From the European luxuries to the Balkan fields

Saturday August 25, Lonely way down (669 km)
After the rich and delicious breakfast, we discuss with the guys about the today’s plan. Stavros and Dimitris must go to Thessaloniki airport because Athina and Gianna are flying with Ryanair back to Chania. The airfare was cheaper than the ferry…
Stratos was afraid about his tyre so accompanied by Pelopidas, he will drive back carefully to Athens. Me and Natasa decided to do some more exploration in the surrounding area and head slowly south from secondary roads avoiding the highway tolls. Stavros and Dimitris maybe will catch up with us later…

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Yesterday, on the way to Loutraki, I saw some signs that got my attention. One was writing Kaimaktsalan and the other one Edessa. Let’s go…

First we ride uphill to the ski resort of Kaimaktsalan. Nice bumpy road, escorted by the beautiful smells of the fruit trees, but bad tarmac, full of potholes…

The GPS shows 2026m at the top. The weather is so clean that you can see as far as your eye can reach.

Click to enlarge

Next stop Edessa to see the famous waterfalls. We stop in the parking lot and the deafening sound of water covers even the engine noise. We walk in the beautifully landscaped park and we find ourselves squeezed among dozens of tourists in order to admire the splendid nature.

The waterfalls of Edessa were not always as they are today. By the late 14th century, the main volume of water was held in a small basin in the west of the city. Then the waters, because of a geological phenomenon, transited through the city to pour from the spectacular cliff, thus creating many small rivers. Many travelers of the 17th and 18th century describe the image of the city with a rock, from which many waterfalls started.

Elders remember the days when the waterfalls were concealed inside the pad and behind the dense foliage of the trees. In 1942, the Germans attempted to highlight waterfalls. With the compulsory labor of the locals they constructed ponds and flower beds. The renovation was completed in the 60s by the municipality.

Of the seven waterfalls that exist today, four are visitable. The greater one is Karanos, with its water falling vertically from a height of 70m. Behind it, there is the opening of an impressive cave with high vaulted ceiling, embellished with impressive stalactites. The grand entrance is mostly covered by the waters of the waterfall. Well worth seen is the stunning double waterfall Lambda, who was named from its forked shape.

We continue our route to lake Vegoritida and then towards Ptolemaida. The big electricity factory destroys the peaceful landscape…

Then we enter the city of Kozani and after a little mess up, we manage to find the exit to lake Polifitou.

The bridge of lake Polifitou is one of the longest in Greece with a length of 1,372 meters.

Click to enlarge…

We continue south towards Meteora, which you can never have enough of them…

Time has passed and we have lots of km ahead. So we follow the road to Trikala – Lamia – Karditsa and from there the highway to Piraeus port.

Before we get on board, we meet our good friend Manolis from Moto Riders Club who was seeking info for Balkans, cause he will visit them soon. Open maps and stories where the reason that we almost missed the ferry…

Epilogue
So what’s it gonna be? European luxuries or Balkan fields? In my opinion, the European saloons are great, but the Balkans are magical! This virgin -still- scenery combined with minimal tourism that makes you feel like Christopher Columbus who just discovered America, the smell of the unknown -and perhaps a little danger- and the so different, yet so similar folks, is what make the difference. Small touches but able to excite even the most demanding traveler. Tourist or traveler? It’s up to you to decide…

Maps, routes and POI’s
In the following files you can find the routes as originally designed, the track logs showing exactly the path that we covered and the points of interest (POI’s) from the places we visited. Also through the archives you will find some extra POI’s which we didn’t have the time to visit.

Download Routes, Tracklog & POIs (MapSource format)
Download Routes, Tracklog & POIs (Google Earth format)

The above files are zipped. To unzip them use winrar.

Stats
The navigator which was attached on the TDM, recorded the following:
Kilometers: 5379
General Average Speed: 58
Average Speed: 78
Driving Hours: 93:20
Moving time: 68:40
Stopped time: 24:39

The second GPS was attached on Multistrada and recorded the following (stats are up to Thessaloniki):
Kilometers: 4013
General Average Speed: 69
Average Speed: 78
Driving Hours: 58:15
Moving time: 51:45
Stopped time: 6:29

Fuel consumption
Every year we kept stats about the fuel consumption according to the real kilometers of each motorcycle:

Note: TDM had a passenger in the whole journey, Adventure did 2226 km only with the rider and 3324 with a passenger and Multistrada did 537 km only with the rider and 3999 with passenger. Both Triumphs didn’t have passengers.

Cost
The following are mine and Natasa’s expenses:
Ferry tickets (Crete to Piraeus and back): 175,00€
Hotels: 647,90€
Fuel: 436,44€
Food: 544,67€
Sights: 150,74€
Tolls: 70,29€
Various: 39,82€
Sum: 2064,84€
Per person: 1032,42€

Hotels
Below you can find our opinion about the hotels we stayed:

Accomodation Elegance, Nis, Serbia
Rooms: Very good (the triple room was spacious)
Location: Near the city center
Breakfast: Good
Parking: No
Price: 15,50€/person
Wi-Fi: Free but with bad signal
Notes: –

Apollo, Bratislava, Slovakia
Rooms: Very very good. The first night we stayed in a triple room, which was too narrow but good and the second night in an amazing 4 bed suite.
Location: About 20 minutes walk from the city center
Breakfast: Buffet with really big variety
Parking: Secure parking just in front of the hotel
Price: 28,20€/person
Wi-Fi: Free
Notes: You have to pay extra for the parking.

Anyday Appartments, Prague, Chezh
Rooms: Good
Location: 5 min from the metro station and about 40 minutes away from the center
Breakfast: Extra charge but all rooms have small kitchens and a supermarket is just a block away.
Parking: Yes
Price: 20,90€/person
Wi-Fi: Free
Notes: –

Pension Maja, Cesky Krumlov, Chezh
Rooms: Good, the four bed apartment was a bit strange organized but it was ok
Location: 10 minutes walk, from center
Breakfast: Average and with extra charge
Parking: Yes
Price: 17,50€/person
Wi-Fi: Free
Notes: –

Luise-Wehrenfennig-Haus, Bad Goisern, Austria
Rooms: Room was like dorms, but it was clean and cheap for Austria standards
Location: 11 km from Hallstatt
Breakfast: Very good
Parking: Yes, but not secured
Price: 33,10€/person
Wi-Fi: Only in reception area and with really bad signal
Notes: Hotel probably belongs to the church nearby. Some rooms have view to the cemetery and some others have a shared bathroom. All rooms have single and/or bunk beds.

Vitranc, Podkoren, Slovenia
Rooms: We stayed in a 10 person nicely renovated apartment.
Location: 5 km from Kranjska Gora
Breakfast: Very good
Parking: Yes, but not secured
Price: 23,75€/person
Wi-Fi: Free
Notes: Hotel restaurant is really good but a bit expensive

House Katica Bicanic, Poljanak, Croatia
Rooms: We stayed in an 8 person apartment with 2 bathrooms, 2 triple rooms and a double sofa in the kitchen.
Location: 8 km from National Park Plitvice
Breakfast: –
Parking: Yes, in the owner garage
Price: 17€/person
Wi-Fi: No
Notes: –

Villa Monera, Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Rooms: Small but good
Location: 500 meters from the old town
Breakfast: Very good
Parking: Yes
Price: 20€/person
Wi-Fi: Free but with bad signal in some areas
Notes: –

Lodge House Tara, Kolasin, Montenegro
Rooms: Great
Location: 3 km outside the city center
Breakfast: –
Parking: Yes, in the yard in front of the house
Price: 13,75€/person
Wi-Fi: Yes
Notes: The only disadvantage is that there was only one bathroom for 8 people…

Marina Appartments, Ohrid, FYROM
Rooms: Really good
Location: 2 km away from the city center
Breakfast: –
Parking: No
Price: 13,90€/person
Wi-Fi: Free
Notes: Brand new apartments

Melies, Loutraki, Greece
Rooms: Amazing
Location: 3 km from thermal springs of Pozar
Breakfast: Amazing
Parking: Yes
Price: 25€/person
Wi-Fi: Free
Notes: –

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