YASSOU! GALLIPOLI to GREECE - Australia to Scotland by road - Episode 91

2 года назад

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Our first stop on Gallipoli was a tour of the memorials. The lower end of the peninsula is now a National Park dedicated to the battles which took place here in 1915, known as the Gallipoli Campaign to the Allies or the Battle of Cannakkale to the Turks. Driving around the peninsula, aside from the many memorials, remnants of the war whether crumbling bunkers, cemeteries, heavy artillery, barbed wire, or trenches lay everywhere. We’ve studied the war, read books, watched movies, and seen this area every year on April 25th though reading the head stone message on the graves from grieving wives, mothers, sisters and children back home really tugged at the heart strings. Maybe it was due to COVID though the desolation of the area compounded the already somber air. We spent several hours exploring the Park before heading up the coast to try and find a camp spot sheltered from the northerly and away from the battlefields.

This part of Turkey appeared to be significantly different to the rest of the coastal spots we had visited and ironically for more like Asia. It also felt like socio-economic step and the infrastructure was less developed. Farming and fishing took centre stage and the little beach we found, looking out to Greece, and tucked into a narrow steep valley was also home to a few fisherman who lived in little huts nestled in the trees. The howling wind must of hampered conditions and there wasn’t much movement on the boats. The area also seemed very popular with weekenders from the neighbouring villages (who hadn’t quite grasped the concept of waste management yet) though being mid-week it was only us and the fisherman and we parked in close to a row of trees to seek protection from the wind. We had a good run with beaches in Turkey, this one wasn’t the best, though still provided a nice, reasonably protected, camp spot for the night.

This was also our last campspot for Turkey and the following morning we continued north to Bulgaria. We’d chosen to make passage trough Bulgaria and into Greece for two reasons. One, we knew some other overlanders who were staying there, and two, it is significantly cheaper. To drive in Europe (Bulgaria) you need to have Green Card Insurance, similar to CTP in Australia. As a European this is simple and is bought in your home country though as a non-European it can become a little bit more difficult. Thankfully Bulgaria is one country which is quite easy to buy this insurance and better yet, right at the border. Compared to Greece, purchasing it in Bulgaria was about a third the price which also made the slight detour much more attractive. With the fastest and easiest border crossing to date out of the way, we drove the 60 odd kms off into the country side to an oddly located camping area in a small farming village. For the past 4 years we had been talking to another overlanding couple Jerome and Auk (jerometheworld - on instagram) who are from the Netherlands. They drove the opposite direction to us and we nearly crossed paths on the Sub-Continent several times. This time our schedules aligned and they were staying in this campground as they head East again. We spent a few days catching up on errands, working on the Troopy, and hanging out with Jerome and Auk. The campground had a beautiful setting on the grounds of an old renovated farm house and looks as though it would be quite busy in the peak season, for now it was just us which was perfect. Power, hot showers, and a washing machine was also worth the few dollars!

Saying goodbye to our new friends we started off again heading south west towards Greece. Our intention was to maximise time in the sun on the beaches of the Med, while we could, before back tracking and exploring both Bulgaria and Romania properly.

We had thought the entry into Bulgaria was quick, the entry in Greece was even quicker with the whole process taking approximately 3 minutes. Obviously it should passing between two EU countries though we’ve become so accustomed to long tedious crossing that the ease of these crossing is a bit of a shock.

Entering Greece was like a step back into modern times and we cruised down the smooth highways, through the coastal towns, stopping for a night at a beach side camp, before continuing on in search of sunshine. Our plans for Greece was to head as far south as possible, explore the Athens area, before heading up the West Coast. With forecasts looking less than desirable for these lower regions it was became apparent we may need a contingency plan for our time here. As the sun set on our second, and much more tranquil beach camp, we revised our plan to a more adventurous path and set off the next morning to conquer a mountain.

Catch the next episode to see all the action.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the episode.

J&M

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