Breaking news: sailing to Chios island!

All these days – and this happens for the first time – I lost my energy for travelling. I don’t find the reason any more, it’s as if I don’t want to go on…

I’ve been thinking about this for the last 2-3 days but only today I confessed to Vula: “I don’t want to travel and you know why? The only think I am thinking about is this thing blowing inside my body every time I lift a weight, walk for 10’ or just cough and sneeze”. 

Since I confessed I relaxed. “You have to do this”, Vula said, “we simply can’t go on like this”. That day we were leaving Izmir and I didn’t know where to go: To Kusandasi? To Sirince? To Çesme? I didn’t have a clue. In the end I preferred driving here to Çesme, announce my problem to our followers on facebook and as for assistance: a surgeon in one of the Aegean islands (Chios, Samos or Rhodes) who could undertake and operate me the soonest possible. My problem is ordinary: inguinal hernia. It will be my second surgery in 23 years.  

We broadcasted a live video on facebook as soon as we parked next to the port of Çesme and the response was overwhelming. I probably looked bad – and I really was – unsaved, dirty and tired following a nasty flu in Istanbul that kept us indoors for a week. 

Michael from Rhodes called me and promised to go to the hospital and arrange everything. Sofia from Samos talked to the hospital’s director there. Nikos from Munich called his brother – a cardiologist in Athens – and his brother arranged with his counterparts in Chios to wait me for an operation. The same evening I had an invitation from the hospital of Chios to be examined and – if needed – operated the following day! 

So now we are ready to embark to Chios – it’s only 45’ from Çesme in a barge – and we are going to stay there at least up to February 8th, the date of our return ticket. We will take our Iveco back to Greece despite the extra cost (180 euros return ticket plus 3×25 euros for the three of us) because we need to feel independent and keep it safe there. George Benovias from Karfas beach has invited us to stay in one of his rooms for several days and tomorrow morning doctors will be waiting me for exams. 

So our project is suspended for a few days but better like this. If we continued without a surgery, we might have serious problems in 6-8 months in Mongolia…