Downhill from the mountains into the foothills and then across the coastal plain to Dion, where I visited the ancient remains.
As I had a long walk today (36 kilometres) I started while it was still dark, causing a pick up to stop (the first I had seen for over 24 hours) and ask what I was doing. People demanding something that sounds like "qui passe?" is quite a common challenge. A walker is not a common sight in these parts. I usually then say "Anglica", which is meant to mean English (and by implication I don't understand you) but people seem to confuse it with Albanian!
In walking to Dion I had been trying to follow the E4 route as marked on the Anavasi Macedonian map as there was no GPS track I could download from the Internet for this section. It is on a small scale for walking so I had devised a route that followed roads and tracks I could see on Google Earth and/or the Balkans Navitracks map on my GPS, and was broadly consistent with the path on the Anavasi map. This involved a mixture of quiet tarmaced roads, gravel tracks and the occasional rough path. I was on the correct E4 route at least occasionally as I spotted some waymarks.
I walked through the village of Ano Milia just as the sun was rising and I could see the top of Mount Olympus which I would soon be climbing before it was later lost in cloud. By the time I reached the larger village of Kato Milia its cafés and shops were open. After a coffee from the first café, a bar of chocolate from the shop next door and a flaky pastry affair from a bakery shop I was feeling ready for my first challenge.
I was concerned that the route went over a river and that I could see no sign of a bridge on Google Earth. If I could not get across, it would mean a detour of several kilometres. However, E4 waymarks leading out of Kato Milia provided reassurance, leading me to the river where there was a ford, shallow enough for me to splash across without wetting my socks. Bypassing the village of Rachi, a winding road took me to Lofus, the next village. I walked passed the first few cafés but the last one also sold cakes. In the interests of research into Greek patisserie I had a Coke and a huge flaky pastry cone filled with cream and topped with nuts. I rationalised it to myself by thinking I needed the energy for my walking.
I continued by olive groves, fields of vines, drying tobacco leaves and fields of hay. After early up and downhill sections the ground now became very flat. A busy main road took me through Karitsa and onto the village of Dion. I hoped for a hotel and was disappointed when the first one was long closed, its front yard overgrown. But a sign pointed to a second one, the "Safetis stories", opposite the museum. An elderly lady in black with a zimmer was on reception, after struggling to reach it she pressed a bell and another lady thankfully gave me a room, a few rooms in fact, it was an apartment. I was very thankful as I was very dirty, smelly and unshaven from five nights of wild camping. I gave her the money quickly before she changed her mind and then headed for the shower. When I had finished the soapy foam that had not drained away was a dirty brown.
Dion was an important town from 5th century BC to 4th AD. The museum had some impressive exhibits (what was Leda doing with the swan, or vice versa?), including an early organ (the kind with organ pipes) from the first century BC. The actual ruins in the archaeological park were less impressive, there are many far better around the Mediterranean. They were also spread out and after a long day walking perhaps that made me less enthusiastic.
A GPS track of my route can be found on wikiloc.com, or you can download it on your smartphone from ViewRanger, shortcode johnpon0038.
As I had a long walk today (36 kilometres) I started while it was still dark, causing a pick up to stop (the first I had seen for over 24 hours) and ask what I was doing. People demanding something that sounds like "qui passe?" is quite a common challenge. A walker is not a common sight in these parts. I usually then say "Anglica", which is meant to mean English (and by implication I don't understand you) but people seem to confuse it with Albanian!
In walking to Dion I had been trying to follow the E4 route as marked on the Anavasi Macedonian map as there was no GPS track I could download from the Internet for this section. It is on a small scale for walking so I had devised a route that followed roads and tracks I could see on Google Earth and/or the Balkans Navitracks map on my GPS, and was broadly consistent with the path on the Anavasi map. This involved a mixture of quiet tarmaced roads, gravel tracks and the occasional rough path. I was on the correct E4 route at least occasionally as I spotted some waymarks.
I walked through the village of Ano Milia just as the sun was rising and I could see the top of Mount Olympus which I would soon be climbing before it was later lost in cloud. By the time I reached the larger village of Kato Milia its cafés and shops were open. After a coffee from the first café, a bar of chocolate from the shop next door and a flaky pastry affair from a bakery shop I was feeling ready for my first challenge.
I was concerned that the route went over a river and that I could see no sign of a bridge on Google Earth. If I could not get across, it would mean a detour of several kilometres. However, E4 waymarks leading out of Kato Milia provided reassurance, leading me to the river where there was a ford, shallow enough for me to splash across without wetting my socks. Bypassing the village of Rachi, a winding road took me to Lofus, the next village. I walked passed the first few cafés but the last one also sold cakes. In the interests of research into Greek patisserie I had a Coke and a huge flaky pastry cone filled with cream and topped with nuts. I rationalised it to myself by thinking I needed the energy for my walking.
I continued by olive groves, fields of vines, drying tobacco leaves and fields of hay. After early up and downhill sections the ground now became very flat. A busy main road took me through Karitsa and onto the village of Dion. I hoped for a hotel and was disappointed when the first one was long closed, its front yard overgrown. But a sign pointed to a second one, the "Safetis stories", opposite the museum. An elderly lady in black with a zimmer was on reception, after struggling to reach it she pressed a bell and another lady thankfully gave me a room, a few rooms in fact, it was an apartment. I was very thankful as I was very dirty, smelly and unshaven from five nights of wild camping. I gave her the money quickly before she changed her mind and then headed for the shower. When I had finished the soapy foam that had not drained away was a dirty brown.
Dion was an important town from 5th century BC to 4th AD. The museum had some impressive exhibits (what was Leda doing with the swan, or vice versa?), including an early organ (the kind with organ pipes) from the first century BC. The actual ruins in the archaeological park were less impressive, there are many far better around the Mediterranean. They were also spread out and after a long day walking perhaps that made me less enthusiastic.
A GPS track of my route can be found on wikiloc.com, or you can download it on your smartphone from ViewRanger, shortcode johnpon0038.
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| My first confident sighting of Mount Olympus before it clouded over. It seemed most clear of clouds early in the morning. |
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| I took these to be tobacco leaves drying |
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| Ancient remains at Dion |
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