Grezia EUSKARAZ

Kaixo,

Albaniatik greziako iparraldera iristean jendea bide ertzetatik desagertu eta bero bortitzak agerraldia egin zuen. Ala ere, iritsi eta lehenego egunean Kaloneri izeneko herri batean trago bat hartu eta wifi-ra konektatzeko geldialdia egin nunean, Valantisek bere tabernan lotan geratzea eskeini zidan. Lo askorik ez nuen egin  gau hartan, herriko festak ziren eta bere lagunekin Safiris Melas (grezian oso ezaguna den abeslari bat) entzutera joan eta garagardo eta retsina artean goizeko 5ak eman zizkiguten erretiratzerako.

Hurrengo 3 egunak, zalantzarik gabe bidaieko gogorrenak izan ziren. Lo falta alde batetik eta 40ºC-ko tenperaturak bestetik bizikletaz asko ez gozatzea eragin zidan. Hala ere, disfrutatzen jarratzeko modua aurkitu nuen goizean goiz hasi eta eguerdiko ordu beroenetan deskantsatuz. Horrela, Atenasera iritsi eta Anekin elkartu nintzen eta biok batera osaba-izebakin egun polit batzuk pasa ondoren, beraiek oparitutako 2 eguneko tour-a egin genuen Delfos eta Meteora barrena. 

Bidai hau bukatzerako irrikitan geuden biok bizikletekin martxan jarri eta aurreko egunetan jandako feta gazta guztia erretzeko.  Pixkanaka, Atenas atzean utzita, Korintoko kanala gurutzatuz Peloponesoko itzuliari ekin genion. Nafplio eta Esparta bisitatu ondoren, 30 biztanleko Melissa izeneko herrira iritsi ginen, bertan Sotiris eta Evirekin astebete zoragarria pasatzeko aukera izan genuen.

Toki turistikoak ikusteaz gain, beraiekin bertako bizimodua nolakoa den ikasteko aukera izan genuen (eztia, oliba olioa eta beste hainbat produktu modu ekologikoan ekoizten baitituzte). Melissatik, inguruko beste herri batera joan ginen, Arna. Bertan, beste lagun bat zegoen gure zain, Panos. Mutil oso mendizalea denez, hondatzak ikusteaz gain, beste proposamen bat egin zigun : Peloponesoko gailurrik altuenera igo (Taygetos 2407m) eta bertan gaua pasatzea, eta nola ez, guk ein izan genuen ezetz esan.  

Grezian material asko pilatu dugunez, gaurkoan zati bat eta hurrengoan beste guztia argitaratuko dugu.

Grezia EUSKARAZ from lander on Vimeo.

Greece ENGLISH

When I crossed the Albanian-Greek border the first main difference I noticed was that the people working on the roadside suddenly disappeared. As I rode south the temperatures got increasingly hot making it for a reeally unpleasant ride. 

The quietness of the day changed when I met Valentis in my first night in Greece, he owns a cafe in a village called Kaloneri, when I asked for a suitable camping spot he immediately offered me  a place to crash in his bar. As it happens Kaloneri was celebrating it's saint and the whole town was having a big party in the town square, people from all ages dancing the songs of Zafiris Melas while having some glasses of the popular retsina wine. With very little sleep and slightly hangover, I thanked Valentis for his generosity and continued towards Athens.

In Athens I meet my girlfriend Ane and together spent few days with my family, my uncle and Auntie treated us to a bus tour to Delphi and Meteora which we really enjoyed. Once the tour was over we were eager to start cycling together, slowly leaving the busy city of Athens behind, crossing the Corinthian channel we went into Peloponnese peninsula. We visited Nafplio, Sparta and then stopped at Sotiris and Evi’s house in Melissa, We spent nearly a week with them, they took us to Mani and cape Tenaro as well as some amazing beaches. They both work hard in the farm producing bio olive oil and honey, it was very interesting to see how all is done, now we'll need to volunteer for a whole season picking olives to pay back all they have given to us!!

From Melissa we went to a nearby village called Arna which is famous for having one of the biggest platanus tree in Greece. There we meet Panos (a hiking enthusiast) and went up to mount Taygetos, the highest peak in Peloponnese (2.407m), we slept in the peak and had a chance to witness one of the best sunsets I've ever seen. 

As we have spent over a month in Greece we plan to make another video, here you have the first part:

Grezia ENGLISH from lander on Vimeo.

Kosovo- Albania EUSKARAZ

Jendearen aholkatutakoari kaso gehieegi egin gabe, hegoaldera bidean Kosovo eta Albania gurutzatu nituen. 

Bi herrialdeak eta batez ere Albania, bidaia honetako tokirik interesgarrienak izan direla esango nuke. Toki behartsuak izanik errekurtso exkaxak dauzkate eta lurra euskal herrian duela 50-60 urte lantzen zen modu berean (asto eta mandoen laguntzarekin baliatuz) egiten dute. Lotako toki lasai eta izkutua bilatzea etzen erreza,  jendea goizean eguzkia ateratzen zen unetik iluntzerarte lanean aritrzen baitzen. Halere baimena eskatuta ez nuen arazorik izan eta batek baino gehiagok gonbidatu ninduen beraien etxean lo egitera.

Atenasera iristeko presak bultzata nahi baino azkarrago igaro nituen bi herrialde hauek baino zihur nago etorkizunean itzuliko naizela toki zoragarriak baitira.

Ona hemen bertako bideoa:

kosovo albania EUSKARAZ from lander on Vimeo.

Kosovo- Albania ENGLISH

Despite many people advising me against, I went through Kosovo and Albania on my way south, glad I didn't listen to them as they have been the most interesting countries of the trip so far.

The reason why I found them so interesting is because the way they live, which I thinks is very close to the way that my parents’ generation lived during their childhoods in the Basque farms. The lack of agricultural machinery means that most of the work is done manually or with the aid of horses and donkeys. It was common to see young children looking after cattle while adults cut and pilled grass on the fields.

 Putting the tent without being noticed was virtually impossible as there would always be someone working nearby, luckily people were very hospitable and whenever I asked permission to pitch the tent  I had always been welcomed.

I was in a bit of rush to get to Athens so I didn’t spend as much time as I wanted but hopefully there will be a next.

I want to thank Jetmir and Alban for allowing me a space for the tent and treating me for a lovely dinner.

Video of Kosovo and Albania:

kosovo albania ENGLISH from lander on Vimeo.

Serbia ENGLISH

Cycling in bad weather was something I didn’t enjoy so much in Bosnia, luckily as I neared the Serbian border the sun made its appearance. Serbia, once the most powerful country within Yugoslavia, had to endure few international sanctions in post war times. These led the country to a difficult economical period, 20 years on, many foreign companies are investing and the economy is slowly gaining the strength it once had.

Soon after entering country, the idea I had about the country being flat quickly disappeared, I rode through some beautiful woods and hilly farmlands until I reached Lazarevac, a small city near Belgrade where my friend Suzana was waiting for me.

 Trefalt family took me in like another member, Suzana had everything planned so I didn’t miss any of the main sights of Belgrade, every morning we boarded the busy bus to Belgrade and when returning home Suzana’s mum would have a traditional dish ready to recharge batteries. After meals we enjoyed sitting around the sofa chatting and drinking Turkish coffee with her family.

When I was about to leave Lazarevac, one of the fiercest storms I’ve ever seen hit the area, trees went down and roofs took off like it where made of paper. I was lucky to be at home and not camping somewhere in the countryside. The storm was followed with a 24hr blackout (only two months earlier Serbia had endured the worst floods in recent history). Thankfully the storm went away as it came and the following days after double checking the weather forecast I said goodbye and started heading south on my bike.

As I cycled I pondered whether I should go through Kosovo or Macedonia, in Serbia everyone warned aabout the dangers of entering Kosovo but the funny thing is I had similar warnings before entering Serbia and all I could find was nice people willing to help. Near the city of Krusevac I did a quick search in warmshowers and found a cyclist called Momir, I sent a very last minute request which he immediately accepted.

Momir is not the average cycle tourist, he self-discovered cycle touring and have gone from touring with a 5 people tent and a hammer to a really lightweight set up. When I met him he just returned from a 2000k tour around Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia (an incredibly brave thing to do as most Serbians don’t dare to cross the border into Kosovo). After hearing his interesting tales from the road I decided to continue towards Kosovo…

PS. I’m currently in Greece with Ane, we’ve been busy visiting friend and family, will try to bring the blog up to date ASAP.

Serbia EUSKARAZ

Iepa,

Bosnia gurutzatu ondoren Serbiara iritsi nintzen. (Yugoslavia garaian kideen artean boteretsuena izan zen arren, gerra ondoren zigor asko jaso zituen eta  bertako ekonomiak beherakada handia jasan zuten. Zorionez  bertako eskulan merkeak  atzerriko inbertsio ugari erakarri du eta pixkanaka gauzak hobetzen ari dira.) Baso eta landa aldapatsuak gurutzatuz egun pare batean nere aspaldiko laguna den Suzana-ren herrira, Lazarevac-era iritsi nintzen.

Trefalt familiak beste kide bat bezala hartu ninduten beraien etxean, Suzanarekin egunero autobusa hartu eta Belgradoko inguruak goitik behera ezagutzeko aukera izan nuen. Etxera itzultzean berriz eta  bere amak egunero bertako janari tradizionalen bat  prest izaten zuen eta denak mahai inguruan eserita Serbia eta Euskal herriari buruzko hizketaldiak izaten genituen.

Hiru egun ondoren beraien etxetik abiatzeko puntuan nitzela  izugarrizko ekaitza izan genuen,  zuhaitzak errepide erdira erorita, etxeko teilatuak haizeak eramanda… aurten eguraldia bere onetik aterata dabilela dirudi, duela bi hilabete izugarrizko uholdeak izan baitzituzten. Ekaitzaren ondorioz ia 24 ordu egon ginen argindar gabe. Hurrengo egunean ekaitza baretu ondore ondo deskantsatuta eta norabide garbirik gabe martxan jarri nintzen.

Hegoalderuntz nijoala warmshowers bidez kontaktatu nuen Momir-ekin,  Krusevac-eko hirian bizi den txirrindularia, segituan gonbidatu ninduen bere etxera. Momir ez da bidai eroso eta errexekin konformatzen den tipoa. Ezagutu nuenean Albania, Kosovo eta Macedonian barrena 2000km eginda bueltatu berria zen. Gehienei nahiko normala irudituko zaizue bidai hau baino Kosovo eta Serbiarren artean oraindik izugarrizko tentsioa dago eta jende gehiena ez da muga gurutzatzera ausartzen, izugarrizko adorea behar da berak egindako bidaia egiteko. Momir-ek bere izaera jator eta irekiari esker,  arazorik ez baino lagun berri mordo bat eginda itzuli zen bidaiatik.

Bere bideko kontakizunekin animatuta Momir agurtu eta Kosovo bidean martxan jarri nintzen…

PD. Greziara iritsi ezkeroz  Aneren bixita alde batetik eta lagun eta familiari bixitak direla eta  ordenagailua erabat baztertuta eduki det. Saiatuko naiz Turkiara iritsi aurretik  dena eguneratzen!