Balkans to Georgia by bicycle: 19/08/19 Scootering on Chios

Chios is a Greek island off the coast of Greece, a 9 hour ferry ride from Athens. It's very hilly in the centre, very dry and rocky with occasional valleys of vegetation, and small villages dotted around. Chios is famous for Masticha - a gum from the Mastiha tree. It's used for flavouring and making Elma chewing gum and Masticha raki.

Heading out of Piraeus - the main Athens ferry port

One of the 2 islands we stopped at on the way to Chios

We hired a 150cc scooter for the 2 days.
Day 1 was spent around the northern section of the island.

Looking down on the port of Chios

We'd met a guy in Thessaloniki who told us about Vollisos, the village on Chios that he was from and where his Aunt ran a tavern. When we arrived and showed them a photo of their cousin they treated us extra special with Mum's homemade cheese, her orange flavoured spirit, coffee, plus gave us the best tips on what to order. Goat, tzatziki, eggplant, salad, chips. All super yummy and locally grown.

The beach was nearby, so headed there for a swim in the Aegean Sea. Very nice. Then the road back to Chios along the coast was super windy and fantastic scenery.

Day 2 was down to the Masticha growing area in the south of the island. Visited the Masticha museum to learn the process. The trees are a couple of metres tall, and around this time of year they make little cuts in the trunk and branches and the gum seeps out. They then harvest it by hand and have a tedious process of cleaning the gum by hand picking all the dirt out of it.