Monday June 18
Our morning started with
the delivery of our breakfast basket. The aromas of freshly baked bread and
coffee filled the room. We sat outside on the balcony and filled our tummies
with last night’s breakfast choices and our eyes with the view of the hotel’s
colourful garden.
Yorgas picked us up after
breakfast, and we set off on our journey to Demitsana in the central core of
the Peloponnese and our hike in the Lousios Gorge. The skies were dark as we
drove into Demitsana, and we checked into our hotel, the Kazas Guest House –
grabbed some lunch, donned our rain wear, and set off on the hike.
The Menalon Hike is about
75 k long and winds its way through all the little villages of the mountains; we
hiked about 10k of the first stretch of the trail in reverse, from Dimitsana heading
towards Stemnitsa. I’d rate it “moderate.”
We first hiked down to the river, over slippy stones, through gushing streams
of water rolling down the mountain side towards the river below, and protected
from the elements by the trees and bushes of the forested slopes. And, as all
seasoned hikers know, what goes down, must come up! And that we did!! We had a
couple of ups and downs with a total elevation gain for the hike of 456 m, then
quite a bit of rolling terrain. There were steps and stairs, and lots of rock,
and wild flowers, and birds, and a little bit of rain. Along the way we crossed
the river a few times over bridges. We passed, or passed through, the
monasteries of Prodhromou, Palea and Nea Filosofou and the Church of Ayios
Andreas. The hike was about 3 hours and we loved it all, especially the peacefulness
of walking through the natural world, and the tranquility provided by the monasteries.
Dimitsana is a lovely
mountain town and comes alive in winter with skiers and summer with hikers. The
switchback roads in the area are quite something, some so tight that you have
to negotiate the turn in two moves! We
left the car in Dimitsana, and called a taxi to take us back there when we had
finished.
After the hike, we freshened
up and ate dinner at a small restaurant in the town.
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