No, that’s not Charles Manson in his teens. That’s yours truly. I know I’m a day late for Throwback Thursday, but that’s due to the calendar, not me being tardy.
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This picture was taken on July 2nd, 1971… 50 years ago TODAY. When I was 19, I hitchhiked from eastern Turkey to London. This was the waterfront of either Thessaloniki or Kavala, Greece, I’m not sure which.
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I could write an entire book on the slapstick farce that unfolded at the border between Turkey and Greece ALONE. Keep in mind the times, and the history between the two nations. Imagine some rube from South Korea casually skipping into North Korea dressed like an extra from Easy Rider—to say nothing of my encounter at a Greek bank where I tried to exchange Turkish lira for Greek drachmas [hint: don’t do that]. I was finally able to do so, but I took a beating on the exchange rate. But from Skopje, Macedonia northwestward, things were relatively incident-free.
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About my attire: Those pants were custom tailored in Istanbul from suede. I even had a pair of matching boots cut from the same swath of hide. I don’t remember where I got that shirt thingy, but it was before Istanbul. Probably Diyarbakir, a Kurdish city in eastern Turkey. It gave me a kind of Doris Day vibe, dontch’ya think?
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From Greece, I headed northwesterly into (what was then) Yugoslavia. Then into Austria and Germany, then Holland where I hooked up with some friends with a VW bug. We drove up to Denmark, I bade them farewell there, then off I went to England, then New York, then home.
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The picture was taken with a Polaroid by a friend I met along the way from New Zealand. He had hitchhiked all the way from Bangladesh with his brother, but the brother was killed by tribesmen in Pakistan.
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Anyway… happy half century of non-hippiedom to me. Scroungy lookin’ varmint that I was. Hard to believe I was selling cars at a Ford dealer dressed in cranberry double-knit slacks and white patent leather shoes a year after this was taken. 🤦🏻♂️ I’m not sure which was worse.
Wow, we sure have covered some of the same ground!
My first duty assignment [1984-1986] was Hellenikon AB, Athens. While in Greece I rode a Kawasaki KZ750 all over Greece, including up the eastern coast to Thessaloniki. I also rode the same bike from Athens to Britain and back. One heck of a ride.
I was also stationed in Turkey at Incirlik AB [1991-1993]. There I had a Harley and rode all over the eastern side of the country. Had a couple of dangerous/close calls but made it out safely.
Things between the Turks an Greeks were still very tense while I was in Greece. And still are I'm sure. Reading your story about crossing the boarder made me smile as I know what you went though!
Boy...I sure do miss the food from that part of the world!
Posted by: Matt | July 02, 2021 at 08:06 AM
Sharp dresser handsome, actually a great photo for an old Polaroid.
Thanks for the "trip" back in time, Karen
Posted by: GBart | July 02, 2021 at 11:03 AM