The last few weeks it was a bit quiet here on A Warrior’s Journey. This was due to the Muay Thai Sangha Intensive Course, which took place in September. Every day 7-8 hours of training, there is not much time left to write articles.
In October, it is now a bit quieter, before the next intensive course in November.
In any case, I would like to tell you more about my experiences on the road. In the last article I was with you on the Greek mainland, today it goes over the Greek islands to Turkey ….
The journey in the fourth part starts from Priaeus, the port near Athens. From there it goes to the Greek Aegean Sea. First station, the party island Ios …
Arrived on Ios, I was transfered to the hostel by a bus. Perfect, good price, pool, good view. However, I had arrived at the last weekend of the season so there was almost nothing going on at Ios. But my expacations were very simple too. In gerneral, you can say that clientele that comes here is really into party.
I gave myself there two days, made some friends, had some beers, but besides that there is nothing else to tell. So I went on to Santorini. “The” dream island in the Aegean Sea.
My couchsurfing host from Athens had told me that the Red Bull Freerunning Challenge took place there, which I wanted to have a look at, of course. She offered me that I could also stay with her friend, who works in Santorini. Perfect!
Arrived there, I had to find Eva, the host from Athens. Then we went by taxi to her friend Alexandra, to some village, far from the tourist masses in Oia. But at least as beautiful, if not more beautiful. In any case, more authentic. In front of the window lived a donkey, which every morning at 5 o’clock has got some attacks and the accommodation was very simple, compared to the Infinity pool apartments in Oia.
Santorini is of volcanic origin. On one side of the island the country runs out on shallow beaches with black sand. On the other side, it falls steeply into the sea. No idea why, but just there the locals settled and build houses to the steep cliffs.
In Oia, the most famous place on the island, the Red Bull Freerunning Challenge took place. There is not a parkour, but simply the houses and buildings built on the cliffs. A real spectacle with the best view of the sea. Something you should not miss if you are in the place at the right time.
Our host, Alexandra, got suddenly quite sick, which caused a lot of consequences. Her boss thought she simulated as she had us there as guests and threatened her to fire her, if she did not come to work. In addition, we had to move out, since the flat also belonged to the boss.
That took me to a hostel, where I met again my favorite clientele … teenagers from England, Australia and America in the ecstasy of intoxication. I tried to hide as good as possible, or simply play the same game a little bit. A couple of beers here and there are fine to me, but all the constantly drinking and fucking is annoying, especially if you share a room with other people.
It was thankfully only one night. The next day I hung around with Eva and Alexandra on the island. In the hostel I already checked out, but I had to wait until midnight to take my next ship, over night, to Rhodes.
So I hung out the evening in the hostel and came into contact with a New Zealander, who was more of my age and wanted to continue with the same ship to Rhodes. So we left together at night, first to the port, then to the ship.
He came up with the glorious idea of hiding in a sleeping cabin. Of course we had only the cheap 3rd class tickets, but I just took part in his idea. Everything seemed to be going well, until the crew came in at 8:30 in the morning to clean up, and they were surprised that someone was in the cabin.
The whole fun then costed us 80 € extra per person. And that for maybe just 5 hours of sleep, which I would have had also at the normal places.
Arrived in the harbor of Rhodes, we had to orient ourselves first. Than followed by a big march from the harbor to the hostel. When I arrived I found to my surprise, that the accommodation was really nicee, for a hostel in Greece. The rooms were like apartments.
Rhodes is a holiday island that is almost in German hands. Rhodes city is very rich in history, whether it is in Greek mythology or by the crusaders, who had their base there in the Middle Ages to attack the Orient.
Beach holiday, surfing, history, good food … A true holiday destination. My parents also thought that and visited me on Rhodes. My mother had taken care of everything. Hotel, car rental, etc. … a week where I did not need to worry about anything.
The last days on Santorini, Ios and Athens were more about sightseeing and beer drinking. So it was time to get ass kicked again. As it happend, a few of the best BJJ guys of all Greece, the “Rhodes Knights”, can be found on Rhodes.
When I went to the first training, I almost did not find the “hall”. One can not really speak of a hall, it was rather a garden hut far outside the center, quite hidden.
In this hut, however, I found a whole bunch of heavy guys. The complete color variety of belts was represented, everything from virgin white to dirty black. In addition, all were experienced judokas or Okinawa Karateka’s. Even the white belts here would destroy purplebelts elsewhere. I like that, from the outside unimpressive and gold from the inside.
Unfortunately, my parents had to leave after three days, because the father of my stepfather was dying. Mother’s mood was very depressed, as she did not know when we would meet again. I took them to the airport and from there I was back on my own, but I am a big boy.
The remaining week, I relaxed a little at the beach, worked on the blog and got my ass kicked at the Rhodes Knights.
With good intentions I grabbed my bag again, to take the one-hour boat trip to Asia.
I knew beforehand that there will probably be a different situation in Turkey, as in Europe, but what has been going on there has above all expectations, both positive and negative. Turkey was really intense. Find out all the details in the next article.
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