Tuesday 10th September 2013 – Bogazkale, Turkey

We woke up feeling cold, something that we haven't felt for months. Getting up to make the tea I checked the outside temperature, it was under 2°C and the inside temperature was only 6°C. I put the heating on! It was 28°C during the day in Alexandropolis and now under 2°C – what a contrast.

We had long day of driving today but not as long or as frenetic as yesterday. Continuing south on the 750 we came across a large number of stalls on both sides of the road selling melons, many hundreds on each stall and of four of five different varieties. We soon came to the town of Kazan which we christened 'Melon City' and the locals obviously thought the same as, in pride of place, on a plinth in the centre of the town was a massive sculpture of a melon.

The stalls continued for a long distance after the town before we arrived at the motorway ring road around Ankara. I was expecting similar road conditions and driving to the Istanbul motorway but this was much more civilised and much quieter.

Heading east from Ankara we passed another melon growing area with many more stalls but the melons were smaller and not the same quality as Melon City.

By 15:00 we had arrived at our first destination, Alacahuyuk, a few miles north-east of Sungurlu. We had come to see evidence of the Hittites, a people who occupied this part of Turkey and many other lands during the period 2200 BC to 1183 BC and this was the first of three sites that we planned to visit.

Alacahuyuk, discovered in 1835 by the English explorer W. J. Hamilton, was first occupied in the Copper Age (5,500 – 3,000 BC) but most of the finds relate to the Hatti civilization, predecessors of the Hittites, who occupied the site in the Early Bronze Age (3,000 – 2,000 BC) and made it their capital. However the Hittites took over the site and left their marks such as the impressive 'Sphinx Door' at the southern gate of the city. The walled city is quite small and there is little above ground other than the walls of buildings. However, Alacahuyuk is famous for its rich Natti royal burials where the bodies were placed in tombs surrounded by rich grave goods and the skulls and leg bones of sacrificed animals. Very good reconstructions of the burials have been placed inside the excavated city, giving the visitor an idea of the wealth of the Hatti civilization. There is also a small but very good museum displaying some of the finds.

We drove on using country roads to our next destination – Bogazkale and Camping Asikoglu.

It is common in Turkey for campsites to be associated with a hotel and this is the case with Camping Asikoglu. We had a good meal in the traditionally furnished hotel restaurant and our host advised us how to visit Hattusa and Yazilikaya, the two local sites. He also told us to have as many apples as we wanted from the trees in the campsite - £10 a night and free apples, can't be bad!

Photos: Hatti royal burial with sun discs and sacrificed cattle heads; A Hittite teapot – tea drinking has been a tradition for thousands of years here!

Monday 9th September 2013 – Akyarma, Turkey

We had a long day of driving today and we were on the road by 08:10, taking the old road to the Turkish border. We filled up with fuel (Diesel is expensive in Turkey) and bought some essential supplies whilst still in Greece.

Crossing into Turkey was straightforward if a little long-winded and then it was a long slog of major roads and motorways. Driving around Istanbul on the motorway ring-road was ….... interesting. Turkish drivers have absolutely no concept of lane discipline and their driving is appalling. I am not exaggerating when I say that we saw as much 'undertaking' as overtaking and cars would weave in and out of all four lanes at great speed often cutting across two lanes at a time missing moving cars by inches. You have to have eyes everywhere and if you leave any gap at all between you and the car in front, a car will appear from left or right to fill the gap without any warning. There were a lot of gasps from both of us but amazingly no horns were sounded, the locals just accepted it!

Many miles out of Istanbul, the traffic started to thin and the driving became easier although you still needed to have eyes everywhere! We started to climb steadily as we approached Gerede where the motorway turns south to head for Anchora. We left the motorway here and took the 750 which runs parallel to the east. We were heading for a campsite that we had found on the ACSI site, Yayla Mocamp at Akyarma. We saw it on the opposite side of the dual carriageway so we found a place to do a u-turn and headed back. We expected it to be basic but were pleasantly surprised. We were then only customers but we had electricity and there was a clean shower block with proper toilets (not foot ones), toilet paper and sinks with soap and paper towels. The situation is quite pleasant, under trees with a stream and small recreational lake. There is also a restaurant but having driven 650 km and been on the road for over 10 hours, we just wanted a simple meal and some sleep. The site is at nearly 1500 metres and it was positively cool at 13°C – time to hunker down.

Photos: Jane managed to grab a few photographs as we crossed the Bosphoros. This one shows the European side of Istanbul on the right and the Asian side on the left.

Sunday 8th September 2013 - Alexandropolis, Greece

Today we had a day off from travelling while Jane did the washing and I did the blog. It became obvious why the Bulgarians were celebrating last night as they all left today – back to work tomorrow, no doubt.

Most of the Dutch also left and that confirmed my speculation of yesterday. They were obviously a large group going to or coming from an organised tour of Turkey.

Photos: No photos today.

Saturday 7th September 2013 – Alexandropolis, Greece

Close to the campsite is the archaeological site of Avdira and the Blue Guide suggested that it could be interesting so we headed of to it. The route took us all along the coast with lovely beaches and many small holiday homes. Arriving at the site it was obvious that it was extensive and, according to information boards, the EU had invested large amounts of money in it. Also according to the boards the site was open from 08:30 to 17:00 every day but it was a victim of the austerity cuts and it was locked up.

We looked over the fence and read about the history of the site on the information board before heading up to the acropolis, an open part of the site. This was occupied in the earliest phase of the site but the extant remains are of an early Christian basilica. The views were lovely all along the coast and over to the island of Thassos.

We read that there was a museum in the modern village of Avdira so we drove on to check it out, expecting it to be closed like the site. There was a large poster on the door of the very modern museum stating 'OKI' ('NO') and we guessed that this had to do with the cuts. However it was open! There were two staff and one spoke good English (he insisted that his English was poor!) and he gave us a good introduction and the two shadowed as we walked around. The museum was excellent, very well presented, some excellent finds especially from the graves and the information boards were extremely informative telling things about ancient Greek life that we didn't know. No photography was allowed (the main reason we were so closely watched, I suspect), so I can't show you any of the excellent finds. We asked about the site and it was confirmed that the cuts were the reason that it was closed. It “might be open Monday or Tuesday”. I find it amazing that the museum for the site didn't know when the site was going to be open. If they didn't know, how were visitors supposed to find out?

I asked about the posters on the door. Yes, they were about the cuts. Was his job at risk? He will be made redundant from 6^th November with no prospect of getting another job. He handed us two leaflets on the museum and the site and a photocopied sheet that explained in Greek and English why they were protesting the cuts. We wished him luck.

Just beyond Lagos is an amazing monastery. Set on an island in a lagoon south of Lake Vistonis it is linked to the mainland by a wooden bridge. A further wooden bridge leads from the monastery to a second island and another church. It is popular with Greek and Bulgarian tourists and was quite busy when we visited. After our visit we sat in the car park in Henrietta and had lunch. A monk approached, wished us welcome and asked where we were from. It turned out that he had relatives in Folkstone and Birmingham. He told us that the monastery is part of Vatopedi, a monastery on Mount Athos (Holy Mountain), an autonomous area of Greece run by the Greek Orthodox church. There they use the Gregorian calendar (13 days behind ours) and the hours of the day are of variable length! Fortunately, the open hours displayed at this monastery were on our calendar and time. The monk gave us a DVD that celebrated 25 years this year of restoration of Vatopedi and he told us that Charles Prince (as in the Prince of Wales) had visited the monastery many times. Sure enough, when we watched the DVD (all in Greek but still fascinating) Prince Charles gave a short speech saying that it was his fifth visit.

Taking a coastal route passed the rather impressive-looking EOT campsite at Fanari (lots of flamingoes here), all was going well until we came across a sign telling us that we were crossing a river. What we didn't realise was that we were actually crossing the river, without the assistance of a bridge! The asphalt suddenly stopped and we were on an earth track and then a concrete ford. Fortunately at this time of the year the river wasn't flowing over the ford so we were able to cross whilst admiring the bird life (egrets and others) on both sides. After another short stretch of dirt track we rejoined the asphalt and a more civilised road.

We stopped at two small archaeological sites close to Maroneia, a Greek / Roman theatre half a mile down a dirt track (we seem to be making a habit of this) and an early Christian settlement with a huge basilica.

On then to the biggest city in eastern Greece, Alexandropolis, and to the appropriately named Camping Alexandropolis. The campsite was quite busy with a large number of Dutch and Bulgarian motorhomes and caravans. There were also a few Germans but we were the only British people there.

The evening was quite noisy with lots of load Bulgarian music and the Bulgarians were obviously celebrating but it didn't keep us awake.

Photos: The monastery on Lake Vistonis taken from the church on the second island; Henrietta fording the river.

Friday 6th September 2013 – Mandra Beach, Greece

It appears that, although the local mosquitoes are voracious, their bites are not as potent as many. We still have lots of visible wounds but they are not itching as they do normally.

After a quick walk to the supermarket to collect fresh bread and other supplies, we had breakfast outside without any hindrance from mosquitoes. Then it was on the road again heading east.

We again took the old national road 2 and this turned out to be a particularly good choice as we passed lots of archaeological sites. We didn't have time to stop at most of them but have noted that we need to investigate them at a future date. We stopped at two Macedonian tombs cut into hills on the coastal stretch of the 2 just north of Asprovalta. The second was especially impressive, complete and the gates were open to allow public access.

There seems to have been an interim national road 2 between the original one that ran along the coast and the new motorway. This road runs inland from Nea Kerdillia to Kavala and as we drove away from the coast to find it we came across the the Lion of Amphipolis. We have seen this before (and the impressive, nearby site of Amphipolis) but I had to stop to have another look. As you will see from the photograph, the beautifully sculptured lion is massive and it was a huge task to put together the animal from the the thousands of pieces found over years of excavation. It was created in the 4^th century BC as a funeral monument to Admiral Leomedon who was a devoted companion of Alexander the Great.

Just before Kavala we came to the town of Eleftheroupoli and it was very busy. I guessed correctly that it was market day and we were soon in the centre that was bustling with people. It was here that we had a very near miss. I was driving slowly, fortunately, as a man walk straight out into the road without looking right in front of the van. I stood on the breaks and with an awful screech came to a halt about six inches from him. He realised too late that I was there and he stood in a state of shock as I stopped. A lucky escape for both of us!

We stopped on the outskirts of the town and walked back in again to spend some time in the market. It was a very good one with plants, fruit & vegetables, other food stalls and a huge number of clothes stalls. We bought forest honey, pasta, aubergines, beans and a lovely coloured pepper plant. That was followed by pitta souvlaki in a small café. We felt really Greek!

Passing through Kavala we actually drove under the Roman Aquaduct that used to supply the city with water. We thought on stopping in Xanthi but decided that, as we had no idea where to park or where the old town was, it was going to take too long.

We had found Mandra Beach campsite on the excellent ACSI site (www.eurocampings.co.uk) and decided to try to find it. We made it in the end but there was a fair amount of guesswork involved as there were no signs to it. This was the first Greek campsite that we have been to where 99% of the campers were Bulgarian (we were the 1%). For a brief period before WWI, this area of coast was Bulgarian and it is very accessible from southern Bulgaria. The campsite is next to the beach and the water is very shallow for a long way out so it is very safe for children. I suspect that this and other campsites along the coast were on the point of failing before the Bulgarians joined the EU. Now it is really thriving.

Photos: Close-up of the Lion of Amphipolis; Gourds in the Eleftheroupoli market; Our purchases – a pepper plant and three different types of aubergines.

Thursday 5th September 2013 – Asprovalta, Greece

After paying the bill at Sykia (Fig Tree) Camping and saying our goodbyes, we headed off to Volos to the tyre repair place that the breakdown people had recommended. On the way I saw some metal showing through the road surface and the memories came flooding back. We had seen the old disused narrow-guage railway lines running out Volos and noted that a preserved railway was still running a little further down the road. However there was also a line that used to take the same route as the road. With the railway no longer in use and a need to create or widen the road, the solution was obvious – use the old trackbed. After all the ballast in the trackbed would provide a good foundation but removing those rails would have been a lot of work so it was much easier just to asphalt straight over the track and rails. All along that stretch, small sections of rail appeared through the surface and sometimes both rails were clearly visible for some distance. I should think that it would be quite interesting to hit one of those when you were on a bike – there is not much grip on a railway line!

We soon found the tyre shop to the west of the port and explained what was required – repair the puncture, put the repaired wheel back on the van and the spare back under the van. The latter I knew was going to be a pain in the neck (and the back and other places) but I guessed that that expression was probably beyond the man's English and it was definitely beyond my Greek so I just warned him that it was very difficult. He did complain that the person who designed the spare wheel storage and retrieval must have been mad but within half an hour (most of that getting the spare back) it was completed and I had paid the amazingly reasonable bill of €10 - £9!

Unusually we decided to use the motorway for the first part of our journey because the other roads were going to take us a lot longer. Greece has an unfortunate method of determining their tolls that uses height and doesn't make an exception for motorhomes. This means that motorhomes pay the same as a small lorry, nearly three times the cost for a car. We spent more than €22 (£20) between Volos and Thessaloniki and a considerable amount of that was single carriageway due to new road construction work.

We drove on normal roads to Larisa and as we approached the city I stopped at red lights and saw in my wing mirror an identical Hobby motorhome approaching in the outside lane. We rarely see any Hobby motorhomes in the UK and, although there are more on the continent, it is very rare to see our model. To my amazement, I noted that this one was Greek. We have never seen a Greek Hobby in all of our travels. The van pulled alongside us and the driver called across “Nice looking van you have there”. I repaid the complement and we exchanged details of destinations. They were off to Thessaloniki but I don't know whether that was for a holiday or if they were on their way home. Too quickly, the lights changed to green and we were off. It would have been good to have more off a chat as we haven't met any Greek motorhomers who could speak English.

Before and after Larisa we covered more of the Thessaly Plain with distant views of mountains before climbing up and over the hills. There is another plain on the East side of Thessaloniki which is farmed extensively and has two lakes. We were able to leave the motorway here and take the old national road 2. We were expecting to see a mass of blue water as we approached Lake Koronia but saw only fields. Eventually we saw an area of white that looked like a very shallow salt lake surrounded by marshland. The lake was much smaller than that shown on our map and a large part of it seems to have dried up.

The second lake was blue and very pretty. On its shores there was the hot spring resort of Loutra Volvis – another time we must stop and investigate. Further east we watched a windsurfer speeding across the water. We could see the scar of the newly-constructed section of motorway on the other side of the lake and were glad that we had taken the old road.

We had a number of options for campsites on the route but chose the first at Asprovalta, appropriately named 'Camping Asprovalta'. We stayed here on our 14-month Odyssey six years ago and liked the site. It is right on the beach and the all of the vast number of pitches are huge but I had forgotten the two drawbacks – it is difficult to find pitches with a power supply (especially one that works) and there are huge number of mosquitoes. By the time we had selected a pitch and connected to a working electricity supply (with help from the neighbours), I could count 10 mosquito bites on my legs and arms. Still, a stroll on the beach made it all worthwhile and the locals on their semi-permanent pitches were all very friendly wishing us a 'Kali Spera' (good evening) as we passed.

Photos: Fish for tea? The beach at Camping Asprovalta.

Wednesday 4th September 2013 – Volos, Greece

After a relaxing morning, we walked the short distance to the harbour front and had lunch at one of Norman & Deborah's favourite cafés. We had frappé (cold coffee) and both the special omelette and special crepe were huge and very tasty. As we walked to the ferry port we saw the Express Skiathos approaching the harbour and soon it was reversing to the dock. Jim and Ellen had come to see us off and there were lots of hugs and kisses before we boarded and waved frantically as the ferry departed. It was touching to see Jim waving his white handkerchief and using it to dab his eyes, although I suspect there was a little irony in his actions!

We walked to the bus station but had just missed the 19:00 bus so, faced with an hour and a half wait for the next one, we retraced our steps a short distance to find a small restaurant in a very traditional Volos eating area.

I chose the Greek equivalent of whitebait and Jane had a Greek salad which turned out to be huge and really interesting with lots of capers and caper plant. We shared the dishes and were totally full at the end of it.

The bus was very modern and very impressive, with on-board wifi, something that I haven't seen on buses (rather than coaches) in any other country. We arrived back at the campsite to find Henrietta in good shape and the spare wheel still fully inflated!

Photos: Skopelos Town with the Kastro hill on the right – taken from the ferry as we left Skopelos.