Welcome to the land of 3 barking dogs

  Paola, Italy
Sunday, November 6, 2005

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31 Oct, Monday
Start point: Agrapidochori, near Simopoulo
End point: Ferry from Patra to Brindisi (Italy)
Via:
Odom(Km): 40.0
Moving(hrs.mim): 4.20
Ave(Km/h):
Total Ascent(m):
Max Altitude(m)
Max Speed(Km/h):

I had a boat to catch and plenty of time to take the scenic route through the hills to the coast road. The villages on the way don't get tourists and I had the usual puzzled looks as I flew past. Then followed the busy coast road into the port town, Patra. I made my way to the ferry port and booked myself on a 17.30 sailing. When I was told the name of the boat, my heart sank as I was the one had previously noted as being the biggest rust bucket in port. It cost 41 Euro for a 15 hour crossing. An hour to spare I checked email and carried out necessary jobs until time to go.
Boarding the ferry I was struck how few passengers there were. I soon got talking to Neil and Mel, an adventurous couple who sold their Sheffield house and escaped the rat race to travel abroad in a VW. We chatted in the bar over 1.5 litres of red I purchased from Euro Spar. More fun and laughter followed another 1.5 litres than Neil produced. The ferry has what is called a 'camping deck' where you can access your camper van while at sea, so off we set for a fantastic tuna salad that Mel made. The inside of the 'Monkey Bus' [nickname] was in very good shape with a comfortable and practical layout. Then the Raki came out. At this point my memory starts to get a bit hazy. I remember taking photos with stuffed monkeys, but what else happened I'm not to sure. I camped down on the lowest passenger cabin deck. Without a soul around I soon slipped into a deep sleep - or unconsciousness, I'm not sure which.


The monkey bus


Mel and Neil, 1.5 litres of wine later


All, after 3 litres of wine and Raki. The monkey drank most of it, honest.

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01 Nov, Tuesday
Start point: Brindisi
End point: Ceglie Messapica
Via: Brindisi
Odom(Km): 75.0
Moving(hrs.mim): 5.20
Ave(Km/h):
Total Ascent(m):
Max Altitude(m)
Max Speed(Km/h):

Italy, another country and a different language to grapple with, different (unwritten) rules and ways of the road, foods and landscape. Today is a national holiday and everything is shut. Found an open air church service and toured the town. The holiday turned parts into a ghost town and there was little traffic to deal with. Exited and continued through olive groves, vineyards and farms. Camped next of one of the many vacant domed stone houses that line the roads. Pity about the 30 barking dogs in the surrounding area. Woof woof, pointless barking, woof, woof.


The rust bucket, it doesn't look too bad in this photo!


Outdoor service in Brindisi


A popular day for the dead




Grand home, used as farm outbuilding


Domed houses are very common in this part (and only this part) of the world.






Narrow streets with stone slab roads

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02 Nov, Wednesday
Start point: Ceglie Messapica
End point: Pomarico
Via: Martina Franca, Matera
Odom(Km): 131.10
Moving(hrs.mim): 8.37
Ave(Km/h): 15.2
Total Ascent(m): 1369
Max Altitude(m) 523
Max Speed(Km/h): ???

I miss villages, the Italy I've seen so far doesn't have them. Sure, there are some clusters of houses that line the road, but thats all they are. Villages have a focus such as a public square with a cafe, baker, mini market and ever present old duffers sitting next to the fountain. Italy has towns with industrial estates, urban sprawl and a nightmare one way system in the centre.
Opening times, now here is a subject I could rant on about for a while.. All shops are open from 9.00-14.00 and 17.30-21.30, Even in the major towns. Thats 3 1/2 hours when the town is dead. Cafes are open during this zombie time, but thats it. I arrived in my first destination before 9.00 and nothing was open. Continued with the intention of stopping when I came across a baker to buy some bread. 110Km later I was still looking but it was in vain. When I arrived in Matera it was lunch break - I was starving and not a single shop open. I refused to go in a cafe and buy an overpriced packet of crisps that would not fill me up - I needed a loaf of bread.
My first town I toured, Martina Franca has a delightful centre with narrow passages, squares and basilica.
The second town I entered was to buy bread - which I failed in doing so - but instead stumbled across a gem of a town centre. The old town is located in a depression and I stood admiring the fantastic view from the edge. Chatted to a group about my travels after a fellow cycle tourer passed comment about the bike. It was like and audience with Jonathan Newcomb, but I was glad for a bit of conversation.
I am now in a very sparsely populated area - I know this because I cycled for 2 hours hoping to find a house where I can ask for water. The countryside is vacant. The houses are either derelict or securely locked up. Either way there is nobody around. In the end I climbed the fence of an empty house and collected water from a tank at the rear. The irony is it was raining at the time!
Today I saw the change from small farms with animals or olive groves to intensive agriculture and then to hills with nobody around. Camped outside one of the locked houses as the ground is too muddy to pitch on - the great thing about a free standing tent is you don't need to peg it out and a ThermoRest roll map provides a perfectly comfortable surface - even on concrete.


Funeral for important town resident of Martina Franca


Church where service was held. I didn't rinks bit.


Old town area of Matera


Limestone river cuts deep

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03 Nov, Thursday
Start point: Pomarico
End point: Antonio Rinaldi
Via:
Odom(Km): 97.14
Moving(hrs.mim): 6.35
Ave(Km/h): 14.7
Total Ascent(m): 1187
Max Altitude(m) 475
Max Speed(Km/h): 48.3

Italy is back on the GPS map and it makes touring effortless. I spent the whole day in a dream world being told which way to go and when to take the next turn. The last half of the day was spent in the Parko Nazionale Del Pollino, a hilly and wooded landscape that is displaying the characteristic autumn colours. Water fountains are now abundant and I even managed to find a shop to buy provisions that was open. The roads are very quiet, not what I was expecting in Italy and the drivers are considerate. Although sometimes fast, when overtaking they give plenty of room, often forcing oncoming traffic out the way. Rather than being involved in an accident, I am more likely to be the cause of one!


Morning break


Hilltop village

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04 Nov, Friday
Start point: Antonio Rinaldio
End point: Cerchiara Di Calabria
Via:
Odom(Km): 62.35
Moving(hrs.mim): 6.34
Ave(Km/h): 9.5
Total Ascent(m): 2037
Max Altitude(m) 1466
Max Speed(Km/h): 44.6

Today was not a good day. There were some good points but things just kept going wrong. Learning from my previous mistakes I made it a priority to buy a loaf of bread in the morning. The first town, San Giorgio Lucano was the typical hill top town. School, town hall, museum, post office, etc.. The problem was this town did not have a baker, only a mini market which was of course - closed. I waited the 1/2 hour until 9.00. Arriving back at the mini market - it was still closed and closer inspection of the indicated an opening time of 9.30. No problem as I had found the museum with a photo exhibition of the town in the past. I made my way over passing many of the elderly townsfolk streaming out of church wearing red shawls, while lace and white stockings. The museum opened at 9.00 but no amount of asking around, knocking on the door had any response. No problem, it killed time for the mini market to open. At 9.40 I wandered back to the mini market. There was a group of people sitting outside - it was still shut. I waited till 10.00 and gave up. Time to get moving. It occurred to me in all my journey I have never waited deliberately for 1 1/2 hours just to buy a loaf of bread - and not succeed in doing so.
The sad reality is that in Italy, many of the hill top towns I have explored don't have a commercial centre, shops are scattered amongst the residential areas which makes shopping very difficult and often requires the help of the many willing volunteers at hand who can't speak English.
I was soon in the next town, San Paolo Albanese. Again I hunted for the baker but this time hit the language barrier. I knew the word for bread - but no amount of drawing pictures and gesturing could explainer I wanted to buy some. I was taken into a bar where I manage to confuse a whole army of people, the problem was the bar did have bread, but for making sandwiches - no I don't was salami, cheese meat or anything - I just want a loaf of bread. At the point where I was about to walk off with the lump of bread they use to make sandwiches, a lady disappeared and came back with a loaf of bread. I gave here the money for it and make a quick exit from the town. This is when my GPS and 1.300 000 route planning map disagreed. The map said a main road linked the next town on my route but the GPS didn't. Dilemma. I searched for signs but there were none, except pointing back to where I had just come from. I asked around - yes there was one, but it could not be described as 'main', or a road for that matter. This dirt track went up and up to 1466 metres. I didn't expect such a difficult climb which is different from looking forward to a challenging ascent. On the plus side, deep in the heart of the Parco Natzionale Del Pollino I was treated to some breath taking views and stunning photo opportunities. Autumn colours, ancient oak forests, damp woods and the rattle of cattle bells where enough to make me think the effort was worth it.
Then another big blow. Some time back when my bike was in service in Cyprus I was alerted to the fact the break pads had worn low. Although I didn't bring any of the spares pads that I carry to the shop, I was informed they had them in stock. What I didn't realise was that they meant they would replace the whole break block and not replace the pads. It was a communication break down. Not a problem, I had new breaks. Now, I quickly noticed that they were far more abrasive then anything I had used before. When it got so bad, I picked out bits of my wheel rim from the rubber - and as soon as I started using them, more metal would get lodged in them. Hard breaking caused a spiral of metal from the wheel rim to be shaved off. What I should have done is get them taken off at the earliest opportunity but I was lazy. Sometimes they just need to 'wear in'. The sharp descent from 1400 to 500 metres caused more wear on both the front an back wheel rims than during the whole of my cycle tour. I finish the day with a crack in the rear rim where the breaks had worn through right through to the other side. The front rim had a deep score revealing a number of holes. Not a good situation to be in as:
I can't cycle over mountains in its current state, I a cycling up a valley with mountains either side. The valley ends in a mountain.
I need to find a shop to buy new front and back wheels, new break blocks and probably a new rear hub as the one I have is particular to the brand of rim. The front hub needs replacing anyway.
I am in the middle of a national park and bike shops are somewhat scarce.
I can reach a large town, Cozensa which is at the end of the valley the day after tomorrow - which is a Sunday and nothing is open.
Even if I do find a shop it is going to take a day to carry out the job, that is if they are not booked up.
Other points are:
Looking at my overall progress, I travelled only 25Km as the bird flies today.
Even worse, my short wave receiver that keeps me company has developed a fault - the loudspeaker does not work, although I can still use ear phones. It is invaluable for the BBC World Service, VOA, Radio China and keeps me amused with 'World Harvest Radio' www.whr.org - an ultra right Christian rant channel that I always seem to be able to pick up when there is no other reception available.
A thick fog enveloped me when I was looking to find a camp spot and to cap it all, the 1Kg of sugar I purchased turned out to be salt. Still, days like this are inevitable.


Vine yards, olive groves and orange trees


Getting higher


Is it Autumn yet?


Above the clouds


Rear rim damage


Cause of the damage. The bits of metal are chunks of the rim

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05 Nov, Saturday
Start point: Cerchiara Di Calabria
End point: Ginestreto
Via:
Odom(Km): 74.41
Moving(hrs.mim): 5.07
Ave(Km/h): 14.5
Total Ascent(m): 700
Max Altitude(m) 505
Max Speed(Km/h): 52.0

Why so many dogs? If you wish to protect your property, one is surly enough and three is over doing it a bit. My days cycling the Italian countryside continuously punctuated by a constant bombardment of woof woof . No, thats not true. It's a bombardment of the most blood curdling growls, continuous streams of hatred fueled ware wolf like cries with teeth to match. The leap up looking as though they would rip through your flesh if the owner had not put them in a wire mesh cage or chained them. The most placid looking of golden retrievers suddenly change when the catch site of me and so starts an endless torrent of continuous blood lust barking until out of ear shot. It's little wander as they probably have little else to do other than bark at those who pass by.
Rant over. So, as usual I woke to the sound of dogs barking and descended into the valley and out of the national park. The damage to the rims is such that I can't do any more mountain passes. This poses a problem a the valley I am going down ends in a big town and mountains. Sunday the shops are closed so there is no point in hanging around. I am going to travel on Sunday by train.
Got my hair cut - 6mm all over, I was in danger of needing a comb so I had it 'taken care of'. The guy in the hair dresser asked 3 times if he understood me correctly.
I need to find a bike shop to replace both the front and back wheels - and change the brand of break pads! I expect it to cost around 120 pounds. In case you are wandering, today was a bit of a scorcher, I even had to seek shade when a farmer gave me a clementine to eat. After eating it, I gave him 1 Euro and asked for more. I received a carrier bag - 2 kilos of them. 1 kilo disappeared there and then along with a Swiss roll I purchased from Euro Spar. Such is the life of a glutton.


What a scene to wake up to

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06 Nov, Sunday
Start point: Ginestreto
End point: Paola
Via: Paola
Odom(Km): 16.07
Moving(hrs.mim): 1.08
Ave(Km/h): 14.0
Total Ascent(m): 357
Max Altitude(m) 299
Max Speed(Km/h): 28.2

Cycled to the nearest train station where I could escape the valley and ever approaching mountains over to the west coast seaside of Paola. From here a train service runs down the coast to Reggio Di Calabria, were I hope to get my bike fixed on Monday and the boat to Sicaly on Tuesday. That was the plan, reality was somewhat different. No trains from Paola on a Sunday take bikes to Reggio Di Calabria.
As I was here I decided to take a look around and things were really happening! A large outdoor market in full swing, some shops open. I purchased a huge chunk of cheese, olives, fresh ravioli and bread. Sat on a bench overlooking the beach in the shade of a palm tree out the hot sun feasting and proof reading my journal. This took up most of the afternoon (the eating part that is). Camped on the beach and slept to the crashing of the waves.


Paola


Typical houses


Mid afternoon on the beach