Vespa PX – London to Oz travel blog: Part 2 – Spain to Turkey | FEATURE

I’m not sure about you lot but I’m pretty jealous about this road trip. 24-year-old Ross Dicker is into the second month of a ride to Australia on his Vespa PX 150.

We brought you the first part of this story as Ross set off from Retrospective Scooters in London back in early March. In this part, he’s ridden through Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and is now back into Turkey as he heads for Iran.

Ross is already getting offers of help and places to stay from the worldwide scooter network and has found the generosity of strangers overwhelming so far. Here’s what he has to say about the trip so far…

Iggy

Leaving day

It seems like forever ago now. I was pretty nervous but just got on with it and rushed around sorting stuff before I left for Portsmouth. I had to run around grabbing spares and sorting tools to take. Pack the bike and after a test ride up the north circular from me and Niall I took off for Portsmouth.

I made it down to Portsmouth by about seven, just as it got dark. The wind and rain were awful on the way down. I eventually boarded the ferry at about eight and didn’t get off it in Spain until Wednesday morning at seven. I had a good craic on the ferry with a load of bikers.

Santander – Spain

Wednesday morning we were getting off the ferry and I was a little nervous as it was my first time riding in a foreign country besides England. I got the hang of things quickly though and headed along the north coast of Spain towards A Coruña. The roads and views along the coast were second to none. Really good to ride along.

That night I’d made it halfway to A Coruña and stopped at a campsite just outside Gijon. It was a great way to kick off the trip. The next morning I got up, had a shower and headed towards A Coruña. The weather was bad and I had to cut across the mountains to get there. I decided at lunch to just ride straight there as it was 200 miles and then I’d relax for a few days.

Twin town

I got to A Coruña that evening soaked and tired, greeted by my twin brother Gary (who lives there). We had great fun there, surfing, walks along the beach, and meeting some of his mates. I was meant to leave on Monday morning but stayed until Wednesday as I liked the place so much.

Fellow traveller

When I left A Coruña I headed for Avilés. I was going to meet and stay with another Vespa traveller, Jose Ceferino. He had kindly offered to let me stay in his spare room for as long as I wanted. I arrived about half an hour late but we went straight to Jose’s garage to drop off our scooters and then went to a Dali exhibition. We then went back to his place and just spoke about his travels over a world map spread across his table. We didn’t just speak about ourselves but other Vespa travellers too. We then walked down to the old town and had a few beers in his friend’s pub.

Basque Country

I left the next morning after breakfast and a tour of his job. I was heading for the Basque Country for Paddy’s Day. It was the 16th of March and I got halfway to Bilbao and bumped into another Vespa in Castro. I stopped and got talking to the owner Pedro. He had a TX200 covered in stickers and magnets with a screen just like mine. He didn’t have any English really, but bought me a drink and then took me to the Vespa cafe down the road.

Paddy’s Day

I was trying to ask him where he was staying that night as I saw his camp gear and was looking for a place myself. He didn’t really understand but eventually, he asked me to come with him to Miranda. So we went to meet his friend Berto at his house and he spoke better English and told me they were going to a rally at Miranda and camping. When we eventually got there I realised it wasn’t a scooter rally but a biker one. Everyone was wearing leather cuts. It didn’t bother me though, I had great craic for Paddy’s Day.

Furthest travelled

I was going to leave the following day but one of the club presidents asked me to stay so I did. I ended up winning an award for furthest travelled, which was hilarious as I was on a Vespa in a sea of bikers. I left after the awards and rode as far as Saragossa and stayed there as I had a ferry to catch in Barcelona the following day.

I left Spain Monday evening and on the way to Barcelona, I got a flat rear tyre in Fraga. It was a pretty scary moment as the bike started weaving all over the road. I managed to save it though and change the flat. When I later inspected what had caused the puncture it was a steel nail. I still enjoyed the ride and stopped at Montblanc for a quick look along the way.

Italy

I arrived in Civitavecchia just as the sun went down on Tuesday 21st. I spent a week in Italy riding down the coast to Rome, Naples, Pompei and Salerno.

Seeing the sights

Rome was just unbelievable to ride around and see The Colosseum, The Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and I even found a little Vespa museum. When I got to Naples I felt like I was in South America. The traffic was mental and the city felt crazy, but I loved it! There were so many Vespas there too. I liked it so much I ended up staying for another night. I met some great people in my hostel.

Pompei was next and I was just amazed walking around the ruins, I was shocked at how big it was. Then riding from Pompei to Sorrento and around the Amalfi Coast was really just breathtaking. At one stage I remember just saying “Wow!” in my helmet. I’d never seen anything so beautiful.

Mario’s Vespa shop

I then camped in Salerno and headed for Brindisi. It was 225 miles across the mountains in awful rain. About 25 miles from Brindisi I came across a Vespa shop and I wasn’t going to stop but I did. It was called Da Zio Mario’s. I’ve never seen a shop so full of accessories and parts. It felt like going back in time to the 60s. After a tour around the shop I left to catch my ferry. The next stop was Patras, Greece!

Greece

I arrived in Patras on the 28th March. Straight off the ferry, I headed for the local campsite about ten miles from the port. It was so windy that the owner let me sleep inside a building where there was a table for people to eat. I was delighted to be inside out of the weather.

That day I went to meet Giorgios Smirnis. He was a member of the Vespa Club of Achaias and also owned Smirni’s Garage. The club members were all incredibly generous to me. Inviting me to their homes to eat dinner, and bringing me to the clubhouse in the evening. Even bringing me for breakfast and a haircut in one of the member’s barbershops. I ended up staying another night just to meet the club. It was brilliant, the Vespa guys in Patras couldn’t have looked after me anymore. They really made me feel welcome.

Athens

I then left Patras and headed to Athens for a night. It was only about 140 miles away and the coast roads were beautiful to ride along in the heat. I really had two days there as my ferry was late the next evening. The first evening was spent in a karaoke bar with the people I met in my hostel and the following day walking around the city, enjoying the local food in the sun.

From Athens I had to sail to the island of Chios and from Chios to Cesme in Turkey as there was no direct ferry from Greece to Turkey. When I got to Chios I had a few hours to wait for the next ferry to Cesme. I was just lying down in the sun beside my bike when a guy stopped in the middle of the road shouting at me out his window. He pulled up and seemed so happy to see me. Turns out he was a member of the Vespa Club of Chios. We exchanged club stickers and he stuck one of his on my side panel. It was funny how I kept meeting all of these Vespa people in each country.

Turkey

The ferry from Chios to Cesme was crazy. I mean gradually as I got further away from the UK the ferries got worse but this was like a trawler. My bike was the only vehicle on the ferry. Everyone sat on deck and we all got soaked from the waves. The sea was so rough that my alarm was going off. It was a laugh though. When we arrived, customs held my bike as it was Saturday and the insurance office wasn’t open until Monday. It didn’t bother me really. It just meant another night in Cesme to relax. Monday came quickly, I sorted my insurance straight away and then went to the port to collect my bike. Everyone was very helpful and it didn’t seem to be a problem. Cesme was a lovely little town too.

Keep on trucking

It was now the 3rd of April and I wanted to make it to Cyprus for Easter. I’d planned to meet my mate from the Vespa Club of Ireland there, Stephen Hempenstall. I stopped the first night in Izmir which wasn’t far, only about 50 miles from Cesme. Over the following three days, I covered 565 miles to make the ferry to Cyprus Thursday evening. I stopped in Mugla, Antaly and finally got to the port in Tasucu. The weather was so bad one day I stopped on the side of the road. Some Turkish truckers were eating in the back of their truck parked beside me. They let me take shelter with them from the rain and give me some tea to warm up. I find it amazing that despite not even being able to speak the same language people are generally always willing to help.

Getting to Tusucu felt good, I was tired after a long few days but again the ferry wasn’t great. Nowhere to eat and nowhere to sleep. Only a small crowded seating area.

Cyprus

I got to Girne port in Cyprus early Friday morning and got through customs. Then only a few minutes down the road I was met by another border. They eventually let me through as I told them I was coming back in a few days. I headed for Nicosia where I awaited Stephen to arrive.

Stephen had rented a GTS for the weekend so it was great to both have scooters. He’d organised for us to meet Stefanos Papadopoulos, the President of the Federation of Vespa Clubs Cyprus. We got shown around his clubhouse, which was amazing to see his collection of scooters and memorabilia. He was a really nice guy. The rest of the weekend was spent riding around the island, we did quite a few miles and just had a great laugh for Easter. It was funny that we ended up meeting on the trip as Stephen sold me my first Vespa when I was 18.

We both left Cyprus on Easter Monday. I headed back from Girne port to Tasucu in Turkey. I’m currently now in Mersin and hoping to be in Iran by the end of the month.

All in all the trip has just been incredible so far. I’ve found it crazy how many scooterists you just bump into along the way and how many reach out to help. Not just scooterists though, just generally people doing as much as they can for you, it really is brilliant!

That’s all for now!

Ross