Fethiye the sky was clear blue, the weather was nice and sunny. The dusty, foggy days where gone, and it was like nothing had happened...
At the ferry port we met 4 cyclicts from france. We all had the same direction: the Greek island Rhodos 🇬🇷
After a nice but very long cycling day with lots of altimeter in addition, we reached Fethiye. Our plan was to book ferry tickets for early next morning and search a campspot near the port. The officer at the port told us the ferry was canceled because of bad weather. Oh, with this situation we didn't calculated. And we couldn't see bad weather on our wetherforcast website... The next possible ferry was sceduled for 3 days later.
We felt a bit disapointed, because we passed some nice places without stopping, but ok...
The two days we had to wait for the ferry we stayed in a hostel room. The two days the air was full of the sahara dust, it was super foggy and had zero visibility. But ok... we took these day to make laundry by hand and to relax a lot... #cycling#bikepacking#traveling#travellife#restdays#break#turkey#fethiye#saharadust