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Where's Mike? Section 16: The Greek Peloponnese 2006
Click here to see Section 15: Crete
Wednesday April 26th
Gythio, Greece: With a
some navigational help from the ferry crew, I was
firmly jammed under the second story ramp and behind a couple of
supporting beams. Looks like a FILO situation. Others, like the nice
German couple I met yesterday, were put on the other side, and were
afforded a much quicker
On the deck I met up with said Germans and a couple
of more as well. It was a busy day at the docks, with all sorts of
people coming out to say goodbye to friends and relatives after the long
Easter weekend.
The seas were VERY rough (too rough even to put in at normally scheduled Antikythira island) so I mostly remained on the stern to watch the horizon, avoid the puke tainted cabin air, and get the most stable ride. One walk to the bow and found I could barely stand! It was great looking over the rails, and I felt more exhilaration verses sickness, but once I stepped inside, I could easily see why more than half the passengers, and some of the crew, were not feeling up to snuff. The bow spray was easily soaking the lounge windows and we were on deck eight!
When the cafeteria opened, I grabbed a terrible lunch with a 69 year old ex-high school physics and math teacher from San Diego. He is on a solo bike tour of Greece for three months and really enjoying it. Fun guy to chat with for a while, and I ran into him later at night in Gythio as well.
I did wind up being the last off, after Ernie and Renatta, and then the three of us went on a quest to find some organic olive oil at Biohof Karababas located way out in tarnation. It was nice to enjoy the ride while Ernie drove all over the place and Renatta attempted to navigate with the directions and map they had. After getting lost several times, and backtracking, we finally arrived and they bought about ten-five liter boxes and I got one-three liter box. It is really good stuff, and this should last me for at least a couple of months.
We then went out and found a hole-in-the-wall, local's only, restaurant and enjoyed a terrific family style meal of dishes we picked out of the kitchen. Of the 15-20 traditional dishes available, we picked five delicious ones including Mousaka, and it was great...sort of a custard top, then layered with potato, eggplant, and mince.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 30e Supplies: 24e organic olive oil Misc: 0 Odometer: 103932
Thursday April 27th
Kotronas, Greece: Renatta, Ernie, and I were planning on doing a 20km hike today, but, since Renatta is still feeling the heat exhaustion from the ferry, and the rain clouds are gathering, they chose to chill and I chose to loop the Mani Peninsula I missed a month ago before leaving for Crete.
A guide pamphlet to the area lists about 20 caves (good rainy day activity) with Diros being the most popular. The three Diros Caves are said to be beautiful, but numerous tourist buses, a 12e fee for a 20min boat ride in the cave, and no chance of getting off the boat to slow down or explore on your own in the main cave makes it hardly worth it. The second cave houses a museum (read gift shop full of crap) at the mouth with no access beyond that, and the third cave, a click away from the others, is sealed shut.
Along the scenic west coast route there are many towers both individually and clustered in villages. Vathia is the most spectacular of these villages with it's commanding views of the coast as it sits well above the sea, alone on a point jutting away from the main ridgeline.
Vathia, and the rest of the towered villages, made
the trip worth it, but Adi's Cave must be some sort of joke by the Greek
tourist industry. Nothing more than a small tree and vine covered
indention in the rocks large enough to, perhaps, stuff a dozen people in
it. Knowing that the Greek System across the US
Kotronas is filled with very friendly locals and campers alike. Water located under the second arch across from the boat ramp.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 8.5e Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 104062
Friday April 28th
Mouth of the Evrotas River, Greece: With the rain and low clouds again, it is doubtful Ernie and Rennata are up for hiking today, which was our chosen second attempt...so, no rushed drive to Sparti. Instead I made a lazy drive, passing back through Gythio, to the Evrotas River Valley.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 53.7e for 56l at 104085/465km Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 16e Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 104129
Saturday April 29th
On the beach near Elika, Greece: Working my way around down and around the east finger I ran into a nice guy in Archagelos and we had a long talk over coffee. When people find out I am from America, they all want to talk...and they all want to talk politics.
He was trying to remember the name of our foreign minister who just visited Athens, and, as he is coming up with the name, I am thinking who knew we even had one? It always amazes me how much the world knows about US politics. I don't even know who the king, dictator, prime minister, president, or current God of Greece is, and this guy can come up with Condi's name before I can.
Of course Iraq is always in the conversation, but he also told me something that was WAY new for me. The president of Iran has claimed to now have a nuclear weapon!? Been out of the news loop for a mere ten months and look what happens. He wondered what America was going to do, and I really haven't a clue. If true, or if they are getting close, a part of me doesn't see a problem with them having The Bomb, since we, and others, have it, but, being as Iran has pledged to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, I can't see Israel sitting on their hands for long before taking them out. Another option, which is almost as bad, might be if the international community, did the job instead. Don't even want to think about the US going it alone, again. But hey! I think we already have some troops and hardware in the area.
It was fun to talk the afternoon away, but, as the sun emerged from behind the alto stratus, I headed for a rocky little beach to catch a few rays and forget about the world once again.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 10e Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 104205
Sunday April 30th
On the beach near Elika, Greece: Heavy rain and massive thunder and lighting for most of the day It was really a great show to watch while I vegged with a book and caught up a bit on the old journal. Met a nice French woman and her son while they were fishing. They, she really, just decided to come live in Greece for three months after a divorce.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 0 Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 104205
Monday May 1st
Monemvasia, Greece: Left the rained out beachhead and walked on the ferry to Elafonissos Island for a terrific lunch of spectacular grilled red mullet and a green salad. Great little town that appears to have only Greek tourists visit. No one I saw spoke any language other than Greek, a glass of wine was was only one euro, and the owner poured me another glass for free just because. Yea, I don't think mainstream tourism has landed here yet.
It is warming up after the past couple storm days, but still too cool to take advantage of the amazing beaches on Elafonissos. Instead I ferried back to the mainland, dug out my trusty cave guide, and did the horrendous drive, on roads so steep I had to occasionally, to the amusement of the various villagers, take another run at them, to Kastania Cave. The old rig close to scraping both mirrors as we rattled on.
The steep road turned to dirt before it ultimately led me to my goal, which, I found, is closed till July.
Seeing no inspiring reason to be this far south, I headed to Monemvasia, the Greek Gibraltar, which had settled nicely just off the coast of Gefira about 1600 years ago after a massive, and devastating, earthquake.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 31e Supplies: 0 Misc: 1.7e RT ferry Odometer: 104346
Kefalas, Greece: Monemvasia, as viewed from the mainland last night, is quite blasé, and you really don't even realize anything is there at all...but, after walking a few minutes along the shore-side road to the far east end of the rock, ancient walls of the village appear. Shortly after, once through the only entrance, and hence the name, a gorgeous, and still inhabited town unfolds.
The town is truly beautiful, as are the views from the crumbling fortress perched atop the rock. The church of Agia Sophia is the best remaining upper town building, with the other churches, the fortress, the cisterns, and the such, offering some interesting ruins. The lower town is in near perfect condition and people continue to recondition, and live in, the homes.
After a morning at Monemvasia, I headed north to Niata for one more attempt at yet another cave. Egg Cave, as described in the pamphlet, has some very interesting rock formations, which are the shape and color of fried eggs, hidden in one of the deeper chambers. Unfortunately, when I finally found the guys who know where it is, they let me know that it is a technical descent requiring climbing gear which I don't have with me.
They are not planning on going there in the near future, but do have a trip to Monemvasia planned for next Saturday. The local caving club and some archeologists are planning to explore all the pockmarks (no real cave to speak of...yet) in the rock face to see if any of the prior inhabitants of the rock may have hidden anything in them. I am invited to join them if still in the area.
With the weather clearing, and a list of climbing/hiking contacts in Sparti, I headed that way, but got abducted by some Greeks in Kefalas for the night. It turned out to be a fun, albeit late, night.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 35e Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 104440
Wednesday May 3rd
Maganiari Spring (Mt. Ilias Trailhead), Greece: Slowly made my way to Sparti and touched base with the local climbing guru who set me up with a map and directions for Mt Ilias, the highest peak in the Taygetos range and on the Peloponnese.
Before heading to the hills, I took some time to enjoy the order of Sparti's grid system and, today at least, I did not miss the "quaintness" of the lazily/crazily windy streets typical of the old world. Sparti is generally unkempt, with untrimmed hedges, uncut park grass, and un-pulled weeds growing from cracks in sidewalks and streets alike. But, not getting hopelessly lost was an experience I'd not had for a while.
At the trailhead campsite, I met up with a couple of German climbers who tried the climb today. They got turned back at 2100 meters on account of snow pack and late afternoon thunder showers.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 7e Supplies: 0 Misc: 2.5 internet, 2e news paper Odometer: 104482
Thursday May 4th Ancinet Sparta Theatre, Greece: At some point in the night, the sky wrung itself out and there was some partial clearing around the top of the Taygetos mountain range by early morning.
I left the 980 meter trailhead at 07:30 and quickly warmed up on an hour and twenty minute hike to the EOS refuge at 1550 meters. Later in the summer, the road is snow free and passable to this point, which is a hundred, or so, meters below tree-line.
After about 15min for breakfast and a breather, I continued on through flower filled meadows and rocky amphitheaters, complete with precipitous drops, on a well marked route until I began bumping cloudbase an hour and a half later. With the lack of sunlight getting through, one longer snow field, with a grim run out, was hardened enough to prevent my kicking steps as I had on the smaller/lower ones. Crampons, and/or an axe, would have made it a snap. Circumventing this took me off-route enough to gain the ridge top 50 meters higher than the Portes, the normal pass the climbing route would take.
A half an hour after hitting fog and clouds, and about ten minutes after the Portes, a brief clearing afforded a quick view of the foggy route heading off to be buried under another hardened snow field. Instead, I stuck to the snow-free rockier, yet windier, ridgeline direct (as I found) to the short summit ridge and, assuming the weather would continue to degrade, put cairns on a couple questionable points.
Hit the 2404 meter summit at 11:50 to the occasional weak spit of snow but also one brief partial clearing which allowed a view north over the rest of the Taygetos range.
The summit ridge was untouched, as was the snow around, in, and on the roofed rock shelters and unroofed chapel. I looked for a register but found only a couple of stone and ceramic tablets. I am thinking I may be the first to summit for this year, but the register, which could have helped confirm this, must be buried in one of the shelters under 2-3 meters of snow, and was not to be found.
After freezing my ass off for 15 summit minutes, eating, and taking the gratuitous foggy summit shot, I headed down, and, twenty minutes later and 400 meters lower, the clouds lifted enough to get one last shot of Mt Ilias with an interesting natural stone path in the foreground.
It was a fast descent with views of Sparti and the Evrotas valley, quick standing glissades on, now softer, snowfields, and a hot shower & plate of pasta upon my 14:00 return. Totaled 6.5 hours of fun climbing.
Finishing my climb earlier than expected gave me a bit of daylight to burn, I did the long drive off the mountain and swung through Mystras before heading into Sparti for the night.
Mysrtas is rumored to be a captivating set of ruins but the peak-top fortress is closed for renovation now and the upper town, although open, is covered in scaffolding. I took a photo and a pass instead and then headed into Sparti to arrive at the old ruins just prior to sunset. Camping now, overlooking the theater, lights of modern Sparti beyond, with the Taygetos as a final backdrop.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 48e for 50l at 104502/417km Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 84e Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 104530
Friday May 5th
Kalamata, Greece: Well, since I was camping on the ancient Sparti acropolis, I felt obligated to check out the ruins. Forgive me, but they are indeed Spartan. Simple layout of what ruins there are. The theater is the best preserved and/or uncovered portion of the city, and honestly, the best thing about it was the camping above and the views beyond. Perhaps this is the result of putting all your efforts into war verses culture, humanity, and caring for your fellow man. If only some of our current world leaders knew...
Torn between what to do next, I wandered the city. There is a great statue of King Leonidas near the soccer stadium, there is an expensive internet cafe, there are untrimmed and uncared for little parks, and generally nothing in Sparti to see unless you are gazing at the intriguing mountain backdrop just climbed.
I am at a spot now where I don't know what to do or where to go. There are things I still want to do before I leave the Peloponnese like see Olympia, visit Nafplio, take a train ride and hike at Diakofto, do some hiking around Kambos, and maybe go rappin' and juggin' next Saturday with Perry, Peter, and the gang of wild archeologists, on Monemvasia. And then, of course there are still my plans for the coast of France, the Alps, and Russia...so I have to decide when I am leaving Greece, as well.
Too hard to decide what to so I wound up just taking the short scenic road to Kalamata and was planning on actually staying at a campground for a change so I could take a couple days for some laundry and other little "fix-it" projects. However, the nearest campground was 4 clicks away from the edge of town, and 19e per night plus 5e/load of wash, so I couldn't bring myself to cough that up. Stayed at the marina instead for 9e, which is my first time being charged at a marina, but it came with power, water, showers, 3e washing, and the advantage of being right in town. Great camping area!
Camp Fee at Marina: 9e Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 110e (ouch!) Supplies: 0 Misc: 2e internet, 12e laundry
Saturday May 6th
Kalamata, Greece: Took an eight click stumble up to old-town and back...just to prove I am alive after last night's attempt to keep up with a group of Aussies...also staying in the marina.
Kalamata has a great old train park running through town which is covered in graffiti, that, was initially disturbing to me. However, I realized these markings are just frescos that a more enlightened people will uncover, and revere, in a few thousand years.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 8e Supplies: 3e Misc: 0 Odometer: 104593
Sunday May 7th
Kalamata, Greece: Another great veg day and journal catch-up. Sundays are often slow.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 0 Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 104593
Monday May 8th
Kalamata, Greece: A great day of fixing a few things on my rig and repacking after a full cleaning. It felt really good to accomplish something totally different than touring and sight seeing. Good atmosphere for it as well, since all the boat owners are doing the same.
Camp Fee for the weekend and tonight at the marina: 27 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 14e Supplies: .5e Misc: 3e laundry Odometer: 104593
Tuesday May 9th
Ancient Olympia, Greece: It was a much longer (time-wise) drive from Kalamata to Olympia due to the very scenic, yet steep and windy roads through the mountains.
Dimitsana was one of the gorgeous villages I passed along the way and it it was great. Every building, new and old, the streets, the squares, and the sidewalks are of stone. Stemnitsa too is nice, as are the views getting to, and between all the mountainous towns.
Driving into Ancient Olympia, I was able to catch a glimpse of the old stadium, and am looking forward to seeing more of in the morning, but the new town has really nothing to see except tourist kitsch and over priced beer.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 4 Supplies: 0 Misc: 2 Odometer: 104795
Wednesday May 10th
Kalavryta, Greece: Hoping to beat the crowds, I was up early and got my joint ticket for both Ancient Olympia and the Olympia Archeological Museum. Two hours gave the gist of the place, and that gist is good! More time would not be wasted...
The round Philippeion, which was sort of a mini-museum, was pretty cool as was the Palaestra which was used as a training area for wrestling, boxing, and jumping. It still has a lot of columns in tact. Of course the major attraction is the stadium, and its entrance, with several tourists taking their marks on the stone starting line for a 192.27 meter dash to the stone finish line.
Every four years, in ancient times, the grassy hills surrounding the stadium would seat about 45K spectators from various cities/regions in Greece as they watched their athletes compete for their regions honor. During the times of the games, everyone was bound by a sacred truce requiring them to peacefully partake in the games instead of kicking the shit out of one another...as happened the rest of the time.
The Museum is located next to the ruins and is also worth an hour gander. It has great signage in English, French, German and Greek which offer a bit of history on each article as well as some of the mythical lore surrounding the object of said art.
The most renowned piece is a highly polished marble statue of Hermes of Praxiteles. Hermmy, and he hates it when I call him that, was charged by Zeus to take the infant Dionysos to the Nymphs on Mt Nysa to be nursed and cared for. Although there are a few key appendages missing, it is still pretty impressive.
Some of the other items, including the weapons of war, other sculptures, and jewelry are both interesting, and artistically attractive.
Old Klitoria is nestled at the bottom of a glacial mound centered in the intersection of three valleys, but in recent times, the modern village has sprawled to engulf the mound in its entirety. An attractive square, nice church, and more spring water fountains than I have seen in any village so far...in addition to the fresh air and beautiful setting, make it worth a visit.
A bit farther down the road I bumped into another surprise...a CAVE! After a few failed attempts at some spelunking, this was especially nice since I was neither looking for, nor expecting it.
Cave of the Lakes is really a fascinating place. Three large caverns have been mapped so far for a total length of almost two kilometers. To make it easier for the general public to explore, with a guide (so-to-speak) only, a false entrance tunnel has been excavated which leads into the middle cavern and about 500 meters of elevated catwalk covering the entire length of that cavern only.
There is no way to really describe the cave...it is covered with colorful stalactites and stalagmites in the shape of molten wax, fluted curtains, twisted taffy, flowing velvet, tentacled tentacley things (envision squid, octopus, or cows that need milking), and much more. This is ALL great, but after several meters of walking up the catwalk, a string of spectacularly terraced lakes, with connecting cascading waterfalls, appear. The pools of water, captured by dams made of ribbons of calcite, are anywhere from a few centimeters to several meters deep! Some of the basins are reminiscent of clam shells, some of the dam walls are thin, some are thicker, and all are really magical...if that doesn't sound to corny.
I really wanted to go for a swim, despite the coolness of the cave.
The only disappointment occurred when I took my first photo. The "guide" said photos are not allowed. Neither with nor without a flash! What a crock! There were no signs stating that in any of their pamphlets, nothing on the ticket, nothing posted ANYWHERE, and to top it all off, when I arrived, the ticket dude told me the last tour of the day left in three minutes. I told him I just had to run and grab my camera and would be back in two minutes. I was back in one and he happily sold me my ticket. He was no where to be found 30 minutes later when our (a bit rushed) tour was done.
Regardless of the unadvertised "no photo" policy, the cave is well worth it
Arrived in Kalavryta late and tired.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 0 Supplies: 0 Misc: 9e Oly,8e Cave of the lakes. Odometer: 104924ish
Thursday May 11th
Dakofto, Greece: Before leaving Kalavryta this morning, I enjoyed a good walk around town. Tucked high in the mountain this is a cool (in two senses of the word, but certainly not three) village filled with shade trees, fresh springs, and history. Back in 1821, this is where the revolt against the Turks began....they got their church burned down for that one, and then got it burned down again, along with the rest of town, by the Nazis on Dec 13th, 1943. Additionally, in '43, every male over 15 years was massacred as a reprisal against a strong resistance movement in the area. A Martyrs' Monument sits high on the hill with some of the graves of the nearly 1500 killed from the region.
After my wander, I took the scenic drive, partially along the hike/train route I hope to do in the morning, the last 30 clicks to the coast. Along the way, ran into a great little winery which, oddly, is the first I have seen so far in Greece, although the Greeks are not typically known for the best of wine.
Panagiotis Papagianopoulos, oenologist extraordinaire, of the Tetramythos Winery was happy to give me the grand tour of their fairly new facility. Nice guy, good wine, and a free tasting! I got a bottle each, of both, local varietals.
Once on the coast, I parked up at the beach, to be quickly joined by a half dozen other mohos and then walked into town for some "Parmesano-Reggiano" that was not even close to being parmesan. It is BAD...basically 10e of dog food.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 22 Supplies: 0 Misc: 14e local wine, 25 e 1st aid/med kit. Odometer: 104966
Friday May 12th
Nafplio, Greece: The 22.4 kilometer Diakofto-Kalavryta train ride is a beautiful, and classic, journey on a 110 year old narrow gauge rack and pinion railway. Those who enjoy walking will sometimes ride up to Mega Spileon, near the mid-point, and then walk back down the tracks through the most scenic, and awesome, portion of the canyon. My intent was hike up, instead, and then catch the returning train from Mega Spileon.
Left my beach-side camp by 07:20 for a click or two walk to the mouth of the Vourakos Gorge. From the coast to Spileon, the route led me over long and high bridges, up steep tracks, past precarious drops to ones certain demise, and through numerous tunnels and overhangs. If that was not enough, the beautiful spring foliage and crashing creek bolstered the experience. Spectacular!
The terrain created several places I was happy NOT to see a train come along and, in fact, I only saw one, which was descending, for the entire first half of the trip to Spileon. Although I never did check a schedule, I assumed, correctly, that the next train would be going up, and, at this rate, it would be a while before it came. I decided to continue my hike the full 23+ clicks, with associated 700meter vertical gain, to Kalavryta. Just outside of town, my transportation home came blowing past me.
The walk up took almost exactly 5 hours and the train down took about an hour.
After a shower, I was energized enough to make a mad drive to Nafplio where I met Trudy and Dave, along with their son Matt and his friend Paul. Trudy invited me in for a chat, immediately decided I needed a beer (I did!), and then commenced in making me a typical British fry of bacon, an egg, mushrooms and tomatoes with a plop of beans on the edge. Terrific!
Later we all headed out for drinks and cards and then the boys drug me out for pool till 03:00.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 51.6e for 53.25l at 104968/466km Tolls: 2e Food/Drink: 12e Supplies: 0 Misc: 3.7e train ride down Odometer: 105109
Saturday May 13th
Nafplio, Greece: After yesterdays hike, combined with last nights shenanigans, I didn't feel like doing castles, forts, or much of anything. Instead, I drove off to a great little beach Dave told me about and took a long swim before coming back for a late night book exchange with Trudy.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 0 Supplies: 0 Misc: news paper and mags 10e Odometer: 105128
Sunday May 14th
A beach near Nafplio, Greece: Hiking the 999 steps, claimed verses counted, to the views of Palamidi Fortress is best done in the morning so as to avoid the heat of the day. The fortress sits 216meters above Nafplio and affords excellent views of the Bourtzi Island Fortress just off shore, the Akronafplia fortress on the western edge of town, and the first capital of Greece (Nafplio) tucked up into the Argolic Gulf.
The well preserved fortress is actually comprised of several fortresses within the walls, has a prison interesting to kids of all ages, some great courtyards, and...yep, I mentioned the views, but do so again.
After the hike, a Sunday walk around Nafplio was
also entertaining with all the families out enjoying lunch, ice creams,
and the cool shade of the squares, but soon I was wanting a swim, so
headed back to the same beach I visited yesterday, ran into the Trudy
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 9e Supplies: 0 Misc: 6e Fortress entry Odometer: 105136
Monday May 15th
A beach near Nafplio, Greece:
Beachin' it again
Great beach!
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 0 Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 105136
Tuesday May 16th
A beach near Nafplio, Greece: Swim, hang, veg, read, chatted with other campers pulling in.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 6e Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 105136
Wednesday May 17th
Epidavros, Greece: This morning in Napflio I thought I would give finding a PG center on the Peloponnese another shot, so hit the internet cafe. Finally got the right keywords and realized Flying Paradise in Epidavros is only about 50 clicks away. I left them two voice mails, sent an email, and then, with a rough address and photo of some beach-side hotel in my mind, headed that way.
The hotel shown on the web is DEFINITELY not in Epidavros, so I wandered into one at random and the guy at the desk pointed me to a backyard gate about 15 paces away, said that Christophe's rig was not there now...so neither was he, but he was sure to be back soon. Small town. I left a note on the gate.
I set up camp on a great little sandy projection looking back on the harbor and town, and an hour or so later, some French guy comes riding up on his bike. Christophe got my note and says he can pick me up around 17:30 for a sledder, and I say "Great!"
Pankaj, an Indian, with a British accent, living in Russia, flew first since he was fairly experienced and current, then I did, and then Laura, a Scott from Australia. Christophe followed us all out.
I had a crappy launch, almost being pulled
off my feet in just a medium strength wind, after not having flown for
so long I failed to grab just the center A's and B's. The flight, however,
was perfect and fun.
Nice and smooth air for a comeback flight, and a soft safe landing in the middle of the, relatively, small LZ with Pankaj and then Christophe.
We all had good flights, but Laura was the only one unaccounted for...she landed out and, after a bit of searching by us boys in the van, she got to catch a local farmer-style taxi back...lucky her!
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 32e Supplies: 0 Misc: 4e internet, Odometer: 105186
Epidavros, Greece: After a minor bit of confusion this morning we finally were all present and accounted for as we piled in the van for a bit of a late start. Christophe (he also has a driver, but I forget his name) took us up to a launch near town
for a flight to a beach just to the north of Epidavros. Pankaj flew, but it was clear the wind was too cross for anything grand. As he took his sledder to the sand, the rest of us packed and headed to a new site directly above town.
This site, Blackie, is a shitty little rough cut in the brush right now...sort of like what had to be developed in Eastern WA 15-18 years ago. Christophe brought out the familiar old rake and worked on clearing rocks, brush, roots, and other gnarly vegetation out of our way while we carefully laid out our gliders. He had flown the site, with good results, in the past, but this was his first time bringing clients to it.
The site should have good potential since it is right above town, and there are many bowls that will be soarable on a good day. The beach landing is also enticing.
Still, the views of the bay, my camping site on the sandy point, and the old church were great.
I was next, and caught my left tip stabilizer line
on a root, and drug a meter and a half of line through the snag before I
could free it. It was actually good control of
the glider (still brought it up, let go of
After lunch, it wound up being just Pankaj and I heading west to Ted's Cafe, a very nice ridge/thermal site with a good clean launch area. My Flytec 4010 has gone TU for some reason so am not sure of the time, but would guess it to be about an hour of bouncing around at the ridge top.
Christophe tried to keep a close eye on us to ensure we were not going too far over the back, but the wind strength was not an issue, there was lots of penetration, and LZ's were numerous if you needed to go over the back. Pankaj and I were able to have some fun getting into countless thermals together and topping them out above, and slightly behind, the ridge crest...I was basically just trying to follow him, and he said the same once we were on the ground. The blind leading the blind!
At some point, Christophe radioed to Pankaj about going XC over to the ancient amphitheater but I was exploring way up wind of the departure point at that stage. The lift was not all that strong this late in the day, and it was pretty clear that they were not going to make any distance, other than a downwind glide, but I followed anyway to a landing in one of the many fields of the valley.
It was a good day of flying followed by the inevitable tall tales over cold drinks at the hotel cafe.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 1.6 Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: 105197
Korinthos, Greece: Met Christophe and the gang for another great flight this morning...although I almost missed it on account of Christophe bumping the meeting time up by 30 min.
We needed to rush to this site in order to beat the goat herder to launch. Christophe mentioned someone once scared the flock so now the rancher only allows flying when he is not there. It's his property, so that is fair enough.
The site is spectacular! About a 2k foot ridge overlooking the sea, the beach landing area, the village of Epidavros, and some ancient sites to boot!
Andy was off first in the high wind, then it was my
turn. Brought the wing up with a small snag so dumped it this time
around...getting back into it. The next time the glider came up smoothly
and, if I do
Laura and the Swiss were playing it on the conservative side and wound up sinking out after a few passes leaving me alone with the ridge, as Andy had left earlier for a SAT over the water. I explored both north and south, got well over the ridge when working it, and got well below when reaching for new territory. Finally wound up choosing to fly out toward my camping spot in town, but saw the old theater and a submerged ruins, complete with several people snorkeling, that drew my attention instead. Flying a paraglider over these sites seems almost surreal...pretty much the best of both worlds on a trip like I am doing.
After landing, the group was going to take a lunch break and then head back to the rough-cut launch above town. Great views there, and surely some good potential once it is cleaned up, but nothing I was interested in flying at this point. Instead, I headed off to Corinth.
The Corinth canal is fascinating to me, and surely to any civil engineer who sees it. For thousands of years rulers had been trying to cut a pathway across the isthmus...the first serious proponent was the Tyrant Periander who, in 602 B.C. needed to give up his dream or face the wrath of the Gods, so warned priestess Pythia.
A few hundred years later, Poliorketes was the first to actually begin digging, but thankfully gave up his suicidal plan when an Egyptian engineer, a descendent of the lead technical consultant on the pyramids, pointed out the fact that, if successful, the higher water level of the Corinth Sea would flood the Aegean Islands, and, of course, the resulting death and destruction would be considerable!
Julias Ceasar toyed with the idea, but Nero actually put a bunch of Jewish slaves to work on it in 66 A.D. and managed to dig out over 3km of 40m deep ditch before having to head back to Rome to quash an uprising and be hung for treason. He should have stayed on...
Others followed, but it was not until April 23rd, 1882 when another effort began in earnest. A French company had taken on the challenge, but soon assigned it to a Hungarian General, and the canal was completed in 1893 to great fanfare.
The canal, closely following Nero's original plans, cuts the 6,346 meter wide, solid rock, Isthmus of Corinth in a 24.6meter swath 8 meters deep. It has some very interesting looking geology associated with it. There are two sea level bridges, one at each end, which submerge to allow boats past...I think they are used as a canal control mechanism as much as for wheeled traffic flow. Additionally, the canal has three other bridges, 80-90 meters above sea level, for trains and automobiles.
It also has some signage that is more of a suggestion, than a hard and fast rule. I was able to walk unchallenged to the very edge of the bridge deck while it down, or in the process, and ships were passing, and I never saw one bike rider dismount while crossing.
Ships over a specific tonnage, carrying hazardous cargo, or on a night passage, must be under tow.
The best parking area was just on the NW point of the canal and afforded an excellent view of everything coming and going. I camped with a French couple and we would all rush to the waters edge and give the thumbs up (universal language) when a boat passed. Two thumbs up for ships.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 0 Tolls: 0 Food/Drink: 0 Supplies: 0 Misc: 40e PG guide/transport for the past three days. Odometer: 105271
Saturday May 20th
Arachova, Greece: Up early to watch the ships, again, and then drove to the high bridge to catch a ship doing the passage. I waited an hour and half before a sail boat came through and, since it was getting HOT in the late morning, I decided to forgo waiting for a ship.
Needing to get propane, and hearing there is an abundance of stations near the Athens's airport, I started the long, hot, muggy, drive to smoggy Athens. From several years ago, I remember Athens being a shit hole, but now that I've had a chance to drive into it along the coastline, verses simply flying and going directly to the city, I realize it is actually a shit hole on a gulf lined with numerous oil refineries, chemical plants, and leaky ships, anchored just off shore, which you can almost see through the thick, tear provoking, haze.
I found my gas stations with LPG, but none had adaptors to fit a German tank. It was about 100 clicks RT out of my way, but it was great to remember why I never want to visit Athens again.
Since I had no idea how much propane I have (I could make millions if I manufactured a tank with a gauge) I considered just heading back to Pateros and catching the next ferry to Italy, but hedged my bets and headed west on the north side of the canal so I could pass Thiva and Delphi along the way.
It was HOT. Damn hot, and by the time I got to Thiva I was in no mood to scramble around ruins with a bunch of tourists almost as cranky as I, so I buzzed past it and on toward Delphi, higher in the mountains, and hopefully cooler.
I made it to Arachova, a great little ski resort just outside Ancient Delphi, and found a spectacular, shaded, parking area overlooking the valley...3-400meters below. A short walk up the steps to town once it cooled off was rewarded with some pretty slick ski resort style cafes and bars with some fun, English speaking, party goers.
Camp Fee from prior night/s: 0 Fuel: 37e for 39l at 105326/358km Tolls: 8e Food/Drink: 15e Supplies: 0 Misc: 0 Odometer: ??? (a LONG drive day)
Click here to see Section 17: Central and Northern Greece
Click here to see Section 14: To Crete, via the Peloponnese
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departure, but I am in no hurry.
Instead
of spending the 12e, I bailed for Adi's Cave on the extreme southern tip
of the finger.
can
do the same with an old VW Bug, I was less than impressed. There is,
however, a nice hike of about six clicks RT to the lighthouse
where, along the way, you can still see some ancient tile from some
unknown (to me) ruins.
Tuesday May 2nd
After
a terrific morning in Ancient Olympia, I headed east and north toward
the Diakofto-Kalavryta rack and pinion train running the length of the
Vourakos gorge. Along the way, I came upon Klitoria.
and
the Brits again, and decided to spend the night there instead of Nafplio.
as
a bunch of hikers on tour from Oz, Brit, and the Americas stopped by to
say hello, and avoid the soaking associated with an afternoon
thunder and lightning storm.
Thursday May 18th
Andy
had a good launch as wind dummy, but was not really getting much of
anything once airborne. Seemed pretty high pressure to me, and what there was in the
way of thermals were pretty tight.
one
of my brakes, grabbed the stabilizer, and freed it) for what was going on, but I was
disappointed that it
happened at all. I should have been more
willing to kill it and start over.
Friday
May 19th
say
so myself, perfectly in control. Andy and I flew around together above
launch for quite a while before the wind calmed enough for Laura and the
two new Swiss arrivals to get airborne.
