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| Hippie Van |
We left Istanbul in an old beat up Volkswagen van with the owner driving. After adding our luggage to the back there were only six seats left. The drivers seat, the front seat next to the driver and three in the back. The owner did all the driving. The rest of us drew straws to see who had to sit in the front passengers seat next to the driver. It was a drawing we did not want to win. The heater was broken! This would seem okay it being the middle of the summer and it being about 90*F or 32*C except for two reasons. The first reason was that there was no air conditioning in the van. The engine was air cooled and in this Volkswagen when the heater was broken, the heat could not be shut down. The owner had the heater vent blocked of on his side but because the car engine was air cooled he needed the air to circulate so he did not dare cover the passenger side. The loser had to ride in the front seat next to the heater vent! I was lucky, I did not have to sit in the front seat until the next day!
Our first stop was just shy of the border between Greece and Turkey. This was intentional. We all got out and grabbed our own backpacks and whatever we were carrying to cross the border individually. It would probably have been different if we had known each other for a while but we had known each other for just a couple of days. The problem was smuggling drugs across the border. As long as we were separate it was fine and we were only responsible for ourself. If we were together and one person was busted, we would all be charged as a group and no one wanted that. We were at the Ipsala Turkey crossing. It was a slow day and things went rather well. We were done with the Turkish customs rather quickly and then went through the Greek customs which took a little longer. The Greek customs agents took a closer look at the van and and removed a few panels in the doors and under the seats but after about thirty minutes the van was released and the owner quickly put the parts back on. He said practice makes perfect, this had already happened to him at a few other crossings. We had crossed the border, repacked the van, and were on our way before noon. Just a side note, 1n 1970 you could walk across the border at this crossing but because of illegal crossings you can no longer do it on foot.
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| One of the Beaches near Makri |
We were back on the road and it wasn't quite noon. We did stop and picked up some fresh fruit for our lunch while riding along the coast between Alexandropoli and Makri. It was a beautiful drive looking at the aquamarine sea and as we approached Makri, we could no longer resist the temptation. We decided to stop and eat our lunch and go swimming in the Aegean sea. We stopped along the beach and found a quiet spot well away from everyone. The only problem we thought we had was that no one had a bathing suit and only one person had a set of shorts. No problem, We were in Greece and they were liberal so we decided to swim nude but at the same time we made sure that we were well away from everyone else on the beach. As it turned out, there still was a problem. We were liberal but the mayor's sister was not, and that day she was also on the beach. Waaay on the other end of the beach. She must have had a walkie talkie or radio because the next thing you know there were three policeman arriving in two police cars. They showed up with flashing lights and walked out on the beach where we were and talked to us while motioning to our clothes. We could not understand what they were saying but we put our clothes back on. Then we were escorted back to the van and they made it clear that we were to follow them into town. With one police car in front of us and one behind us, they escorted us through a maze of streets to the local police station. Once there, we were escorted into the police station and they collected our passports. As far as we could tell, they could not speak English, German or French. We could not speak Greek. They did check our bags and the van for, we think, drugs and weapons. They confiscated our weapons; a few hand knives. The next thing that happened seemed very strange to us.
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| Coffee shop with Tawula Board |
They escorted us next door to a small cafe or coffeehouse. Even the girls that were traveling with us went inside the cafe. The police kept motioning to us until we understood that we were not to leave from there. We were fed some bread and fruit and given our choice of soda, tea or coffee and sat with the locals outside the cafe making friends with the old men that were there playing Tawula (a Turkish/Greek form of backgammon). One policeman was always with us. After we sat and paced and worried for almost an hour and a half a different policeman showed up. We were escorted back into the police station. The new officer smiled at us and spoke to us in English. He apologized for the time we spent waiting for him. He was doing some police work in another location and could not leave there until he was finished. He told us that he was the only policeman in the town that spoke English. They (the police), wanted us to know the only problem was the mayor's sister. We were on the beach the same time she was. She was an old fuddy duddy. She complained to the police and the politics in that town were such that the police had to show that action was taken and that they had done what they were supposed do. They did realize that we had moved away from everyone and were far enough away that they were sure that she could not really tell if we were clothed or not. They continued to tell us that if she was not on the beach that day, there would have been no problem at all. They hoped that we enjoyed or snacks next door and said it was their treat for us being understanding. They handed us back our passports and returned our knives telling us that they knew it was getting late but it would be easier if we went on our way before too many questions were asked. We were more than willing to cooperate. They then had to show us how to get out of town; once again we were on our way!
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