There wasn’t a lot of cycling involved in Greece. In the end, it was just from the North Macedonian border until Thessaloniki. Which waited for another unpleasant experience.
The room I booked, and it was hard enough to find a room since a fair just started the day I arrived, was suddenly overbooked and through Expedia had to find another accomodation. It took over 2 hours on the phone, while sitting on stairs, just to know exactly nothing. Finally, at about 7pm, they did rebook me into a hole that normally was not worth the price. But better than the alternatives that already played in my head (sleeping in the tent in a park or on the beach).
I never wanted to cycle through the Greece Alps and took the bus to get to Corfu. I had reached my goal of Thessalonik and it’s time to go home. Corfu was a natural stopover as from there ferries leave to Italy.
Why not stay a couple of days at the beach? This was actually a good time and the heat didn’t affect me because, hell, I can jump into the sea.
I also met with a former teacher from the Kung Fu Retreat in Thailand. He opened his own place on Corfu. In the session he showed me how many mistakes I make in Qigong and most of all Shuang Yang 🤦
However, the next unpleasant experience awaited me upon returning the rental car. During pickup, I failed to see a scratch/dent on the car and naturally they blamed me for it. Even though, it was clear (to me) that this was an older one and has been worked over. But, since I didn’t make pictures of the areas that I saw nothing, I had no proof. Another 700 EUR down the drain. My own fault to book with a rental company with such a low rating. I wasn’t their first insurance scam victim.
I handled this setback quite well. It’s just money. While all those things are not life-threatening, they are just a reflection that there is no flow in my life.
An overview of the route, pictures and text can be found on Polarsteps.
Love,
Matthias