Kataras Pass, Greece: It Means Curse

We knew it was going to be a big day, so we were up at dawn and wheeling out of the campground in Meteora by 7:30 in the morning.  It was a gift of 10 level kilometers before starting to climb.  We assumed the uphill riding position and tempo, and maintained it for the next six hours, for an elevation gain of nearly 5,200 feet. 

It was bright and clear morning for our climb.  Kataras Pass is to the right of the photo. 

There were two options for getting over the pass.  One was a toll road, the Egnatia Odos, which actually traverses a lower elevation through a series of tunnels.  But since we already tried to ride a toll road in Greece and were escorted off, we assumed this was not an option.  So we headed to Greek National Road 6, but when we got to the intersection to start on it, there was just a red shield and a barricade on one half of the road.  No signs indicating if it was passable, so we went forged ahead.

A few rocks in the road...not a problem for a bicycle.

As we climbed higher we had views of the Egnatia Odos below.  An internet search tells us this section was opened in 2005, and the road we chose to take was abandoned in 2011.

Near the top is deep forest of spruce and fir.

Only a little bit of snow to slow us down.  We had a little bit of help from ruts carved by a wayward car.

At this point I could have made a few snow angels to cool down. The pass is 1,705 meters (5,594 feet) high, but snow still was around on the north-facing aspects.

At the pass -- victorious!  We later learned that Kataras means curse in Greek.  But we were pretty darn lucky to have excellent weather and to be fueled and rested before starting up.  Other than a couple of shepherds early on, we had the road to ourselves.  And the thrill of discovery and making the pass -- certainly a blessing and not a curse!

Once over, we were still on the closed section of highway, with eerily abandoned gas stations and restaurants, and this snow removal station.

Our goal for the night was to the town of Metsovo, clinging to the mountainside.

Metsovo is a winter town, and there are three ski areas in the vicinity.  We passed by this one on our descent, a bunny hill, really. 

It is the off season in the town, so we found a nice hotel with beautiful wood trim and breakfast, for 35 Euros.  It was a short walk to the grocery store, where dinner and wine were acquired.  Please note, it was not long after we were deep asleep.

The descent continued the next morning, where our road and the toll road came together again.

And water flowed downhill, just like us.

On occasion we meet a torotise, like this one crossing the road.  Finally, something travelling slower than us.  John helped this one to the other side out of the path of high-speed Greek drivers,

Where the descent finally ended, at a large resvoir near Ioannina.

Our last campsite in Greece was a in an abandoned quarry, a strange bucket list item of mine.  It was quietest we have had in the nearly four weeks we have been in Greece -- no traffic noise, no barking dogs, and just the faintest of bells from a faraway goat.

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Kastraki, Greece: Passes, Plains, and Pinnacles

Four days of cycling have passed since we left Delphi. We went up, we went down, we went across. And repeated the sequence again.  And it has brought us to a most wonderful place, where geology and human engineering meet to make something special.

We left Delphi and cycled (uphill) to Arachova, expecting only to get food but instead discovering a lovely town.  This is where many people stay when skiing at the two nearby ski resorts.  There were a fair number of upscale hotels, but also crazy small streets with steps going right down the center and an intimate town square. 

Itty bitty retired gondola cars now are a feature in a public park.

It continued uphill after Arachova, and soon we were looking down on the village and the road we came up.

The grade was moderate going up to the pass.  But long enough to let the eyes wander and to have that song that is stuck in your head repeat over and over.

An alpine valley spread out before us once we crested over the pass.

We found a picnic table next to a restaurant closed for the season with these old ski lift chairs.  The development in the valley was mostly chalet-style vacation homes and restaurants.  And it was eerily quiet -- almost all the homes were unoccupied, and many were in a state of half-finished construction.  The restaurants were either shuttered for the season or out-of-business completely.  It lacked the character of the many villages that we have passed through that have been there for centuries, with a central town square and people about.

Unexpectedly, we had another pass to get over when we left that ghost-town of a valley.  We passed through an area designated as a national park, and the fir forest was thick and deep green.  It was a quick free-fall descent to the valley in the distance.  The valley was only 15 kilometers wide or so, and we crossed through fields of alfalfa and grains to the hills on the other side, where we camped in a little olive grove.

The next morning, another short uphill, and then a spectacular winding road down to the ocean plain near Lamai.

The afternoon was field after field of alfalfa, grain, and cotton.

Honey is a treasured Greek product, and beehives dot the landscape.

Another typical roadside chapel.

And the place where you can buy one, and a bar-b-que, too.

It was easy going once we reached the broad Thessalian Plains.  We did 55 kilometers the morning our destination came into view -- the pinnacles of Meteora.  This is a UNESCO World Heritage site, where in the 16th century 24 monasteries existed.  Now only six are still functioning, and the others are in ruin.  The pinnacles are popular for rock climbing, and hiking trails connect the monasteries.  But since another high pass was in our future, and we needed to rest, we opted for a four-hour van tour that took us to four of the monasteries.  For a small fee we could go inside, along with busloads of other visitors.

The monasteries are built high atop the pinnacles, seemingly part of the rock.

Steps to the monasteries were built in the 1920's, but previously the monks were transported to their lofty residences in nets hoisted up by cables.  They still use the pulley system to bring up construction materials and other large loads.

Electricity does the work now, but the old mechanism is still on display.

The female visitors were required to wear wrap-around skirts while visiting.

Turnouts from the steep, winding road between the monasteries offered exceptional views.

Four of the six operating monasteries are visible in this view.

The formation is conglomerate of cobbles, which is different from the kilometers of limestone we have biked by so far on this trip.  It makes for a good platform for selfies, which John is graciously doing for a fellow van passenger from Singapore.

This is the famous Monastery of the Holy Trinity, which had a starring role in the James Bond movie "For Your Eyes Only"...might have to watch that when we get home.

Our favorite monastery, the Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas of Anapafsa.  It was not on our van tour, and many of the other tours do not stop here since it required climbing up quite a few steep steps.  So there were few visitors, and it was small and intimate, with a bell tower at the very top with tremendous views of the area.

And here is a stylized view of it on a poster on the way up.

The frescoes were very nice, and we were allowed to wander in the oddly-shaped common areas.

From the bell tower we could see the the northwest and the snow-capped mountains.  The towns of Klabaka and Kastiki are spread out below.  Tomorrow we take the second canyon from the left up and over a 1,700-meter high pass.  Oh boy.  better get to bed.

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Delphi, Greece: Navel of the Earth

The town of Patras is important for several reasons. It is a hub for large transport ferries that will shuttle people, cars and trucks to Corfu, a Greek island, and then to Italy. A few travelers in camper vans we met take this route to shorten the driving time to Greece, bypassing driving the coast through Croatia and Albania. We also saw groups of tents and Syrian young men hanging out near the ferries, waiting for an opportunity to cross.

There is also narrow channel in the Gulf of Corinth, which apparently focuses the wind judging by the windmills generating electrical power on the mountains on either side. We also know about the wind because just a few miles north of town, outside of the protection of city structures, we headed into gale-force winds. Joe had the wherewithal to shoot a video (view it here), while the rest of us just tried to stay standing. Camping was not an option, so we found a hotel, where we holed up for a couple of nights waiting out the wind and thunderstorms. Ann and Joe stayed one night, then biked, bused, and rode the train east to reach Athens and their flight home.
 

The Rio-Antirrio Bridge, peeking out of the marine layer.

And the other significant feature of Patras is the Rio-Antirrio Bridge, the world's longest multi-span cable-stayed bridge, that crosses this narrow channel. We crossed it by bike, but only after a bit of research to make sure that was possible.  Thanks to a waiter at the restaurant and a Crazy Guy on a Bike post, we confirmed there was both a bike lane and a pedestrian lane.  We opted for the pedestrian lane so we could stop and take pictures along the way.

Taking the pedestrian lane meant getting the bikes an panniers up the stairway.  My man is a strong man.

The art of engineering.

Almost over!

Once on the other side, we had two moderate days of cycling to get to the ancient site of Delphi.  Here are a few pictures from the journey and the destination...enjoy!

The sleepy little seaside town of Nafpaktos.

A stealth camp, wedged in between two limestone cliffs off a steep access path, overlooking the ocean and the structure protecting the highway from rockfall.  We were perfectly hidden, except from the goats browsing the hillside above us.

Looking south from where we came, after a long grade.

We crossed an aqueduct, transporting water from the high snow-capped mountains to who-knows-where.  We could the see the trace of the structure prominently on the hillside up and down stream.

The final twisty road up to Delphi.  It was actually a moderate grade, presumably for the stream of tour buses which passed us going both up and down.  Delphi is one of the most visited sites in Greece.

We arrived early afternoon for some quality R&R next to the pool in the very nice campground.

We rose at dawn to be at Delphi before the crowds.  In peak tourist season there is a miniature train that shuttles visitors to the site.  We walked the 2 1/2 kilometers as the sun came over the ridge.

The ancient site of Delphi is sprawled over the side of Mt Parnassus, dense with the remnants of monuments.  This is the Polygonal Wall, so skillfully built it has lasted almost 3000 years.

The stones in the Polygonal Wall bear inscriptions.

We were so lucky to have clear skies, the morning sun, and no crowds.

Statuary bases all in a row.

The famous remnants of the Temple of Apollo.  As the legend goes, Zeus sent eagles flying from the east and west extremes of the earth, and they crossed at this site, where the center (navel) of the earth was found.

There is a large theater, currently being painstakingly restored.

From near the top of the site, looking to the southwest towards Athens.

There is also a stadium, where games only second to the Olympics were held.

Further down the slope from the main site is a group of temples, with the partially reconstructed Tholos most prominent.  To the left in the distance you can see ruins of the main part of ancient Delphi built on the slope.

With sightseeing over, it was a walk through modern Delphi to get back to our camp.

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