Today we had to decide between taking a busy highway to Thessaloniki, or winding around convoluted back roads which would triple our time in the saddle. We chose the highway, and when we were about 40 kilometers from Thessaloniki, we began to see huge billows of black smoke and a sea of orange flames pouring out of a roadside pull-off.

There, we found this poor guy who was not having a good day:

Because his car was on fire.

There was a semi-truck stopped to block traffic from entering the dangerous area, with its driver and passenger standing against the guardgail staring in awe at the scene. Since I didn't feel like biking past the volatile explosion-waiting-to-happen, and Tyler wanted to snap some photos, we joined them, mesmerized by the flames.

The bushes even caught fire.

Whoa.

We met the unfortunate owner who was impressively calm and composed (or maybe just in shock) as he watched his vehicle burn to smithereens. He even encouraged Tyler to go take photos for him so he would have a record of it for later!

We're really sorry your car caught fire.

But man, it was pretty cool to watch. Seriously, look at it go!

After a good ten minutes of standing and gaping at the roaring flames which completely engulfed the vehicle, we watched as the firemen arrived and blasted away at the burning remains of the car with their water hoses.

But it was toast.

And that was that.

We gave the unlucky guy our card, said our condolences, promised to post the photos on our website for him, and left the scene, never fully understanding how the accident occurred in the first place. Back on the road, semi trucks clogged the highway and we finished our grungy, 90 kilometer ride to Thessaloniki.

We'll be here for a day or two so you guessed it: Tyler can get some work done. We also have some final preparation to do before we head into Eastern Europe. It feels like we're about to close a major chapter in our journey. Macedonia, here we come!