Greece & Bulgaria, July/August 2009 If you happen to go from the port of Igoumenitsa, on the west coast of Greece to Alexandroupolis, and eventually to Istanbul, there is now a brand new motorway, the Egnatia road, named after the original roman road - Via Egnatia - which followed the same path. In 670 kilometers and in a bit more than six hours you will cross the entire Greece from left to right. This if you are in a hurry. If not, then you can take the long way, the minor and smallest roads, ride slowly and explore a very little known part of the country: nowadays even less visited than in the past, as the new road is cutting off lots of places. No wonder that this is exactly what we did, and by the end of the trip we covered 4.000 kilometers, through Italy, Greece and Bulgaria. We followed the northern border of Greece, through the Pindos Mountains, visiting some amazing wetlands (Prespa and Kerkini lakes, and the Evros delta), but also explored the southern part of Bulgaria - the Pirin range and the Rila mountains. We learnt about Greek Pomaks that live in the most remote valleys of Thrace. It is a minority, the last ottomans of Europe. Here mosques replace orthodox churches, tobacco crops are everywhere, and hot spas can be found right in the middle of the smallest village. We made many encounters, like the Bulgarian horse keeper, on the shores of Kerkini lake: he looked like a macedonian warrior on his horse; despite we couldn’t speak each other’s language, we still managed to communicate! We saw lots of places that if you take the new, straight, fast motorway, you will miss. All you need to do is take the long way and don’t be in a hurry.
Rome to Alexandroupolis A motorcycle trip through northern Greece and Bulgaria
 
Pindos Mountains - Greece - July 2009