Greece - Tzoumerka

Hi again. When we travel, there will always be ups and downs. This week we've had them both, both literally and figuratively.

We left the sea and headed to the mountains again. This time our destination was the Tzoumerka area. We diverted a bit to stop in the larger town of Preveza on the way. There was a special restaurant there that John wanted to try plus I had broken my bikini top and needed a new pair. The town was large and very busy. We crawled along narrow backstreets in the traffic, looking for a park but couldn't find anything. It was stinking hot and after a while we simply gave up and left. I'll just have to keep wearing my rashie over my top that's only just holding together for a bit longer!

Not long afterwards, we were cruising along a road when I saw a small sign saying "Ancient Nicopolis". I then saw a long ancient wall running parallel to the road. A bit further up was another really long wall, then a bit further was a stadium, then a theatre. The old Roman city stretched out for over a kilometre and we just drove through it all on a highway! I can only imagine how big the town must have been - and how much is buried under the highway.

Out in a more rural area, we stopped for a quick lunch at a petrol station. We were amused to see a tractor pull in and fuel up but were very surprised when, ten minutes later, a combine harvester pulled in and fueled up!

Soon after, we started to climb up into the mountains. Bizarrely, the temperature didn't drop as we climbed. In fact it increased and soon topped out at 41.5 degrees before the altitude forced the temperatures back a bit.

There weren't many places to pull over to take photos on the narrow roads so I took the opportunity of a bit of space and took this from a cemetery!

The views grew more and more spectacular as we got higher. My camera was running hot, and it wasn't just to do with the temperature. It seemed that every bend brought a new, jaw-dropping view. 

I ducked out of the car a few times to grab photos and nearly fried in the dry heat.

Villages were scattered across the hills.

We finally arrived at the village of Pramanta, where we would be staying, absolutely gobsmacked by the mountains we'd seen. 

Our little stone apartment was lovely. Luckily for us, it was on the bottom floor and therefore partly built into the hill, which kept it a bit cooler as it had no aircon. Over the two days we were there, it never dropped below 27 degrees inside, despite our best efforts to keep it cool. A freestanding fan was a godsend.

We soon learned that there would be a festival on all weekend. At last we had timed it right! We had missed a few others by days or a week so I was excited to see one again. 

It was the celebration of the name day of the main church in town, which was right in the main square. The church was decorated with flowers. People wandered around in their good clothes in the heat.  Ladies were ready with special bread and goodies to be blessed and distributed.

We joined everyone else and hung around in the main square waiting for a parade that was going to happen. We waited under a huge plane tree of course!

Finally there was some noise and the parade entered the square. People were dressed in traditional clothes and priests blessed the people watching.

The parade finished in front of the church where a group of priests led a service. The poor girls in the heavy dresses must have been melting in the heat.

 

We were told there would be dancing the next night at maybe 9pm so at 8.45 we found a seat at a bar right next to where the band was setting up. 

Meat was being grilled next to the church as darkness fell.

We waited. And we waited, Finally at some time after 10, the music started. The lead musician was playing an older form of clarinet, called a klarino, which is often used in Greek music. He was very good but the music still isn't to our tastes. 

People soon got up and started dancing. It was the usual traditional dancing, and was far less complicated than we've seen at Halki. We left after an hour or two. Our apartment wasn't far away. We had to have the windows open to cool down and we realised at some wee hour of the morning that the band was playing all night. That's quite a feat for the klarina player as his tunes were quite complicated.

We found a favourite restaurant in Pramanta. Even the restaurants have amazing views!

But what we were really here for was to walk and ride in the mountains. Little did we know the treat we were in for. The mountains were simply awe-inspiring! We went to lots of places and I literally took hundreds of photos, so I'm minimising this post or I'll be writing a biography, not a blog post!

I'll narrow down my walks to my two favourites:

Walk 1 - To Viliza Monastery.

We had seen the start of this trail from the road. Due to the fact that we usually drive to start our walks and rides, we have to coordinate them. I really wanted to do this walk but there wasn't an obvious loop for John to ride so he heroically offered to do a few laps of a scenic stretch of road while I did my walk! Just getting to the start of the walk was amazing. Along the way we drove over a steep, narrow gorge. 

We parked at the trail head. As we were unloading the bike, a Greek woman jogged past, something we don't see very often, especially in the mountains. She was carrying a big stick to keep dogs away.
I asked if the monastery was open. She spoke very little English but indicated that I had to somehow push up to open the door.

John headed off down the road and I walked onto the track. It turned out to be one of the prettiest man-made tracks I've ever walked on. It clung to the side of the mountain like a spider on a wall and looped up and down following the contours of the hillside.

 The path was immaculately maintained the entire way to the monastery.

I arrived at the monastery door and noticed a stick hanging from a chain. Remembering the words of the lady we met earlier, I looked up. This is what I found.

I put the stick in the notch indicated and pushed up. The door opened!

The monastery was set around a courtyard. The rooms seemed to be mostly accommodation. There was nobody there.

On an app I saw that another track continued on from the monastery. The moment the path left the monastery, the lovely paved track stopped and was replaced by a dirt track. The track looked like it had been freshly cut and filled - clearly by hand! I wondered who on earth would hand dig a very long stretch of walking path through difficult terrain. After a while I came across some shovels and picks. I soon found two men digging away at the track. I have no idea who was paying them but I was ever so grateful they were doing it! As soon as I got to the part they hadn't reached yet, the track became quite difficult. I had to push through prickly holly bushes and step very carefully over parts of the path that had slid away. I got to the end where there was another wonderful view.

I returned via the same tracks. The monastery path was just as spectacular going back the other way.

In places, trees growing out of the cliffs hung gracefully over the path.

With cliffs and trees above and below, and huge views in the distance, it was an absolute delight to hike this track. I think I smiled the entire way - except maybe on the tricky parts of the second part of the track, lol.

Walk 2 - Syrrako to Kalarites
Syrrako and Kalarites are the two most traditional villages in the Tzoumerka area. They have both retained their original stone houses and slate rooves. Neither have roads wide enough for driving so it's foot-traffic only inside the villages.
John worked out a challenging ride from Syrrako, so we drove there. The views en-route were superb!

 We unloaded the bike, then we walked the bike though the village as the paths were mostly steps. 

We then separated. John got on his bike and bounced his way down the rocky path and over an old stone bridge as he headed out of the village. I turned the opposite direction and wandered through the village. It was very pretty but I found it was a bit sterile. There didn't seem to be many people around and the renovated houses were all a little too perfect. 

The views from the village were incredible though!

My track started at the end of the village - right beside the town's rubbish bins! Between the two villages is a deep gorge and the track immediately led down the side of it. It's the same track that has been used for centuries, and it's been well maintained.

To my amazement, I found an old winch plus a bucket attached to a cable that ran all the way to the bottom of the gorge. I'd love to know what it was used for!

From my side of the gorge I could see the track winding up the other side. Yikes!

The sun was beating down on this side of the gorge and it was wonderful to find this little rock shelter with fresh, cool, spring water running from a pipe.

At the bottom of the gorge, a pretty bridge straddled the river which tumbled down over rocks

I started the climb up the other side of the gorge. Unlike the first side, the track here had been extensively restored. Hand rails lined nearly the entire length of the track, something unusual for Greece! It was necessary though - there were steep drop-offs in places.

I stopped for a breather and noticed something unusual nearby. They looked like stalagmites and stalactites. I looked closer and realised that the cliff must have collapsed at some stage and revealed the inside of a cave. Most of the cave was filled in with rubble and rock but a few parts were still exposed. These were only about 18 inches high. This was definitely unexpected!

The track led past dramatic outcrops and under overhangs. Some of the steps were very high but very narrow. 

I wanted to go to an old mill but the track was closed. I ducked under the tape to see why and saw the track had been washed out. It's a pity as the mill looked lovely from above.

As I climbed higher, the views opened up back towards Syrrako.

As I approached Kalarites, the views were incredible!

Kalarites seemed much nicer than Syrrako - it was a living, breathing village and had a much better feel about it, even though it wasn't as beautifully restored.

I had arranged to meet John at a restaurant in the plateia, the central square that every town has. It was lovely waiting in the shade of a huge plane tree again.

Anyone for a sausage chop?

John turned up and had had a great ride. 

The owner of our house had mentioned that motorbikes often come to this region to ride the road to the Mparos pass. We googled it over lunch and saw it wasn't too far away. We had no idea if the road was okay for cars but we thought we'd check it out.

Oh. My. Goodness!

The road started to climb and the views just got bigger and bigger.

Soon we were above the tree line. The pass is in the lower point on the left of the mountain in this photo.

Looking behind, our road twisted off into the distance. The road was sealed and was in pretty good condition.

By now I had come to the realisation that no superlatives were able to accurately describe these mountains. They were beyond 'spectacular' or 'awe-inspiring'. I decided that HOLY SHIT! was the only way to describe them!

At the top of the pass, a mountain with a really long name that's too hard to type here towered over us.

Although it was still hot, there was a strong wind at the pass.

We saw a car come up to the pass on a different road. We asked the driver what it was like. He was from Lithuania and his answer was that his wife didn't like it! The road looked intriguing so we thought we'd test it out.

The road was rougher than the first one but it was fine. Cows grazed the steep hillsides.

In some places, guard rails had been damaged and were strewn down the hill. I'm pretty sure they were damaged by landslides, not car accidents. At least I hope that's the case!

Kapow! The views just kept coming.

This sign is so strange. There are hairpin bends everywhere in this part of the world and there are no signs indicating them. I don't know why this bend got the special treatment! 

As we came back down below the tree line, there was the occasional farm. They love Limousin cattle here. Apparently Angus are too fatty for them!

What an incredible day we had! It's one I'll remember for a long time.

The heat continued to rage. We were getting up at first light to walk and ride before the worst of the heat. 

On one of my walks I found a real fulling mill! It was a public one and was only a few years old. 

A man had just finished washing four blankets in it. There were rails to hang them on to dry. We got chatting, and talked for 15 minutes or so, even though his English wasn't much better than my Greek!

One stinking hot day - it was 42 degrees - we decided to go for a swim. The owner of our apartment gave us very vague directions to a local swimming spot in the river. We thought we found it. It was beautiful but so overgrown that we couldn't get down to the water, no matter how hard we tried.

There was even a lovely old stone bridge nearby.

In the end we found another spot. It was quite shallow but at least I could just sit in it. John was happy to dangle his feet in it. The water was quite cold!

Another day we tried to swim at the nearby village of Melissourgoi. We found another lovely stone bridge. Apparently there are 70 of these in the area!

The river was too far down though and there was no shade so we just went to the restaurant at the plateia instead. Again, it was a meal with a view!

This village had some great water sources. This has to be one of the prettiest spring water spots we've seen.

And this has to be the biggest one we've seen in Greece!

Just driving between villages was always spectacular.

Mt Stroggoula towered over Pramanta.

In a country where everything needs to earn its keep, a Shetland pony standing in the middle of the road was a surprise!

We drove past the same farm quite a few times and there were sometimes pigs out on the road. They were so cute!

But the best one of all was a mother pig with a clutch of squealing piglets behind her. It was a really hot day (again!) and she finally gave in to their demands and just flopped down in the sun and let 'em have it!

Around the villages, many people paint up old feta cheese tins and use them as colourful planters.

We had lunch at the village of Matsouki one day. The only food we could get was one type of pizza! The village was very pretty though (through the power lines).

Colourful paintings of saints lined the inside walls of the stone church in the plateia.

Another day I did a not so pleasant walk to a waterfall. The track was steep and covered in scree in parts, making walking difficult. It had a lovely section that led through a fir forest though.

I started another walk from the famous Plaka Bridge, the longest single-span bridge in the Balkans. The bridge was originally built in 1860 but didn't survive and was replaced in 1863. The new bridge then dramatically collapsed on the day of its official opening! Its replacement, built in 1866, marked the border between Greece and the Ottoman Empire from 1880 to 1912. It's hard to imagine that where we are staying now was once part of the Ottoman Empire. This bridge survived until 2015 when it was wiped out by a flood. By 2020 the new bridge that we see today was built, using as much of the original stone as possible. I walked over it and it was so steep that it was difficult to climb up and I had to hang on to the side to keep my balance to go down the other side!

We visited another Kipina Monastery. It hung spectacularly on the side of a cliff.

To enter, we had to cross a drawbridge. It was over a drop and in times of trouble, this was raised. I can't see how anyone could get past it then!

We entered into a large room. To go any further we had to duck down and walk through a gap between a wall and the cliff. Cool!

The rooms that we could see looked surprisingly comfortable.

The winch system that's used to raise and lower the drawbridge. Apparently there's also a huge cave that can hold hundreds of people to keep them safe from invaders.

The monastery is quite well disguised. Can you see it in the picture below?

Due to different accommodations being available at different times, after two nights in Pramanta we switched to another place outside Ktistades, which was the next village over. I was looking forward to this place as it looked beautiful and was in a rural location. 

The  day we arrived was around 40 degrees and it had been hot for the few days prior. The house was as expected - a gorgeous double-story stone house dripping in greenery set on maybe half an acre a bit out of the village. The owner, Thomas, showed us around and we noticed that it was quite hot upstairs where the beds were. There were freestanding fans but no aircon. As it was the afternoon when we arrived, there was nothing we could do to cool the upstairs area down. We estimate that when we went to bed, the bedroom was about 35 degrees! I simply could not sleep. In the end I took a pillow and tried to sleep on a couch downstairs where it was a bit cooler, but still didn't have much success. It was a shame because we otherwise loved this place.

After that, we managed to cool it down quite a bit by opening windows at night and dragging the cooler air in with the fans. One of my great delights of this place was lying in bed being a bit warm then a gentle waft of cooler air would come through the small window next to me. It was like opening a fridge door. It was wonderful!

Tables and chairs sat under shady trees outside the house. It was a lovely spot.

Inside the house was a collection of walking sticks. Homemade walking sticks are pretty big around here and we often see older people and hikers using them. They're really cool!

Being in a rural location, we saw a bit more wildlife here. One day I saw four tortoises, some on my walk and some around our house. We saw tortoises most days. There were also small, dark squirrels.

My favourites though were the foxes. Our house seems to be in the territory of a group of them. One night John went to close the front door and saw three foxes on our patio. They saw him and just watched him. They were pretty tame. Another day, I walked outside the back door to get the washing just as a fox came cantering around the corner of the house. We gave each other such a fright that he or she yelped in surprise. He or she then stopped about five metres away and just checked me out. How lovely!

There was only one place to eat in Ksistades. Strangely, the lovely worker there was called Freedom! Most of the time she was the cook, dishwasher and waitress all in one. She was so sweet.

John's bike parked under a plane tree at the plateia at the restaurant.

Just up the road was a cave. It was ok but it wasn't up there on the list of best caves we've seen, lol. It had lots of stalactites.

After nearly a week of sizzling weather, rain was forecast. We had a bit of rain in the morning but it wasn't much. Then, in the afternoon, thunder started to rumble. Then it rained. I really rained. We had all the doors and windows open trying to get as much of the cooler air in as possible. 

During a gap in the rain we headed out in the car, only to find that it started to rain again. It poured so hard that the roads were awash with water and we had to pull over. Water poured from drains in retaining walls and rushed down the roads. Then it started to hail which was strange as it was still quite warm. We sat on the side of the road planning where to go if the hail got to car-damaging size but it didn't. It was all a wonderful reprieve from the heat.

When the rain eased a bit, we drove to dinner at Agnanta, yet another gorgeous little village. We found a restaurant and were happy to have hot food for a change as the rain continued on and off outside. The waitress here was such fun. Within five minutes she had told John she loved him and five minutes later said that she could see my love for John in my eyes! She was a very loving kind of woman!

Sometimes as we drove around, the views would catch us by surprise, even when we knew they were there. This is the view from where we always parked our car at the Ksistades restaurant. 

We still have a few more mountainous areas to see but I don't think anything can beat this. It was really something special.

See you soon!
Heather and John