Evia

Walking in the mountains of Evia

 

It was June 1 and temperatures in the Aegean were starting to rise to the high 30s, so we decided to head north to the island of Evia where we hoped to find cooler weather. Evia is Greece’s second largest island after Crete and sits just off the eastern Greek mainland.  We had read that the island was still relatively unspoilt and had some beautiful spots inland, so it was on our list to visit.



The harbour at Karystos

 

Our first stop was the town of Karystos on the southern tip of the island.  Set deep in a bay with mountains rising behind, it’s an unsophisticated place that’s off the radar for most charterers and the main quay in the harbour was almost deserted, so we had the luxury of tying up alongside. A quick visit to the Venetian castle was followed by a trip to the local supermarket for provisions.  The next morning we set off early for our sail north through the Gulf of Evoikos which separates Evia from the Greek mainland. 

 

Bourtzi Castle at Karystos

 

The sail from Karystos up through the gulf was both fun and challenging, as the geography of the gulf means that the winds are constantly changing. So to begin with the wind blew down the channel from the Aegean giving us a good downwind sail, then it abruptly changed to ‘on the nose’ as the steep mountains created a katabatic effect.  Later it died altogether, only to come back a hour or so later, from yet another direction.

The wind finally dropped as we entered the very pretty, sheltered inlet of Almiropotamos  and we moored on the quay at the tiny village of Panagia. We couldn’t believe our luck in finding such a lovely, unspoilt spot. The village was surrounded by wooded hills on three sides and had a stream running down the middle of the main street with ducks swimming on it. Just along from the quay there was a small sandy beach shaded by trees and we looked forward to an early morning dip the following day.

The weather closes in at Panagia

 

Be careful what you wish for. We had hoped for cooler weather and the next morning we certainly got it. We woke to dark skies and drizzle, then we had thunderstorms, more rain and high winds. It rained and the wind blew for two days as we huddled in the warmest corner of the village café poring over the weather reports on our laptop. We eventually saw a pattern emerging. The unsettled, stormy weather seemed to be sitting over northern Evia and the Sporade islands, while further south the Aegean was still enjoying  the sunshine, so we decided to head south again to the Cyclades and better weather.  

But before we left Evia for good we wanted to visit the mountains and the Dimosari Gorge, and talking to the friendly locals in Panagia we had discovered that the best way to do this was to join an organised walk run by a travel agency in Karystos.  The next day we sailed back down to Karystos and the following morning we joined a group of Greek Cypriots, a German and a Russian family who were all boarding the coach for the walk.

Ochi mountain - worth the hair raising drive

 

The drive to the summit of the mountains and the start of the gorge was terrifying.  We soon turned off the main road onto narrow, unmade tracks that wound up the mountain with sheer drops to the side. It was hard to believe they were taking a coach on a track made for off road vehicles. It was so steep that in several places the coach wheels couldn’t grip the road and began to slide backwards. As everyone took a deep breath the driver slammed the brakes on, jumped out, grabbed a shovel from the luggage compartment and moved the grit around until the wheels could get enough purchase to start moving again.

The view when we reached the summit was just stunning. The valley between the mountains was covered in lush vegetation and carpeted with spring flowers.  At first the descent into the gorge was very steep and slippery as the path criss-crossed rocky streams. But then the path flattened out and opened up to amazing views across the valley.  Here the undergrowth had grown so high that occasionally even Cliff was enveloped in it.



Cliff hidden in the undergrowth

 

Eventually we reached the point where the path followed the river as it tumbled down through the rocks. Here we were walking though ancient woods with the sunlight filtering through the trees. I wandered along completely absorbed by the trees, plants and quality of light, then suddenly something came thundering down the hillside and nearly collided with me. I screamed, and the poor thing ran for its life.  It was a wild pig, and subsequently we saw a whole family snuffling around in the muddy bank by the river.

Spot the wild pig!

 

As we continued walking down, the river turned into a series of waterfalls and our animal encounters continued as foxes, goats and donkeys crossed our path.  We were also amazed by the huge variety of flowers, the most spectacular being the Drancunculus Vulgaris or ‘Stink Lily’ which smells strongly of rotting flesh!

The Stink Lily

Waterfall in the gorge

 

After five hours we finally reached the end of the gorge. By this time we were both pretty tired and my legs were shaking from so much downhill walking. We were met by the coach driver who was now in a car, and seemed to be offering a lift back down to the coach pick up point. We had read that the end of the gorge was just a kilometre from the village, so we decided to let some of the rest of the group get a lift in the car while we did last bit on foot. It was only when we got to the village that we realised the coach was parked down by the beach – which meant we still had another 3 kilometres to go before we finished! Needless to say, we were both exhausted by the time we got there, but we agreed it had been one of the best days so far this year.

 

 

Kythnos

Dhropidha on Kythnos

On 27^th May we upped anchor and set off for the 50 mile sail (or, as it turned out motor sail) from Poros to Kythnos, one of the islands in the Northern Cyclades. These islands sit in the middle of the Aegean sea between Greece and Turkey and are known for the strong summer wind (the Meltimi) which regularly blows at gale force. We chose a quiet day  our crossing, but the following night gale force winds screamed through the harbour and we were very grateful that we were safely tucked inside. 

The port of Loutra

Our destination was the small village of Loutra, which is typically Cycladean,   with white ‘cubist’ houses standing out against the bare hills and a wonderfully blue sea.  It’s known for its thermal springs, and you can either pay to bathe in the healing waters in a rather forbidding spa building, or do as we did, follow the rusty red, hot water running through the village down to the sea and have an ‘outdoor’ spa experience sitting in a hot rock pool.

With more strong winds forecast we decided to hire a car for a day and explore. The island has very few good beaches and so has remained relatively undeveloped, reminding us of how the Cyclades used to be when we visited them as backpackers in the 70s. The older generation still use donkeys as their preferred method of transport and the side roads quickly peter out into unmade tracks.  

Hora...not a butcher in sight

Hora, the capital of the island, is an attractive maze of whitewashed buildings built on tiny winding streets and alleyways. I spent an entertaining half hour trying to find a butcher there. Nobody spoke English and I couldn’t remember the word for butcher, so it was down to mime and animal impressions to explain what I wanted.  I was directed further down the main street but still couldn’t see anywhere selling meat, perhaps they hadn’t understood? I tried my cow impression on a second woman who took me by the arm and marched me into a tiny grocery store.  The owner signalled for me to follow him through to the back where he opened a big metal door and there was the meat, sensibly kept in cold storage.  

Where did the other half go?

After this we drove over hills carpeted with spring flowers to Dhryopidha, the biggest town on the island and its former  capital. The contrast with Hora was striking, here  red-roofed houses cling to the side of a pine-covered ravine and it looks more Spanish than Greek.

The rooftops of Dhryopidha

Exploring Dhryophida

Further down the island we found the pretty beach resort of Kanala where we stopped for lunch. We spotted a taverna on the headland with wonderful views across the bay, but when we got there the place was empty and we wondered whether they were serving food. The owner welcomed us and invited us inside, and explained he had a limited menu, but could make caper rissoles. Caper rissoles? Our only experience of eating capers was as a topping on pizza but we decided to give it a go, and, amazingly, they were delicious!

Caper rissoles (the chips were good too)

Through the Corinth canal to the Aegean

Motoring through the Corinth canal

Our friends Melanie and Derek arrived on 17^th May to spend a week with us on the boat. We were up early the next day ready to sail through the Corinth canal to the Aegean. We called up the canal office to ask if we could go through and were told to proceed to the canal as quickly as possible. But first we had to escape from the tight corner we were moored in. It wouldn’t be easy with the wind blowing us on to the small boat moorings, but Cliff had the brilliant idea of backing the genoa to turn the boat into the narrow channel, and it worked a treat.

Once out we steamed down to meet up with three other boats that were getting ready to transit. We were told to follow a motor launch and quickly found ourselves in the canal with the walls towering high above us. In less than an hour we were out the other side and mooring up to pay a whopping 180 euro fee for the privilege!

With Melanie and Derek at Angistri harbour

There was so little wind that we had to motor sail from the canal down to the small island of Angistri, but as we arrived the wind suddenly got up, making mooring in the harbour a difficult business. It took us two attempts to get in, providing lots of entertainment for the other boats who were already on the quay!

The theatre at Epidaurus


After a couple of relaxing days on Angistri we moved on to the busy port of Epidaurus where we took a taxi to the nearby ancient site of Epidaurus. This was originally a sanctuary for healing but the main attraction is the impressive, 14,000 seat theatre which is set among the rolling green hills and still used for performances today.  We enjoyed wandering around the theatre and the museum and would have like to have had more time to explore the huge site with its stadium, temple and sanctuary, but it was very hot and the taxi was waiting so we will have to return another time.

The smaller theatre on the headland

 

Back at the port we were told there were the remains of another theatre on the headland, so we set out on a very pleasant early evening stroll along the beach and then inland through orange and lemon groves until we found the theatre (small, but still impressive) and other remains that are still being excavated. The remains are on a rise just above the sea, and apparently you can still see the foundations of the old town in the shallows below.

Sunset at Poros



Our final stop with Melanie and Derek was Poros, the main town on the island of the same name. We have fond memories of a week we spent here with Melanie and Derek  over 30 years ago! The town is as lovely now as it was then, spanning two sides of the headland with views across the narrow strait to the mountains on the mainland. We moored on the north quay and were quite smug about the location which was away from noisy bars and had a perfect view of the sunset.



Cliff with the broken boarding plank

We weren’t far from the ferry dock and had read there could be some wash, so we made sure the boat was pulled well off the quay. The first few ferries produced a bit of a bumpy wash, but nothing prepared us for the tidal wave that came when one of the ferries did a fast turn. Sandpiper suddenly surged backwards, and the ball fender we had positioned on the back crashed violently into the quayside.  The next day as we lowered the gangplank to go ashore we had another ‘tidal wave’. This drove the boat towards the quay and pinned the plank under a mooring cleat then bounced it up and down so violently that it cracked and splintered all down one side. The plank was new this season – and was now useless! Luckily we still had our old (rather dodgy) metal passerelle so this was put into use until we could find a replacement plank. Once Melanie and Derek had left to take the ferry back to Athens we moved round to the South Quay away from the ferries, reasoning that a bit of noise from the bars was a lot better than a damaged boat.

We were really sad to see Melanie and Derek go. They had been brilliant company for the week, up for anything and always making us laugh!

Time out in Corinth

The original engine for the rack and pinion railway

 

11th May With strong winds predicted (again!) we sailed down to Corinth where we knew there was a safe harbour. We were greeted by Jonathon, a bushy-bearded, eccentric English seafarer who has made Corinth his home and acts as an unofficial harbour master guiding boats into the berths. He suggested we took a tight space in the corner of the harbour in among the local boats. It was tricky manoeuvring between the mooring buoys, but once in we were well protected. The one disadvantage was the slight spray that came over the harbour wall when the wind got up. I made the mistake of leaving my washing out one day when we went out, and came back to find it nicely salted!

On the train cutting through the Vouraikos gorge

As the wind was too strong for sailing we decided to hire a car and visit a couple of must-see places on our list. The first was the rack and pinion railway which runs from Diakopto through the Vouraikos Gorge to the alpine town of Kalavryta. The railway was built in 1896, and part of the line runs along a shallow shelf that’s been cut into to the side of the sheer rock in the gorge. The ride was exciting and provided some great views along the gorge and down to the rapids. Then, as we came out of canyon, the scenery opened up to reveal Kalavryta in an alpine valley that wouldn’t look amiss in Switzerland.

Memorial at the Museum of the Sacrifice of the People of Kalavryta

It’s hard to believe that such a beautiful place has a dark history, but in 1943 the Germans staged a savage reprisal against local members of the Greek Resistance here. The German soldiers locked all the women and children, along with a few prisoners of war, in the primary school and set it on fire, while over 500 men and boys were marched up to a ridge above the town where they were summarily shot. Fortunately the prisoners of war managed to break the school doors down so most of women and children were able to escape, but their husbands and sons were already dead.


Memorial at the site of the massacre



We visited the small museum recording the events, which was built on the site of the school, then walked up to the ridge where there is a memorial to the men. It’s a peaceful spot, with only the sound of the wind in the pines and the tinkling of goat bells to break the silence, and we both felt incredibly moved as we looked back down over the town and valley and contemplated all that had gone on there.

The fortified city of Acrocorinth

The next day we were joined by fellow sailors Martin and Debbie for a drive up to see the ruins of the medieval city of Acrocorinth. The old city is  perched on a 500m high mass of rock a few miles from modern Corinth and was one of Greece’s best fortified sites. There’s not a lot of the old city left, but site gives you stunning views across to the islands of the Aegean on one side and the Gulf of Corinth on the other.

Remains of a medieval chapel



Wonderful views from the top

Back down at ground level, we decided to go and have look at the Corinth Canal as we would be we sailing through it in a couple of days’ time.  It’s slightly scary walking along the pedestrian bridge and looking down the 300 feet of sheer limestone to the narrow canal below. We hadn’t realised quite how long it is (4 miles) and we were duly impressed by the engineering that went into its construction at the end of the 19^th century.
 

The Corinth canal





Earthquakes and ruins

The impressive Rion-Adirrion suspension bridge

8^th May After leaving Messolonghi we sailed towards the new Rion-Andirrion suspension bridge near Patras, which links the Peloponnese peninsular with the mainland. We had to call Rion Traffic when we were a mile away to be told which part of the bridge we should pass under to avoid meeting with some of the large cargo boats coming the other way. We were instructed ‘one pillar to the left, three to the right’ and sailed under the impressive bridge with hardly any other boats in sight.

Sunken yacht in Trizonia marina

We stopped for the night on the pretty, tiny island of Trizonia, mooring in an ‘unfinished’ marina. There seem to be a lot of these in Greece now, we’ve been told that the government loaned money to local councils so that more marinas could be built to attract visitors, but they have remained unfinished to avoid having to pay back the grant. Whatever the reason, they are a gift to yachtsmen who can moor there for free. Sadly, in Trizonia the marina has also become the resting place for abandoned yachts. We saw several rotting hulks tied up alongside and a ketch had sunk between the pontoons.

We had a great sail down from Trizonia to Itea, where we planned to stop to take a trip up to Delphi.  At around 6.30 following morning we were woken by an explosion that rocked the boat. We shot up on deck expecting the worst but could see nothing. Cliff was convinced it was an earthquake while I thought it more likely that someone had been rock blasting nearby. Well, Cliff was right, we later discovered there was earthquake (4.3 on the Richter scale) with its epicentre just a few miles away!

The amphitheatre at Delphi

Later that morning we took the bus to visit Delphi, which was built in a spectacular setting high on the mountain overlooking the valley that goes down to Gulf. This is the site of the Ancient Oracle, where, from around the 8^th century BC onwards, pilgrims, including kings and generals, would come to seek divine direction on anything from war to their love life. They submitted their questions to a priestess who went into a trance and gave an unintelligible answer which was then translated by a priest. It’s thought that the priestess was a local villager who sat on her tripod inhaling ethylene gas that leaked up through the rocks, which would account for her ‘trance-like’ state!

The Tholos, Delphi

Delphi is an impressive site with temples, a theatre and a stadium, but it’s the setting that makes it special. We were lucky to visit when it was relatively quiet with only the occasional group of tourists disturbing the peace.

Temple of Apollo, Delphi

 

Vathi and Messolonghi

Vathi on Ithaca

 

We left Lefkas on 30^th April to start our journey towards the Aegean. We had a perfect two hour downwind sail in the sunshine to one of our favourite spots, Spartahori on the island of Meganisi, where we had an excellent evening in the beachside taverna.

The next day the wind refused to appear so we had to motor down to Vathi on the pretty, pine clad island of Ithaca. As we slowed and got ready to moor in the harbour the engine cut out. We started it up and it was fine, but as soon as we slowed it stopped again. We managed to keep it going long enough to moor alongside then Cliff spent a frustrating hour checking everything in the engine but couldn’t find the problem.

We had hoped to make the most of some good westerly winds to cross from Ithaca to the Gulf of Patras the next day, but instead we had to wait around for an engineer, who took two hours to find the fault (a tiny air leak in the fuel pipe) and another hour to replace it. We then had to hand over a very large wad of euros, not a good start to the season!

The motor had a good test the next day as the wind was on the nose for most of the 7 hour crossing to Messolonghi. As we approached the harbour black clouds gathered and we just managed to finish tying up before the heavens opened and it poured with rain.

Statue of Byron in Messolonghi

 

Messolonghi is a peaceful spot, set on a flat plain surrounded by shallow lagoons and marshes and backed by magnificent mountains. It is here that Lord Byron died in 1824. When he arrived at the town he was made commander in chief of an army that was fighting the Ottomans. He died of fever before he could lead the army into battle but still became a Greek national hero, and we visited the statue dedicated to him in the local park.

Fisherman's house

We spent a couple of lazy days in Messolonghi while we waited for some strong winds and storms to blow through. We had a great cycle ride along a causeway between the lagoons where the local fishermen live in houses on stilts and trawl the shallow waters in oriental-looking boats. The area is full of wildlife and we spotted turtles, egrets, pelicans and even flamingos.

Fishing boats on the lagoon


 



Flamingos on the lagoon

Pindus mountains in Greece

The Vikos Gorge

We flew back from the UK to Athens on 5^th March and after a night in a hotel we made the 5 hour bus journey from Athens to Lefkas. The journey was brilliant, a comfortable, air conditioned bus that drove down along the Gulfs of Corinth and Patras, giving us panoramic views of the snow clad mountains of the Peloponnese towering above us and the coast and sea below.

We arrived back in Lefkas to be greeted with gale force winds and pouring rain, much like the weather we’d had all winter in the UK! We've found the  weather here is very changeable in the spring: one day it’s hot and sunny and we’re out on deck in t shirts and shorts, the next there can be thunderstorms with hail and we’re down below with the heater on full blast.

After three weeks of getting the boat ready for the sailing season we decided to hire a car and escape to the Pindus mountains for a few days. Our destination was the mountain village of Monodhendhri near to the Albanian border, it's up near to snow line and at the mouth of the Vikos gorge, which is the deepest in the world. 

Ioannina on Lake Pamvotidha

To get there we took a scenic route that follows the river through gorges to the lakeside town of Ioannina where we stopped for lunch. This is now a fast growing, modern capital of the Epirus region, but it was under Turkish rule for almost 500 years, from 1430 to 1913, and wandering through the old citadel with its two mosques and wood and stone houses we felt we had been transported to Turkey. It was on our list of places to see as it housed the court of Ali Pasha, one of the cruellest Ottoman rulers who wreaked havoc on this area and thought nothing of having his adversaries beheaded then thrown in the lake.

Gate to the Old Citadel in Ioannina

Local craft exhibition



The old mosque from the Citadel

Leaving Ioannina we wound our way up into the mountains through alpine pastures (having to stop occasionally to let the cows cross the road) until we reached Monodhendhri, a lovely old stone village clinging to the hillside. Our hotel was built entirely of wood and stone and was tastefully furnished with antiques. Our bedroom was very cosy with a wood burning fireplace and a view from the balcony of snow-capped mountain tops. However, when we went down to the restaurant for dinner we found we were eating alone with two wall mounted televisions for company, blasting out two competing Greek programmes, which rather spoilt the ambience!

The 'Stone Forest' near Monodhendhri

Cliff at the Vikos Gorge

 It was early in the tourist season and we hardly met a soul as we hiked between mountain villages and around the edge of gorge the next day. The views down into the gorge were spectacular and we were also fascinated by the pack horse bridges that spanned the rivers. These were built entirely from dry stones (no cement) in the 18^th and 19^th century and are still in use as foot bridges today.

Plakidas stone bridge at Kipi

We made two important stops on the drive back down to Lefkas: one to visit the site of the Oracle of Zeus at Dodona where, in 1900 BC people came to find out what the future held for them, and then to visit the temple of IKEA, where in 2014 people come to discover the future of home furnishings!

Dodona, site of the Oracle of Zeus