A short walk up into the Taygetos mountains through an impressive gorge.
I woke early to the sound of heavy rain pounding my flysheet and grumbling thunder. Fortunately my tent was watertight and as breakfast was not served until 8 am, I snuggled deeper into my sleeping bag for a pleasant sensation of warmth and security if not sleep.
There was a choice of routes today. The maps indicate that the official route is up a vehicle track behind the modern village of Mystras, I checked out the start of it last night, various E4 signs pointed in the expected direction. However yesterday I also spotted E4 signs near the Mystras ruins, pointing in an entirely different direction, I could not say where they would take you. The third route, advocated by various sources, is up a gorge starting at the village of Paroreio, marked with orange triangles. Although concerned about paddling through water, I went for this gorge option. Fortunately no water crossings were required, the path was well made and well used, following a metal pipe. Although not difficult to walk upon, it was an adventurous route as the path was on the side of a steep slope, and in places, dug into a cliff. Looking ahead it was difficult to see what route the path could take, but it's makers always found some way. The gorge itself was impressive, especially looking down it and seeing Sparta in the distance between large orangy cliffs. In one place a chapel had been built in a shallow cave.
At the top of the gorge (by the inevitable church) my path joined the official E4 route. Then it was on an easy vehicle track and a road climbing upwards towards the village of Anavryti. Beyond the trees I could see snowy peaks, looking closer than I knew them to be. Following the road was a bit of a mistake. Although it was the route on my GPS, I subsequently found E4 signs that take you off the road, down paths, past a church and some houses, a more interesting route.
Anavryti is a scattered community, at one time it housed 4000 people now there were barely 40 or 50 permanent inhabitants according to the couple running the Archontiko guesthouse where I am staying. Most of the people emigrated to New York, but many still return to their ancestral homes in the village during the summer. It's similar to the story I have been told in other villages. The guesthouse, run by George and Mary, is in what used to be the doctor's house, built in the 1930's they have tried to preserve the original features and character.
Dinner at the guesthouse, home cooked by Mary, was very good (salt beef, beetroot, Greek salad, Greek pasta with chicken) although I probably drank more of the wine than I should have. George, together with Rolf, looks after the E4 in the Peloponnese on a voluntary basis. For this evening he sketched me a map of a much shorter walk from the village. The walk led to a little chapel in a cave, on the way there was an abundance of flowers among the rocks and stones. Not a path that you were likely to find yourself.
A mere 9.1 kilometres walked today with a 620 metre ascent.
I woke early to the sound of heavy rain pounding my flysheet and grumbling thunder. Fortunately my tent was watertight and as breakfast was not served until 8 am, I snuggled deeper into my sleeping bag for a pleasant sensation of warmth and security if not sleep.
There was a choice of routes today. The maps indicate that the official route is up a vehicle track behind the modern village of Mystras, I checked out the start of it last night, various E4 signs pointed in the expected direction. However yesterday I also spotted E4 signs near the Mystras ruins, pointing in an entirely different direction, I could not say where they would take you. The third route, advocated by various sources, is up a gorge starting at the village of Paroreio, marked with orange triangles. Although concerned about paddling through water, I went for this gorge option. Fortunately no water crossings were required, the path was well made and well used, following a metal pipe. Although not difficult to walk upon, it was an adventurous route as the path was on the side of a steep slope, and in places, dug into a cliff. Looking ahead it was difficult to see what route the path could take, but it's makers always found some way. The gorge itself was impressive, especially looking down it and seeing Sparta in the distance between large orangy cliffs. In one place a chapel had been built in a shallow cave.
At the top of the gorge (by the inevitable church) my path joined the official E4 route. Then it was on an easy vehicle track and a road climbing upwards towards the village of Anavryti. Beyond the trees I could see snowy peaks, looking closer than I knew them to be. Following the road was a bit of a mistake. Although it was the route on my GPS, I subsequently found E4 signs that take you off the road, down paths, past a church and some houses, a more interesting route.
Anavryti is a scattered community, at one time it housed 4000 people now there were barely 40 or 50 permanent inhabitants according to the couple running the Archontiko guesthouse where I am staying. Most of the people emigrated to New York, but many still return to their ancestral homes in the village during the summer. It's similar to the story I have been told in other villages. The guesthouse, run by George and Mary, is in what used to be the doctor's house, built in the 1930's they have tried to preserve the original features and character.
Dinner at the guesthouse, home cooked by Mary, was very good (salt beef, beetroot, Greek salad, Greek pasta with chicken) although I probably drank more of the wine than I should have. George, together with Rolf, looks after the E4 in the Peloponnese on a voluntary basis. For this evening he sketched me a map of a much shorter walk from the village. The walk led to a little chapel in a cave, on the way there was an abundance of flowers among the rocks and stones. Not a path that you were likely to find yourself.
A mere 9.1 kilometres walked today with a 620 metre ascent.
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| Path up gorge |
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| Anavryti |
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| Anavryti at night |
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