Mainly a day of road walking so a faster pace than yesterday.
Several rock falls and fallen trees blocked the dirt track I was following up to the village of Mandrine. Fortunately I was able to follow a path across these obstacles made by some helpful cows and reach the very quiet village. Only one house had smoke coming from it, the rest had their shutters firmly closed. The cafe beside the church had been shut for some time so I had a snack from my stock on one of the benches in the adjoining square. I followed the road, initially on gravel and later tarmac, to the village of Leyka, which was similarly shut up, and on to Grammene Oxya. Only one car had passed me on this section (with a dog following it).
Diverting into Grammene Oxya, impressed by its long name, I found a cafe open in the central square, beneath the typical plane trees. An English speaking customer helped me order some coffee, sweet Easter bread and biscuits. He confirmed what I had been told yesterday, that the houses in mountain villages like this one were only occupied in the summer, with only 5 or 6 people living in this village all year round. He also paid for my coffee in a kind gesture.
I continued along the winding road, now slightly more busy, stopping to visit a monastery. It no longer had monks but some workmen were doing some restoration work on the paths. One of the them offered me a cube of Loukoumi, the Greek version of Turkish Delight, and poured me a drink from a mineral water bottle to accompany it. I drank, mistakenly thinking it was water, but of course it was some spirit, maybe tsipouro. However it went well with the Loukoumi.
Some kilometres later I arrived at Artotina, a slightly bigger village, ready for a late lunch, which I ate at a cafe in the typical main square - pork in red sauce with fried potatoes and tsatziki. A caged bird tweeted in the background while I ate.
A couple who stopped their car as I was walking said there was a hotel in Artotina, however, tomorrow's walk looked difficult and I expected slow progress, so I pushed on for a few more kilometres. After walking down to the base of the valley it was up a barely discernable path on the other side. Reaching a promontary with some flat ground (not so common in the Pindus mountains) at about the same height as Artotina, I made camp for the night. Black clouds are gathering as I write this.
30.2 kilometres walked today with a total ascent of 1270 metres.
A GPX file of my route can be downloaded from wikiloc.com, or from myViewRanger short code johnpon0042.
Several rock falls and fallen trees blocked the dirt track I was following up to the village of Mandrine. Fortunately I was able to follow a path across these obstacles made by some helpful cows and reach the very quiet village. Only one house had smoke coming from it, the rest had their shutters firmly closed. The cafe beside the church had been shut for some time so I had a snack from my stock on one of the benches in the adjoining square. I followed the road, initially on gravel and later tarmac, to the village of Leyka, which was similarly shut up, and on to Grammene Oxya. Only one car had passed me on this section (with a dog following it).
Diverting into Grammene Oxya, impressed by its long name, I found a cafe open in the central square, beneath the typical plane trees. An English speaking customer helped me order some coffee, sweet Easter bread and biscuits. He confirmed what I had been told yesterday, that the houses in mountain villages like this one were only occupied in the summer, with only 5 or 6 people living in this village all year round. He also paid for my coffee in a kind gesture.
I continued along the winding road, now slightly more busy, stopping to visit a monastery. It no longer had monks but some workmen were doing some restoration work on the paths. One of the them offered me a cube of Loukoumi, the Greek version of Turkish Delight, and poured me a drink from a mineral water bottle to accompany it. I drank, mistakenly thinking it was water, but of course it was some spirit, maybe tsipouro. However it went well with the Loukoumi.
Some kilometres later I arrived at Artotina, a slightly bigger village, ready for a late lunch, which I ate at a cafe in the typical main square - pork in red sauce with fried potatoes and tsatziki. A caged bird tweeted in the background while I ate.
A couple who stopped their car as I was walking said there was a hotel in Artotina, however, tomorrow's walk looked difficult and I expected slow progress, so I pushed on for a few more kilometres. After walking down to the base of the valley it was up a barely discernable path on the other side. Reaching a promontary with some flat ground (not so common in the Pindus mountains) at about the same height as Artotina, I made camp for the night. Black clouds are gathering as I write this.
30.2 kilometres walked today with a total ascent of 1270 metres.
A GPX file of my route can be downloaded from wikiloc.com, or from myViewRanger short code johnpon0042.
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| View from road |
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| Road to Artotina |
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| Inside church of Monastery Agiou Ioanni |
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