Great Journey 🏍 Day 235
The Menalon Trail is a long-distance hiking trail in 5 daily stages. It leads past old mountain villages and several monasteries, some of which appear to be "glued" to the rocks, and through the Lousios Gorge.
We decide to walk one or two day stages. This is how it works here: you reel off the kilometres and either go to the next hostel, which then organises your luggage, or have someone pick you up at a pre-arranged time and bring you back. We decide on the latter, because, yes, because, hm, we don't know any more.
So we set off early in the morning. Just getting going was not so easy, the breakfast at the hotel was simply heavenly, a digestive nap would also have been appropriate.
So, we start walking. Stony zigzag paths downhill. Very steep downhill. Of course I had done some research and thought, OK, down the valley and then along the gorge. But fiddlesticks: in the gorge means here: zigzag up the right rock wall for the first monastery, zigzag down again, over the bridge, the same game then left, clear, up to the monastery. Then it was down-over-up-down-over-up.
At the first monastery, Philosophou, we briefly visit the walls, unpack our "leftover breakfast" and try to have a picnic. But we didn't count on the host, here in the form of at least 12 cats. They meow like crazy, jump on us and on our table and we snack in no time.
We continue - of course, down again - to the river Lousios, which has already picked up speed here and is noisy like the Verzasca in Ticino. Old stone bridges or modern stainless steel bridges (EU signs inform us about the financier) lead us over and over. However, the river does what it wants and splashes beautifully over the footpaths, which moss happily away and thus become a slide.
Our feet are already wet, but we have to keep going. Up there (up again?) waits the next monastery. The Podromou Monastery. It hangs like a carving on the rock face. From here we again have a fantastic view of the valley, which we soon reach again, as we want to cross (traverse?) the river.
Arriving at the day's destination, we find the remains of the ancient city of Gortys (many old stones!) with its - today one would say - wellness temple and again one of these beautiful stone bridges. We cross the river one last time to be greeted by the cheerful honking of our pick-up service. Fresh water, oranges from his own harvest and an informative ride back in Greek (?!?) over countless serpentines end our trail.
Only when we want to get out of the taxi in Dimitsana and our legs only painfully remember their main task, we realise what today was besides beautiful: exhausting.
Info here: https://menalontrail.eu/
