Friday 2 September 2011
After a big fried egg breakfast, we said goodbye to our new friends and checked out of Camp Natura heading for Turkey. About 30 km (18 mi) from the border we pulled into a rest stop for the WC, and went we went to leave the car didn't turn over. Certain we hadn't let it "glow" long enough (pre-ignition ritual), we tried again, but nothing. Again. Again. Finally we decided we needed the roadside assistance that came with the van. Once again our KPN Dutch phones failed us, would not put a call through. We hailed a German couple who called for us, and a big white truck came within 20 minutes. He put our red van up on his truck bed and Charles went in the truck cab while Dian and Nicole waved at passing cars from their perch in the van. The best garage in the biggest town was just behind us, but we had to go an hour and a half in order to find a place to turn around and head back.
We were dropped at the VW dealership in Alexandroupoli, which looked like a good bet. Even though it was a half hour from closing time, a team of as many as five mechanics dug in to solve the problem, led by the very short "guru" dressed in black, who was obviously "the man." Ninety minutes later their collective efforts got the car to turn over, but the prognosis was still dismal: they all agreed the engine was "not good," and that their fix might not last more than a few days. We were sure there wasn't any misunderstanding because finally a colleague arrived, to cheers, who spoke very good English, and he confirmed the bad news. They agreed to give it a more thorough look to see if it was salvageable, but that wouldn't be till Monday. Fortunately, there was a camp nearly across the street called Santa Rosa. The price was reasonable and the location lovely, so we told the manager Apostolos we'd be there for three nights.
We picnicked on the beach staring at a ruby red sunset.
After a big fried egg breakfast, we said goodbye to our new friends and checked out of Camp Natura heading for Turkey. About 30 km (18 mi) from the border we pulled into a rest stop for the WC, and went we went to leave the car didn't turn over. Certain we hadn't let it "glow" long enough (pre-ignition ritual), we tried again, but nothing. Again. Again. Finally we decided we needed the roadside assistance that came with the van. Once again our KPN Dutch phones failed us, would not put a call through. We hailed a German couple who called for us, and a big white truck came within 20 minutes. He put our red van up on his truck bed and Charles went in the truck cab while Dian and Nicole waved at passing cars from their perch in the van. The best garage in the biggest town was just behind us, but we had to go an hour and a half in order to find a place to turn around and head back.
We were dropped at the VW dealership in Alexandroupoli, which looked like a good bet. Even though it was a half hour from closing time, a team of as many as five mechanics dug in to solve the problem, led by the very short "guru" dressed in black, who was obviously "the man." Ninety minutes later their collective efforts got the car to turn over, but the prognosis was still dismal: they all agreed the engine was "not good," and that their fix might not last more than a few days. We were sure there wasn't any misunderstanding because finally a colleague arrived, to cheers, who spoke very good English, and he confirmed the bad news. They agreed to give it a more thorough look to see if it was salvageable, but that wouldn't be till Monday. Fortunately, there was a camp nearly across the street called Santa Rosa. The price was reasonable and the location lovely, so we told the manager Apostolos we'd be there for three nights.
We picnicked on the beach staring at a ruby red sunset.
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