A short and enjoyable walk among deciduous woodland and overgrown olive groves.
Wandering down to the cafe to drop off the key for my room (as instructed) I found the same British E4 walker I had repeatedly met over the last few days. Last night he had camped at the church at the pass before the village. I joined him for a coffee and a croissant (from a sealed plastic bag). We had a pleasant conversation about this and that in front of the cafe beside the village square, in the shade of the giant plane tree (a bit like Greek men do). He had discovered that the village shop would not be open today (or for the next month so he had been told), which meant no new supplies today.
After saying goodbye (he was heading for the coast on the other side of the Mani peninsula), I followed the E4 down a steep path to the bottom of a valley. Then I climbed up a steep path on the other side. This section was in a forest of low deciduous trees, as I was now below the altitude where pine trees grow. In places it was a well constructed and paved mule track, in others it was hard to see where the path went, you had to stand in a certain position to see the line of it. One or twice it was "hunt the yellow diamond" to see where I was meant to go.
At the top there was not one but two churches. A small one with few icons at the top of the path and a big church, which may have been a monastery (with no monks) a little way along the road at the top of the pass behind a large car park. At the enclosure of the large one, I was welcomed through the gate. Although the church was locked, the attraction was probably the view. Despite the poor visibility today, I could see the sea on both sides of the Mani peninsula plus more distant islands.
The rest of the day was on tracks and small, quiet roads that made for easy walking. Small green lizards scurried away on my approach as did a snake. At the village of Kastania the small cafe was open for my second coffee of the day. Shortly after there was a large concrete arch which seemed to commemorate the Greek war of independence after years of Ottoman rule. The afternoon's walk was past olive groves. Planted on man-made terraces built into the side of the hill, they were overgrown to varying degrees with a profusion of wild flowers. This neglect was very picturesque but probably did not help the olive crop. Among the olives were fig trees and the odd walnut and apple tree.
Reaching the village of Agios Nikolaos I needed to find Pavlos' B&B, I was however taken to Olympia's. From the e4-peloponnes.info website I thought they were two places, but in fact Pavlos and Olympia are a couple, there is one B&B not two. Dinner was at the taverna opposite although delayed as the owner was out somewhere. While waiting for his return I watched the swallows swoop around the square, periodically landing on a wire so close to me so I could see details of their reddish neck and long tail feathers. Men in pickups drove in and out of the square, children played on bikes and inside the taverna the old men played cards. The black robed priest with his top hat was in a nearby cafe having some discussion with the other customers. A very Greek village scene it seemed to me.
16 kilometres walked today with a 630 metres total ascent.
Wandering down to the cafe to drop off the key for my room (as instructed) I found the same British E4 walker I had repeatedly met over the last few days. Last night he had camped at the church at the pass before the village. I joined him for a coffee and a croissant (from a sealed plastic bag). We had a pleasant conversation about this and that in front of the cafe beside the village square, in the shade of the giant plane tree (a bit like Greek men do). He had discovered that the village shop would not be open today (or for the next month so he had been told), which meant no new supplies today.
After saying goodbye (he was heading for the coast on the other side of the Mani peninsula), I followed the E4 down a steep path to the bottom of a valley. Then I climbed up a steep path on the other side. This section was in a forest of low deciduous trees, as I was now below the altitude where pine trees grow. In places it was a well constructed and paved mule track, in others it was hard to see where the path went, you had to stand in a certain position to see the line of it. One or twice it was "hunt the yellow diamond" to see where I was meant to go.
At the top there was not one but two churches. A small one with few icons at the top of the path and a big church, which may have been a monastery (with no monks) a little way along the road at the top of the pass behind a large car park. At the enclosure of the large one, I was welcomed through the gate. Although the church was locked, the attraction was probably the view. Despite the poor visibility today, I could see the sea on both sides of the Mani peninsula plus more distant islands.
The rest of the day was on tracks and small, quiet roads that made for easy walking. Small green lizards scurried away on my approach as did a snake. At the village of Kastania the small cafe was open for my second coffee of the day. Shortly after there was a large concrete arch which seemed to commemorate the Greek war of independence after years of Ottoman rule. The afternoon's walk was past olive groves. Planted on man-made terraces built into the side of the hill, they were overgrown to varying degrees with a profusion of wild flowers. This neglect was very picturesque but probably did not help the olive crop. Among the olives were fig trees and the odd walnut and apple tree.
Reaching the village of Agios Nikolaos I needed to find Pavlos' B&B, I was however taken to Olympia's. From the e4-peloponnes.info website I thought they were two places, but in fact Pavlos and Olympia are a couple, there is one B&B not two. Dinner was at the taverna opposite although delayed as the owner was out somewhere. While waiting for his return I watched the swallows swoop around the square, periodically landing on a wire so close to me so I could see details of their reddish neck and long tail feathers. Men in pickups drove in and out of the square, children played on bikes and inside the taverna the old men played cards. The black robed priest with his top hat was in a nearby cafe having some discussion with the other customers. A very Greek village scene it seemed to me.
16 kilometres walked today with a 630 metres total ascent.
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| Old mule track |
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| Giant dandelion clock |
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| General scenery after Kastania, olive trees on terraces lower down, deciduous woodland higher up |
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