Friday, 20 July 2012

That's camp sites for you !


Wednesday 18th July

 I guess it should come as no surprise that yesterday went out more or less as it started! Not only was the camp site situated just about at the end of the Ioannina  International Airports main (only!) runway, right next door to the camp was a restaurant/bar on the edge of the lake whose very loud so-called music didn’t cease until 2.30am… so not a lot of sleep was had last night. Hence it was a bit of a slow start this morning, I just couldn’t get my mojo working !

 I finally got on the road about 10am for a leisurely ride back to Monodendri to be in a good place to start the Vikos Gorge walk tomorrow. On the way I spotted a sign for the Perama Cave, so did what a good tourist does and popped in for a look. At 7 Euro I can’t say it was stunning value for money as you had to have a guide who for my liking just rushed through it all far to quickly and gave the distinct impression that it was time she looked for another job!  But I must say that the cave which was only discovered by accident in 1940 when the villagers were looking for somewhere to hide from the Germans, is fantastic. Never mind the 30 minutes of the tour (which should have been 45 according to the signs!) I could easily have spent a couple of hours or more wandering slowly through. It was also a bit galling that photos weren’t allowed, now I can understand possible problems with flash photography but with out flash… what possible issue can there be?

Anyway, back to the Vikos gorge, logistically this presents a bit of a problem. The walk is reckoned to take about 5 ½ hours which looking at the terrain is probably about right for the 10 km. But how to get back to the bike afterwards ???? There is apparently no taxi available, at least according to the young lady in the Tourist Information Office I stopped at. So the only solution presenting itself so far is to just do half of it tomorrow and walk back to the bike, then to the other half on Friday… could work but I’ll have to see how I go. My feet are still not completely recovered from the Olympus trek , and on top of that I managed to spike my right foot in the sea the other day which is still sore as there appears to be a small piece of thorn in it which I can’t easily get at to remove, so I may not even manage half of it!

I spent an interesting half hour or so chatting to the girl in the Tourist Information Office, it appears that the Greek tourist industry is completely on it’s knees this year as everyone is afraid to come due to the economic crisis. In particular the Dutch have stayed away in droves… So if your looking for a cheap break get down the travel agents as there may well be some bargains going.

Whilst there I also gave here the “old grumpy” treatment (gently of course) regarding the total lack of camping facilities inland in general and in the National Park in particular. I explained that many people will stay away simply as there is nowhere for them to stay other than relatively expensive hotels… I have no idea if she will pass the message on but if nobody says anything it certainly won’t change.

So tonight it’s back with the bears! Yes, wild camping once more, this time in the Stone Forest just above Monodendri, and guess what I have neighbours… two Germans, Anya and Christian with their 7 month old son Julias and dog are parks up in a Transit just  a couple of fields away and what’s more have invited me over for a beer!  And I promise not to mention the war !

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