Tour of Salento/ the 'heel'

Days 223 - 228

After a slow start (it always seems to be a slow start when leaving a town) I head towards Otranto. It's starts off well enough, tail wind and sunny. Of course this only lasts for about an hour before the rain starts. I hide in a cafe for an hour or so until I decide that it's not easing up. On goes the rain gear. This routine is becoming all too familiar. 

Eventually I find a building that's not being used to sleep in. It's a bit grotty but better then setting up my tent in the rain. And I have enough space to hang my wet clothes and pretend that they will dry overnight. 

It's sunny in the morning and I join the roadies and head towards the beach. By join I actually mean say ciao to them as they whiz past me. I have a quick look at Otranto and head south along the coastal road. 

The road is wonderfull. Around every bend I am struck with yet another amazing view. 

I make it to Santa Maria De Leuca, at the very southern tip of the heel. This is where the Adriatic meets the Ionian Sea. I turn north and continue up the other side of the heel. My campsite tonight is in and abandoned construction site. Roof over my head and three walls? Yes please. 

The morning brings a bitterly cold head wind. It must be coming straight off the alps into my face. At one point something hits me in the eye. 'What the hell was that?' Snow. Snow? Yep.  Although it is melting when it hits the ground it is still unpleasant to cycle in. 

I hide in a cafe and finally continue on. There are many empty houses in this area that only get used for a few months of the year during the tourist season. It's defiantly not tourist season because I havn't been able to find an open supermarket since leaving Lecce. I do however, find a sweet verandah to sleep in. Protected from the snow/rain and wind. And I get to continue my run of not setting up my tent in Italy. 

The next day the head wind is stronger but not quite as cold. And it's not snowing. The coastal scenery continues to deliver great views. I try and make up reasons that head winds are beneficial and the only thing I can think of, apart from 'character building', is that you get more time to enjoy the view.  Of course this makes headwinds that much more intolerable when you are cycling in areas that are not scenic. In the evening I find another holiday house that is empty and sleep under their patio. 

Today I get better weather, lighter wind, the temperature is in double digits and more lovely coastal cycling. The last two days has been full of excuses of reasons to not cycle very far - too cold and snowy, too windy. Today's excuse is that the weather is too nice and I want to enjoy the beach before I turn inland. Any excuse will do. Another empty verandah right by the beach provides another good spot to sleep. 

With even better weather I head inland. Only for a few kilometres before I stop to buy some fruit outside someone's house. After the usual 'where are you from?' questions I am invited in for coffee. It turns out that the man selling the fruit is married to an Australian. Before we even have our coffee I am offered a shower. I must look a little disheveled. Coffee turns into lunch and by 3.30 in the afternoon I have been offered a bed in their rental property by the beach. Too good to say no to. 

I find it interesting the different reactions that people have to my journey. Natalie, the Australian woman that gave me lunch had many questions and comments. Including 'how did your parents let you do this? 'Iran must be dangerous', 'Tajikistan is very dangerous', 'aren't you cold? I have a spare jacket' and my favourite 'let me pack you some sandwiches and half a cake, you must be hungry'.  

7/2 Lecce - before Otranto: rode 34km

8/2 before Otranto - after Santa Maria De Leuca: rode 66km

9/2 after Santa Maria De Leuca - before Gallipoli: rode 34km

10/2 before Gallipoli - past Cesaro: rode 47km

11/2 past Cesaro - past Triglione: rode 53km

12/2 past Triglione - beach near Pulsano: rode 9km

First week in Italy

Days 216 - 222

The boat ride to Italy was, um, interesting. We went through a very large storm that was rocking that boat like crazy. We would go over the crest of each wave and then a few seconds later the front of the boat would smash into the water to the trough of the wave. I was attempting to sleep in the lounge area and the chairs were sliding back forth across the floor. I had to grab onto the table next to me to make sure I didn't roll off the bench I was lying on. Exciting stuff. 

I arrived in Italy mid morning and without much of a plan. And hungry. I cycle into the centre of Brindisi and discovered that Italians don't believe in breakfast. A small pastry will have to hold me over until I find a supermarket. 

I come up with a very vague plan of heading to Lecce and then exploring the 'heel' of Italy before heading north to umm, somewhere. It's a cold and grey day but the cycling is pleasant. I stumble accross a small road, winding through vineyards and olive orchards, in the general direction I want to travel. The main traffic I have to cotend with are these cute little three wheeled utes that the farmers drive. I can almost keep up with them. 

The afternoon brings colder weather and drizzle. I find a concrete building amongst some olive trees and hide from the weather for the night in there. 

The morning brings sunshine and I meander into a village for a coffee and pastry. The day continues in a similar vein to yesterday, quiet roads, pretty countryside. A drizzly afternoon. I find a abandoned house in the countryside with an unlocked door. It's quite clean inside. I even have a rooftop balcony. Yep, this will do for the night. 

I wake up in the morning to rain. I roll over and snooze the morning away, I have a roof over my head and no real motivation to cycle through cold rain. I decide to stay put in my house for the day. 

I while away the time drinking tea, eating noodles I found at the bottom of my food pannier (from Kyrgyzstan!), reading a book and I even found time to replace my bike chain. 

In the morning I have sunshine. I cycle the last few kilometres to Lecce. Once there I check my email and find that I have a couchsurfing host for the night. I spend the rest of the morning wandering around the old city. It's full of lovely buildings and fancy marble. 

Whilst whiling away the day I meet a local, Tobia, who tells me about a bike kitchen nearby and also offers his couch. I arrange to meet up with him in a few days. 

Once at Sandro's house I am shown my room. Suite more like it. I have a lovely room with kitchen and bathroom. It usually gets rented out in summer as a BnB. Fancy. Dinner that night is hand made pasta with chick peas. 

That following day I cycle back into town, wander around a little, eat more pastries and drink more coffee. This is quickly becoming a habit. I like it. In the afternoon I manage to wash all the mud from Greece off my bike and panniers. 

The next day I bid farewell to Sandro and his family and head into town to meet up with Tobia, drink coffee and eat pastries. I the plan is to head south east towards Otranto after this. As it turns out best laid plans sometimes go awry. 

After coffee Tobia and I head to one of his friends houses out of town for lunch. By this time the wind has picked up and is crazy. I agree to another couple of days in Lecce.  I visit and old castle in a nearby village before headig back to town. That evening the three if us head to the old town for pizza and beer. Delicious. 

The next day I find an outdoor shop and buy some seam sealer for my tent. Hopefully rainy nights will be a little less wet from now on. The afternoon is spent at the bike kitchen. I am treated like a celebrity and it's a little overwhelming. When you do something everyday it becomes quite ordinary (not to say that I am not enjoying this) and to have a whole heap of attention laid on me for essentially riding my bike for a few hours each day, eating lots of food and not showering nearly often enough is a little overwhelming. But I happily answer a bunch of questions and for the millionth time, I am not going to write a book about this trip. However, the bike kitchen is awesome. Lots of artwork, many tools, old bikes and a thriving community. 

In the evening there is a band playing. It's awesome Balkan music mixed wth electronic music. Great stuff. After some gelato it time to head back indoors and warmth.  Although I am in the south of Italy it's still cold. A good day is a light wind, sunshine and and max of10 degrees. Bad days of rain and wind are well, bad. Evenings are very chilly. 

31/1 Brindisi - past Brindisi: rode 21km

1/2 past Brindisi - somewhere near Lecce: rode 38km

3/1 somewhere near Lecce - Lecce: rode 19km

4/1 Lecce: rode 19km

5/1 Lecce: rode 41km

6/1 Lecce: rode 21km

Total 6342km