Cycling...Your life in their hands

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Thu 18 Jun 2009 15:45
Thursday 18th June

Today has continued the hot and windy theme, but there is certainly a change
ahead and it might be OK for us to leave here tomorrow and head up to
Molivos and hope to get a safe berth on the quay there. Always a bit of a
gamble as there is not much room there and there may well be boats
sheltering still who have not yet left!

The still more exciting news (but whisper it quietly) is that the endless
northerlies that blast down through the Dardenelles might be replaced on
Sunday and Monday with very rare southerlies which would be brilliant and a
great help as we slog our way against the strong current that flows out of
the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, through the narrow Dardenelle
straights.

Took the bike into town today and can now add Greece to my list of places
not to drive! Actually it has been fun to note the motoring rules and their
variations from country to country as viewed from a folding bike. Sicily was
in many ways a remarkably safe place as there are no rules and no road
markings to confuse you. Fortune favours the brave and eye contact is
everything. You know that at any crossroads, regardless of the size of the
roads involved that there will be someone coming across who thinks he has
more rights than you and so you are cautious (Sarah follows the rule of
stick with the old lady dressed in black, no one will run her over). In
Greece there are rules, traffic lights, roundabouts and once you accept that
the driving skills are poor and the attention span short, you are just going
to be careful and not take too many chances. Turkey is wonderful because
there the rules appear to be optional. There are traffic lights that
normally just flash weakly in orange to warn you that they are there, but
their purpose is random. Roundabouts can be taken pretty much as you see fit
and red lights certainly are optional for taxis and some other users, but
perhaps not all. Dual carriageways should contain one way traffic but that
sort of depends on how convenient it is! Parking though is universally
chaotic and all these countries happily accept random parking at will. If
the space at the side of the road is a bit tight to get your car in, you
just park near it, but out in the traffic. Corners, slip roads, roundabouts,
you name it, (in fact in Cesme the car park with attendant is on the major
traffic lights and reversing cars must also be added into the equation) cars
just pull up and no-one much cares. The policing of all this is done by
frequent and robust use of the car horn. Once enough cars are hooting, most
owners will peek out of the shop or where ever they are to see if it is them
at fault, but it is unusual for them to actually interrupt whatever they
were doing to move it unless the cacophony reaches a level at which some
action is required! This may just be some shouting and gesticulations,
possibly some shrugging of the shoulders and in very serious situations,
they move their vehicle.