Pilgrimage from Ipsala to Keshan 27/05/08

Five thirty in the morning my alarm springs to life...the pilgrims don't :) It's eight thirty before we finally drag ourselves out of bed, still feeling a bit dazed and confused from the ouzo...

A couple of the local shepeards come to watch as we pack our stuff away, looking on like we have just dropped in from put of space. They really don't know what to make of us :)

Hitting the highway it is already hot! The road is long and straight but the good news is there is not much traffic so it is bearable. Our view is filled with rolling hills checkered by the farmers fields with different hues of green. . Every second car that drives past gives us a toot and a wave which is great for the first few kilometers, but our arms start to get a bit tired. Now I know how the Queen must feel...

The other great thing is that every 30 minutes a truck will drive past and stop just ahead of us, wait for us to catch up, then offer us a lift. It's funny because we are walking on the other side of a four lane highway and yet they still think we want a ride. It must be so easy to hitch-hike in this country.

Making it to Keshan we are disappointed to find out the center is situated 2kms inland. We only want to go on the net, but walking an extra 4kms doesn't seem worth it. Then a car pulls up and asks where we are going. Just like that we get a lift into town, now let's just hope we can get a lift back.

As we are hopping out of the car I hear something drop on the road...please don't let it be the video camera...

I look on in horror as Sabine retrieves the camera from the street. To have both cameras brake within a couple of days would be a disaster :) But luckily after dusting it off it works fine...

We eat, do our blogs and around 7pm start making our way back down to the highway. A group of local kids come over to see what we are about and tare more than happy to start posing for the camera.

Finding the road that will take us back to the highway I turn to Sabine...

"Should we hitch? A car is just coming around the corner and I half heartedly stick out my hand.

Before Sabine can even mutter an answer the car screeches to a halt next to us and the guy tells us to jump in. The Turks are awesome!!! I can tell I'm going to love this country :)

Getting dropped back where we were picked we are happy that it has cooled a bit. Walking until near dark we find a great little field to camp.

There have been two things I have noticed on my first day in Turkey...

One...there are no snakes! This has been the first day in weeks we have gone the whole day without seeing one, not even squashed! The Greek army must have put out orders banning slithering on your belly across the bridge to Turkey as well ;)

Two...the dogs aren't barking at us. The most obnoxious thing they do is try to lick us :)