16. On the Road to Thessaloniki part 1 - 1970

 The ferry left on time that night and I was ensconced in my deck chair for a good nights sleep.


Shortly after sunrise we were slipping between the Island of Corfu and the mainland of Greece.  I do not know how the water is now, but in 1970 it was a clear azure blue.  You could see bottom and all the fish between.  It seemed so clear you could not tell how deep the water was.  It was this way right up to the pier.

When we landed, after customs, everyone went on their way to whatever they had going on in their lives.  Most of the people were heading south to Athens, or all the beautiful beaches, caves and Greek islands.  My goal was to head east and get across Greece as quickly as possible.  I was out of money again and had to get to Turkey to pick up the fifty dollars I had mailed  to my friends in Yalova.

I walked out of town to start hitchhiking.  I found a good spot where I could look down over the town and observe the traffic to ensure I was on a good road.  I was on the only road heading east.  This was good.  What was not good was the fact that there was no traffic.  The first hour I was passed by a garden tractor.  Sometime during the second hour an old woman came by riding her donkey.  As a joke, I stuck out my thumb to see if I could hitch a ride.  She must have been coming from her garden, because as she was laughing at me, she reached into a bag she had tied to the donkey and pulled out a large cucumber and gave it to me.  This was about a foot long and quite thick.  It was actually my food for the next two days.

I eventually did get a ride in the back of a lorry.  The truck was on its way to Ioannina (pop. 32,000).  The back of the lorry was full of people, some looking for work and some with animals on their way to market in the big city.  There was even a family there on there way to the hospital seeking medical attention.  It was an interesting ride and it was fun trying to talk with them.  They spoke no English and I spoke no Greek.  I did speak a little Turkish but was afraid to use it,  most Greeks hated the Turks in those days and I was afraid I would get kicked out of the lorry.  They left me off on the other side of the town to help me possibly get another ride.  If I was lucky I could still make it to Thessaloniki that day. 

So far I had gone from sea level to about 1500 feet.  Now I had to hitch over the mountain at an elevation of 5500 feet, over a mile high!  I sort of lucked out.  I got that ride.  A trucker picked me up with his lorry going all the way to Thessaloniki.  He could speak a little English so we did have some conversation.  The problem was that he was crazy!  I have never been so scared in my life!  I enjoy riding over mountain roads with their curves and views.  I absolutely love it, but this driver was passing cars and trucks any time he felt like it, whether it was on a blind curve or not.  There was no slow lane either.  It was nothing more than a small two lane country road.  Thank you for the small village on top of one of the peaks.  He wanted to stop for coffee at a friends house.  While he was in visiting his friend, I got out of the truck and hid like a small boy inside of a culvert going underneath the highway.  He must have called me for about 20 minutes before he finally left without me.  I had half of my cucumber for supper that night and the other half for breakfast the next day.