The story from the last week or so has been that of trying to find a place to sleep, for not much money! This has led to some really late nights, but also to meeting some great people at “Agritourismos”, farm houses that have beds, I guess these started off as grape picking rooms which were let out to guests during the none picking season but have since developed into their own thing, closer to hotels in some cases! I have stayed at about four of them, sometimes for completely free, with free food, sometimes camping and sometimes in the rooms!
I rode to Rome, and got very wet, my little tent unable to cope with the deluge, then through a moonscape toward the Bari. On the way I stopped to take a million pictures, and on one stop noticed to my horror the sleeping bag was not where it was supposed to be – on the bike!! I rode frantically back the way I had came, running on zero fuel after 15km I found three Italian guys holding the bag with a big grin and a beer later I rode off bag in hand, but couldn’t lose the feeling of leaving something behind! Riding into Bari on a straight deserted road I saw a girl sitting in the sun by the side of the road, then another two under a tree….prostitutes…this place is desolate! I rode into Bari wandering if this is what Italy has to offer then Albania is going to be quite another story! And was filled with large amounts of doubt and fear! I tried to find the information centre, forgetting I had a city plan on my italy map! Finding it minutes too late, Chioso. trying to find a campsite or agritourismo, I stopped and forked out 43Euros for a room….not happy…the next day I made it to the information centre and found that the campsite I was looking for was open!! AHHH! I spent the rest of the day trying to buy parts for the motorbike with no luck in four yamaha shops! I rode to the campsite, 15km I was told, turned out to be 50km! And it was infact not open, but chioso!! I went all the way back to Bari to try and find a hostel, but could not find it and gave up, camping in a grape field. Getting into my sleeping bag the last thing I bumped my head on was a watering system hose….I hope I dont get soacked! Needless to say, I got little sleep. Then I got a puncture!!! But, unbeleivably, this was outside a tyre shop!! Still, I fixed it myself, and hopefully it will hold for a while!?
Today I should catch the ferry to Albania, wondering quite what I will find on the other side of the water, where will I sleep, where will I get petrol, money….food?
This was stupid idea.