Greece > The moped adventure...

At half past eleven, we wake up as some of the first on the campsite. The rhythm of the average camper is shifted by about six hours. Overall, it looks like this: brunch, sleep on the beach in the afternoon, have drinks at a terrace between six and ten, eat at ten, then party from midnight to eight in the morning, and sleep beside the tent. Some people keep this up for two whole weeks. We are thrilled we only do it for three days. After that, we resume our normal travel routine. After showering and breakfast, we are just in time to retrieve our belongings from the campsite locker. The locker closes at one o’clock. We need our passports to rent scooters. First, we withdraw some money, and then the fun begins. For many of us, it’s one of the first times riding a scooter. We all choose a small scooter instead of two people on a normal model. There are exactly four scooter models left: two automatic and two manual. Ron and I are therefore stuck with the manual scooters. Some practice is needed at the harbor square.

Greece - Alternative sleeping place at the Ios campsite

Once we have the hang of it, we speed along the beach and into the mountains. The path we take gets progressively worse. On our map, it’s not marked as a “bad road” (and therefore forbidden). When the path completely disappears into the mountainside, we check the map again. Indeed, it’s not a bad road—it’s not a path at all. We are riding somewhere in the middle of the mountains with no trail. We quickly turn back because riding off-road incurs a 10,000 “loempinee” penalty (an easy currency so we don’t have to remember local money in each country). The same applies for riding with a flat tire or damaging the scooter. From now on, we stick to the real road through the mountains toward the beach on the other side. By now, we’ve discovered defects on all the scooters. Sandra’s scooter won’t shift into first gear going uphill. On steep hills, that gear is essential. Sandra has to walk uphill while stationary—not very convenient. We decide to return to the scooter rental. On the way back, we speed downhill over loose gravel. At one point, Ron falls behind.

Greece - The three victims of slips and falls in a row

Going back a bit, we find he slipped on the stones and has several scrapes on his elbow and leg. His scooter has also lost a turn signal. At the rental, Sandra’s scooter can be manually set to “hill mode.” The owner complains about my scooter’s broken light (we had swapped scooters because Ron is under bandages). We just let it go. Then we quickly drive through Ios on the asphalt road—racing through the main street and down the hairpin bends. There’s almost no traffic, though we have to dodge the local bus. On the other side of Ios, we can also go into the mountains. Using a very poor road with lots of rocks, we ride up. We gain more experience with mountain riding. Shifting down in time is essential, allowing us to go faster. Only Sandra, with her semi-automatic scooter, struggles to keep up. After about fifteen kilometers, we check the map and realize we are not only around 700 meters above sea level, but have been on a “bad road” (forbidden) for three kilometers. Although the road quality isn’t much worse than other paths, we quickly turn around and go back. Monique speeds down the mountain ahead, and we follow her. Coming around a bend, I suddenly see Monique lying under her scooter instead of sitting on it. She missed a hole in the path and fell, lightly injuring her ankle and knee. Fortunately, her scooter is still intact. Back on the asphalt road in Ios, we race to see who reaches the top first.

Greece - The Irish Dream at night

We speed along the beach and through hairpin bends. Monique’s automatic scooter goes much faster, so winning requires precise shifting. Even in the descent on the other side—about 300 meters in elevation—skill is essential to keep up with the automatic. The race is so fun that we go back to the other side and climb again at full speed. Through Ios’s main street (with a 10 km/h speed limit officially) and back down the other side. On the final descent toward the harbor, I’m in a fierce battle with Monique. By leaning well and braking late, I catch up to her on each turn. She passes me on the straight stretch. Suddenly, a car appears around a corner. Time to brake—hard! It turns out to be a police car. I brake even more because we were going too fast. But this extra braking is just a bit too much. The scooter slips and starts swerving. Just past the car, I slide from the right side of the road to the left, landing in a small ditch. Miraculously, I escape with only a scrape. My scooter, however, suffers more damage—the kick-start is bent. After bending it back, the scooter won’t start. After some adjustments, I let it roll down the hill. Shifting into first gear, it starts again, but it can no longer reach top speed. We quickly return the scooters. The day’s results: three scooters total loss, three seriously injured, and one angry rental guy (well, we had fun…). Back at the campsite, we lick our wounds and take a shower to wash off the dust. My shoes are now in very bad shape. The heel is coming off, and everything glued is peeling. I need to find repair materials to make it through the rest of the trip. At the harbor, we have dinner. The moussaka is disappointing. Around half past eleven, we head to the center for party night. The small street bars are quieter, but the two discotheques, De Dubliners and De Irish Dream, are busier than previous nights. There are also many Dutch people—very lively. We take plenty of photos and go down at four o’clock. After a hamburger sandwich, we go to bed.