November 18, 2024
During my days with Sofia, I didn’t have the time to research the next steps of my journey. Originally, the plan was to take a ferry to southern Turkey and then continue to Cyprus, where there are flights to Jordan. On my way to Athens, I heard good things about western Turkey, so I decided to head north through Turkey to Istanbul, where there are also direct flights to Jordan. However, with the ongoing Israel crisis, traveling to Jordan turned out to be too risky.
So I decided to go straight to Saudi Arabia, which also has direct flights from Athens.
As a long-distance cyclist, flexibility is key. However, arranging to take my bike proved to be complicated. Every airline has its own fine-print rules - if those rules are even accessible or clear. Air Arabia, the airline I had planned to fly with to Tabuk, turned out to have such restrictive policies that I could only transport the bike as cargo. I discovered this after a lengthy chat exchange with their customer service. To get more details about what this would entail, I would have had to contact their cargo team. I decided against it - customer service should be better than this.
In the end, I decided to book a flight with Aegean to Jeddah in a few days, followed by a 16-hour bus ride to Tabuk. There was still plenty to do: organize my visa, book the flight and a hotel for the first night, disassemble and clean my stove, and pack my bike for the flight. Thankfully, the people at the hostel made the wait more enjoyable. A visit to the port of Piraeus with Christoph (Switzerland), a fun game night with Zac (USA) and the sisters Jo and Jeza (Canada), and a deep, meaningful conversation with Ivan (Greece, see the blog post Ithaka) from reception helped make the time spent organizing and waiting for the next leg of my journey much more pleasant.
After more than a week at the hostel, I began feeling stir-crazy.
Sharing a room with a loud snorer for several nights and a young woman who got sick during the night didn’t help matters. I desperately needed a change of scenery.
On impulse, I rented a car and drove to Delphi and the Meteora Monasteries, where I spent one night each.
