We never expected to be going to Greece on this trip but having already cycled 3000km we decided to leave cycling through Turkey until after the summer when we will have more time to see it properly. Instead of heading to Istanbul we put our bikes on the train and made our way south to Thessaloniki where we planned to take a boat from there all the way to the island of Rhodes very close to south Turkey where we will be working.

Thessaloniki was busier and crazier than any city we had passed through so far. The traffic, pollution and Starbucks on every corner made it feel like we were back in Bangkok. The first night two huge thunderstorms came over the city and lightning was absolutely spectacular. A professional photographer called Yannis we met showed us how to capture the lightning with our camera. He also made an amazing 360 degree photo of us with the lightning all around. Check out the following link:   http://www.thessaloniki360.com/en/map/summer-thunderstorm

From Thessaloniki we took a ferry 26hrs south to the Island of Rhodes, stopping at five other islands along the way to let off passengers. We took a cabin again to make sure we got a good night sleep and woke up in the middle of the sea with views of Turkey on one side and Greek islands on the other. On Rhodes we were met by our friend Dominic who over the last six days showed us the island where he is working for the summer. It was great to lock the bikes away and have a real lazy holiday in a really lovely place.