Barry Gepken has come a long way in his 3,000-mile hike from Erica to Jerusalem. He has been bivouacking in Greece for weeks, but he fears that he will have to take a plane before crossing to Israel.
The Drent, which started its months-long journey in June, entered Greece via North Macedonia in early November. Gepken really gets his money’s worth in that country. “As a culture freak, I can really enjoy Greece,” says the Ericaan about the many monasteries and churches he has visited. “You walk into an ancient world.”
Gepken headed for Thessaloniki, Kavala and then headed for Athens. In between he walked to the monastic republic of Athos. He was amazed at the Greek, Bulgarian, Russian and Serbian monasteries. But Athos is especially special because women are not welcome there. Men are only allowed to visit it with a visa. “They say even the animals there are all male,” says Gepken with a laugh. “Except the chickens, because they need the eggs from them.”
Because Greece consists of numerous islands, Gepken has to take a boat every now and then to reach his next destination. He has now arrived in Rhodes and Turkey and Cyprus are close by. Gepken travels alone, because his girlfriend Monique de Haas and their dog Maurice had to drop out due to health reasons.
Gepken intended to take the boat to Israel via Cyprus, but that seems to be a difficult story. “The boat to the Holy Land is not sailing. It is winter time, most of the boats are ashore. How do I proceed now? It seems that I will complete the journey by land, sea and air. I may have to take the plane and I am disappointed because there is no boat, I have to walk via Syria and that is of course not an option. Perhaps I will now go to Jerusalem via Egypt.”
So he still has to cross a few countries. Gepken estimates that he has already covered almost 4000 kilometers. When he left in June, he hoped to reach Jerusalem by Christmas. “But I can’t do that,” he says. “It will be a month later. I hope to reach my final destination in mid-January.”