WALKING WITH GODS – Part 3 – The Glory of Zagori

As we continued on our journey through Northern Greece, we noticed the roads becoming windier and we felt our ears pop every few miles.  The views were to die for (not literally, we hoped), and the air felt fresh and clear – you could see the snow-capped Pindus mountains far in the distance – it was glorious.

Stopping off at the mountain town of Metsovo to acclimatise, have lunch, and buy some of its famous smoked cheese, we noticed a lot of “bear themed” signs and merchandise. After my wild boar encounter, I was relieved to hear that sightings of bears (and sometimes wolves) were rare.

The Zagori region is famous for its ancient stone bridges which were used by the Zagorians to travel between their villages.  It was also home to Europe’s widest and deepest canyons, the Vikos Gorge. 

After several miles of hairpin bends, we arrived in the small picturesque village of Monodendri, and our guesthouse was built in the traditional stone style, with wooden floors and ceilings.  It even had a fireplace as winters could be very harsh up here, but I doubted we’d be using it as temperatures were in the mid-twenties.

The room even had a cute little balcony with views over the pine covered valley and I enjoyed taking in the view as I sat there with my cuppa.  However, I had to beat a hasty retreat back to the room a short while later as storm clouds swept in and we were treated to a heavy downpour. 

Monodendri lies at the starting point for hikes along the gorge, but first we had booked a rafting trip along the Voidomatis river which is straddled by at least one of the stone bridges.  I always love this way of exploring an area as you get to appreciate the scenery and nature in relative peace and from a different viewpoint.  There wasn’t much “white water” so the journey was more tranquil than we were used to as we were carried through the softly swirling waters, some of the clearest I’ve ever seen.  The water was pretty cold however, and even in a wetsuit, I declined a refreshing dip at one of the many pebbly beaches (although Ian took the plunge!).

Heading back that afternoon, another huge thunderstorm loomed on the horizon and we made it just in time, to find that our cosy room wasn’t too waterproof!  Ian spent a few hours bailing out and moping up the rain that was lashing in underneath the wooden doors and windows!

Feeling rested, we set off the following morning for a hike up to one of the gorge’s best viewpoints.  After a few wrong turns trying to find the start of the trail, we finally worked out that the paths were marked out by piles of stones and the occasional red painted rock.  This led us up (there were a lot of “ups”!) through the “stone forest” , a collection of multi-layered limestone rocks which were said to resemble trees, but looked more like stacks of pancakes to me!  The forest trail was very pretty though, with moss covered trees, and plentiful wild flowers which helped to take our minds of the arduous climbs…

The final part of the trail surprisingly took us through lush green meadows, which were obviously used for grazing sheep or cows.  The final ascent to the viewpoint was along a well-made path from the road (yes, we could have driven up, but that would have been cheating!).  Our reward was another breathtaking view of the seemingly endless crevasse.

We decided to take the “easy” way back down, so followed the road back along its very curvy route.  By then clouds were starting to form and we were hoping to make it home before the heavens opened again.  Half and hour out of town, we felt raindrops and were about to take shelter when a car pulled up and offered us a lift!  Even squashed in the back of their small vehicle with their suitcase on our laps, we were so grateful to the young French/Dutch couple, as we would have got truly soaked!

That evening the rain had cleared to leave a pleasant, sunny evening so we strolled down to another part of the village and found a lovely little restaurant with tables under the trees.  We enjoyed a (well earnt!) delicious local meal as we recovered from the day’s exertions.

We had left viewing a few of the famous stone bridges for our trip back down the mountain and carried out a whistle stop tour as another big storm was due that afternoon.

Next stop: Down to the lake, I fear…