Team Jassler’s Mediterranean Journey is a 9-month bicycling trip starting in Albania and heading toward Tunisia. Will we make it? Your guess is as good as ours.
The trip begins in our hometown of Gjirokastёr, Albania, on the 17th of August. After bidding lengthy farewells to our friends, we're crossing the nearby border into Greece, making our way across the northern Eripirus region. Near Thessaloniki is an organic farm we intend to stop at for a few days, who’s owner gave us a lift to Ioannina as we hitched our way home from Turkey last winter. Follow the blog to find out how close we stick to our plans!
From there we cross the Turkish border, heading to Istanbul. Kizmet this trip was delayed some weeks, allowing us to arrive in Turkey some time towards the end or even after Ramadan (Aug 11- Sept 10). Normally we would love to experience such festivities, but since we’re biking in the late summer heat and stopping in less-frequented villages, it would be difficult to find food and water and people during much of the day. Probably for the best…
The voyage continues as we make our way down the western Turkish coast, mostly camping on the beach. If possible we will stop to visit our friend's farm near Edremit, as well as an eco-community called GARP.
Next stop: Syria.
Highlights include fighting for a visa, infiltrating the expat scene in Demascus, and exploring the Dead Cities (Krak des Chevaliers).
As the weather gets cooler, Team Jassler will make a circuit around Jordan, mostly sticking to western half, and visiting other Peace Corps volunteers. We're likely to be there in the rainy months, October or even November, adding yet another layer to the adventure!
We'd love to stop over in Palestine to gain a better understanding of the Israeli-Palestine situation, but we're playing that by ear.
Either way, TJ will cross the southern Jordanian border into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, skirting out way toward Ras Mohammed Nat'l Park for some scuba diving. Then to Luxor and up the Nile River to Cairo and finally Alexandria, probably throughout December.
The beginning of the new year will bring us back up to the Egyptian coastline and into Libya. Pay special attention to see if we can actually get into the country...
If all goes as planned, we'll be biking along the Libyan coast, camping on the beach and pretending we're Canadian.
By this time the days are getting longer and we'll have more light as we make our way west. In March we'll be in Tunisia, deviating a bit from the coast to the places Chris loved when he visited back in 2003.
Come April, the slightly more rugged versions of Chris and Courtney will be heading home to the States. We may be a little more tan, possibly carrying home strange parasites (I hope not! I hate giardia!), and out of money, but at least we'll have thighs of steel and plenty of stories to share!
