Travel review North Macedonia – Istanbul Turkey

From Ohrid in North Macedonia I wanted to leave early, in reality then I left around 13.00 for a curious meeting which I will talk about later. The goal of the day was to arrive in Greece, in Thessaloniki.

In Ocrid I slept in a guest house run by an elderly lady who used Google Translator better than cookware in the kitchen. He didn’t speak a word of English, but he dictated to Google and made me read, he told me to speak on the cell phone and read the translations …, a show.

Upon arrival, even before the “good evening” shows me in front of a pair of slippers, it is forbidden to enter the room with shoes. Then I had to go out to get my luggage, I was about to put my shoes back on and she, of course, promptly presents me with her outdoor slippers. You can imagine the cleanliness that was there.

In the end, € 11.20 for a single room, with coffee in the evening and coffee in the morning.

From Ohrid …

Beautiful day of travel, with the Vespa still too loaded but which all in all responds well. The whole journey is an alternation between coastal landscapes and mountain stretches, up to over 1000 meters.

More or less the daily distance is always the same, from 250 to 350 km, equivalent to an actual driving time, excluding stops, which can range from 5 to 8 hours, depending on the type of route and the quality of the road surface.

I feel that every kilometer I do, I move further and further away from our Europe and I get closer to countries other than those we are used to. I also notice it at the distributors, people begin to look at me, ask me where I am coming from and where I am going. The amazement when I say “from Italy” and even more when I say “I’m going to India”. Often the same petrolheads ask me to take a picture together, it’s a good feeling, you don’t feel alone.

… in Thessaloniki

In Greece, long roads begin with nothing and no one; I begin to realize that I have to anticipate my departure in the morning, to avoid arriving at my destination too late in the evening. Better to avoid being perhaps at dusk, with a mechanical problem on the Vespa, in the middle of nowhere, hoping and waiting for someone to pass by.

I arrive in Thessaloniki in the late afternoon, I have already booked to sleep in a hostel, being a large city better to choose before venturing out to search on site. From the photos on Booking I had seen a very nice and welcoming hostel, the ratings were also very good, above 9.0. Cost € 15.50.

The navigator takes me to the promenade which at that hour was very crowded with people walking, running, playing or simply sitting on the lawns. On the opposite side the city, which reminded me a lot of Trieste. I stop to take some photos, it is so early, as I see the past ones that strike me, I also take some with Lorenzo (I will explain who he is in another moment …).

I arrive at the point marked on the navigator, in a very “dubious” neighborhood, with a group of kids playing football in the street and looking at me curiously. At the intercom of this decadent building there is no reference, boh .., wait. After a while a guy passes by, I ask him to confirm the address and I call the structure, on the other side they tell me that they are going down. I wait another half hour and still nothing, ok I try again, second call and realize, luckily it was a street with the same name but in another neighborhood.

I move 3 km and arrive in an upper part of the city, a bit like Paris, where you can enjoy a spectacular view. The hostel was as I imagined it, even better, even the garage closed for the Vespa.

The next morning I dedicate myself to luggage, aiming to lighten by 10 kg. I prepare a package that I send to Italy from the post office, at the modest cost of € 61.50 per 7.5 kg and another 2.5 kg I dispose of them on site.

Meetings “on the road”

In Ocrid the old lady didn’t accept credit cards, so I paid with 50 euros, she gave me 20 euros in change and the rest in local currency. To avoid taking it away, before leaving I look for a currency exchange office and conversion into euros. Going out a guy with a strange scooter stops and says “are you Italian? From Vicenza?”, I’m from Treviso !. Incredible, it was Marco, owner of the takeaway pizzeria PROOF of Ocrid that he was returning to the pizzeria because he had left for a delivery forgetting the pizzas in the pizzeria !!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Come to the pizzeria”, I offer you a slice, I go to make the delivery and come back. ”

After 10 minutes he arrives and we begin to tell it to us, both very happy and amazed by that truly fortuitous encounter. He is from San Polo di Piave, that is, behind my house … and he has been there for 4 years, now married and with two children.

We chat and chat, call some friends in Italy telling the thing live and so on. In short, at 13.00 I was still in Ohrid.

In the evening, in Thessaloniki, after resetting the address, I still couldn’t find the job. I ask for information from a guy who made take-away food deliveries, who very kindly explains to me “go ahead, turn right and then right again”, the problem, mine and certainly not his, is that they were all one-way, contrary . I arrive, paying attention to the cars that were sent in the opposite direction and I find him behind, all enthusiastic. He had read the sign and the president of the Vespa Club of Thessaloniki was a very dear friend of his and so photo 1, photo 2, photo 3.etc. etc.

What a satisfaction to leave Thessaloniki lightened by 10 kg, I had also changed the arrangement of the luggage: in front of the daily bag, behind that of all the spare things and that of the campsite. On the sides there are two 10-liter bags, one for rain emergency and the other for cold emergency. On the platform on both sides, tools, spare oil and chains to lock the bike. In the cavity of the rear luggage rack, the aluminum box with the Vespa spare parts is well kept.

Now the balance was perfect, very driveable, no vibration, very agile, quite another thing indeed. It seems impossible how those 10 kg less and a different arrangement of the luggage made a difference.

In the evening I reach Alexandroupoli, too late and too dark, I have to leave earlier. I find some sleep and the next morning I am amazed to discover that my green insurance card is not valid for Turkey, where it is compulsory. Moments of fear, I decide to leave immediately for the border with Turkey, which was about 50 km away. Obviously they won’t let me through the check, but luckily I can get a customs insurance, for the duration of three months, at a cost of € 15. So much fear and a narrow escape.

As I write this post I am in Istanbul, where I arrived on Friday evening. At 42 km from the finish I was stuck in chaotic and impossible traffic. I tried to remember which city there was before Istanbul, when I later realized that I was already on the outskirts of the city and there were still 42 km to go. Today looking on Google I found that Istanbul is the most populous city in Europe, with its 15 million inhabitants and an extension of 70 km per side, incredible.

Today I enjoy a day off to visit the city, read and soak up some sun. The hostel where I sleep the two nights is spectacular: private parking for the Vespa, delicious and abundant breakfast, terrace with a breathtaking city view, lots of relaxation and good music. If I think that all this, including breakfast, costs € 13.5 per night, it is very little, even if in a shared room.

In the photo on the right, highlighted by the red circle at the bottom, you can see my parked vespa.

Tonight I started studying next week’s course, for which if I can I write a dedicated post. The idea is to cross all of Turkey horizontally, with a detour to the north, for about 2,000 km, up to the border with Iran.