Greece 2015 (#3)

Part 3: May 4th – 7th

By Watracz Is Traveling

Day 9: Ioannina

May 4th, 2015

Early in the morning, I take the Aprilia to the garage. The mechanic and I take off the fairings and screw out the alternator. One of the three phases on the alternator is burned out. We package it and send it via a courier service to Athens (over 400 kilometers one way). The part is supposed to be back in the morning and we agree we’ll meet around 9 a.m. to install it.

I go back to the camp site, and after a quick breakfast I sort my photos, then go shopping. As I walk around the town, I stumble across an audio-video service store. My remote camera shutter broke yesterday when I was shooting in the mountains, but that’s no challenge for the experts in the store, and it takes them under twenty minutes to fix it. At no charge!

In the afternoon I take a walk around the historical part of Ioannina. I reach the castle, surrounded by a tall wall that’s nearly 2 kilometers long. The wall goes around a sizeable part of the old town, which includes numerous historical buildings. The most interesting parts are the northern and southern citadels.

I pass the iron gate, beyond which are the ruins of the palace of Ali Pasha, the Albanian ruler under whom Ioannina became one of the richest cities in Greece. This is also where you can find the Byzantine Museum and the Fethiye Camii mosque.

The northern citadel includes a mosque as well (this one too bears the name of Ali Pasha), erected in 1618, and the city museum — unfortunately closed today.

I get hungry around 6 p.m. Time to taste Greek grub. I sit down in one of the old town’s restaurants, right by the clock tower, and order a moussaka and a cold Mythos beer. The food is really good. In the late afternoon, once the heat fades, the city comes to life, and crowds of tourists stroll by the lake.

After dinner I walk towards the camping along the river banks. The sun is setting far behind the mountains, and a flock of birds circles over the mosque’s minaret.

Day 10: Ioannina, Ambrakia, Perdikaki, Chrisova

May 5th, 2015

View day 10 route on Google Maps

In the morning I visit the mechanic, to see if the package came back on time. As it turns out, he had already managed to install the alternator and is just finishing screwing on the engine cover. We connect the power and check the alternator. The charge is better, but still far from perfect — it’s around 13V, while it should be 14V - 14.5V. It is a little concerning. The mechanic believes it might be caused by the regulator, so we switch it out to see if it changes anything. There’s no noticeable difference, but the bike’s working, which means I can keep going. We take a photo to save the moment, and a short while later I’m going back to the camp site, picking up the tent and head out.

Lake Kremasta (Greek: Techniti Limni Kremaston)

As I take the highway going south, I pass the restaurant by the turn where I was fixing my bike a few days back. I pass the town of Ambrakia, exit the highway and ride to the mountains. The further south I go, the higher the temperature. It’s much warmer than in the Olympus range, where I was just a few days ago. Late in the afternoon I reach Lake Kremasta. There are flocks of goats grazing by the road, with goatherds nowhere in sight.

I stop by a gazebo for a brief rest and a couple of sandwiches, as the sun starts to set. I’ll have to look for a place to pitch the tent soon. There are no cities nearby, so there’s no chance of finding a camp site.

I come down from the mountains, passing some villages — Perdikaki, Pigadia, and Vrouviana — on the way, and I get to an old, historic bridge on Acheloos River that flows into the lake from the north.

Chrisova

I get to a backroad in the village of Chrisova and ride towards the lake hoping I’ll find a spot to camp. It’s dark, and the rocky road is very steep. On top of that, I have no idea where exactly I’m going, and turning back on surface like this is a lot of trouble. As I reach a fork in the road, I find some space and camp out. There’s a stream murmuring nearby, so I know it’ll be tough to fall asleep.

After dinner I hang up the bag with my food several dozen meters away, to make sure no wild animals try to sneak into my tent at night.

Day 11: Chrisova, Karpenissi, Patras, Zakynthos, Porto Vromi

May 6th, 2015

View day 11 route on Google Maps

Wake-up at dawn. I have about 400 kilometers to cover today, mostly over mountainous terrain. It’s probably going to be a tough, exhausting day. Near the spot I spent the night in, there’s a bridge between two parts of the lake. Back home, I found an interesting dam to the south of the bridge; it would be a nice sight to see. But unfortunately, as I reach the village of Alevrada, the road going in that direction ends and I need to turn back.

In the town of Loggisti I turn east, cross the partially dry riverbed of Agrafiotis Potamos, and continue south, towards Lake Evinou (Greek: Techniti Limni Evinou). Along the way, on one of the turns, I notice a turtle, and barely avoid running it over. I stop by the side of the road and come up to say hi. The turtle is clearly very shy, and hides into its shell as soon as it sees me. It takes a long while before it slides out its head and paws.

Lake Evinou

The road around Lake Evinou takes me through high mountains. Despite the altitude, it’s well over 30 °C, and I’m being boiled alive on the bike. I take off as much as I can to cool down, but it doesn’t help much. My sat nav doesn’t deal well with the heat, either: the phone overheats and shuts down, so I’m riding without any guidance.

I ride around the lake from the south, and make a stop by the bridge on its western side. I manage to find a spot in the shade of a building. I spend almost an hour trying to cool down by drinking the water that got quite heated up on the bike cases.The heat is unbearable. I feel weak and dizzy. On top of that, my black clothes are like a magnet for the sun’s rays. There’s some sort of roadworks going on by the lake. A van with construction materials pulls up, and the driver asks me if I’m OK. I guess I must look really terrible.

After a long rest I set out again. I’m heading towards the city of Patras, about 100 kilometers away. The road is exhausting and I don’t feel like holding the handlebars anymore. I don’t even want to stop to take photos, despite the fact that the views are amazing. I just want to get to the seaside as soon as possible.

Some time around 5 p.m. I reach the Rio-Antirio bridge between the Gulf of Patras and the Gulf of Corinth. The bridge is almost 3 kilometers long. It’s a shame I can’t stop and take a picture.

Kyllini

I arrive at the town of Kyllini, where I’m supposed to board the ferry to Zakynthos. The port is visible from far away, so I don’t have any trouble finding it. I enter the port and buy my ticket. I still have an hour and a half left, so I use the time to do some shopping. I buy some ice cream to cool off, and eat lunch at a nearby restaurant.

We board at 7 p.m. I’m on a yellow ferry of the Levante Ferries fleet. Over a dozen trucks drive inside, along with several dozen cars. I park my bike next to two others, and with the help of a ferry worker I secure it in place with ropes, to keep it from toppling over during the cruise.

The ferry is pretty luxurious. It has a restaurant, bar, cinema, and even an exhibition of antique cars inside. I walk up to the upper deck, where you can see the settings sun, as we sail towards the island of Zakynthos.

Zakynthos

We arrive about an hour later. It’s already dark when I leave the ferry. Zakynthos City is pulsating with life. The seaside restaurants are overflowing with tourists. You can hear the laughters and calls of partying people from far off. I set up my sat nav and ride to Navagio Bay, looking for a place to sleep on the way. Naturally, I can’t find anything. It’s dark, and the roadside areas are either fenced, or bushy, and wouldn’t make for a good camp site. Eventually, I circle around to Porto Vromi, and I put up my tent in a port next to some fishing boats and go to sleep. The port looks deserted, so I’m hoping for a quiet night.

Day 12: Porto Vromi, Navagio Bay, Porto Roxa, Zakynthos

May 7th, 2015

View day 12 route on Google Maps

Time to rise at dawn. After a cool night, I fold up my dew-covered tent and head north. The sun isn’t up yet when I reach Navagio Bay.

Navagio Bay

From the top of a several-hundred-meter-high cliff, you can get a great look at the bay and the wreckage of a ship resting on the beach. It’s beautiful. I sit down on the edge and admire the view.

The wreck of a smugglers’ ship wound up here because of a malfunction in 1981 — not that long ago. Even so, it’s covered with rust and seems much older. The first tourists come to the viewpoint around 9 a.m., which means it’s time to get on my way.

Porto Roxa

Going south, I pass Porto Limnionas and reach Porto Roxa. There’s a small hotel and a tavern there, and right next to them — a small bay you can swim in. I jump in the cold water and fish out an old photographic tripod from the bottom. The tripod is covered with rust and moss; it must’ve been there for a long time.

Korakonissi

I stop a few kilometers further, by the island of Korakonissi. Looks like there’s no one to be seen around, but as I get off the bike, from the corner of my eye I notice a figure hiding in the bushes several meters away from my bike; I wave at them to let them know I can see them. It’s a man, who stands up, comes out and walks up to me. We start to talk. I feel uneasy, because his first question is if I’m here by myself. Naturally, I tell him I’m not, and that my friends are coming in a minute. He says he can show me around the area and point me to a spot where you can take great photos. This is getting suspicious. I tell him sure, I’d love to see it, no problem; I follow him towards the sea side, keeping a close eye on him. A couple dozen meters in, I turn around, get on the bike quickly, and ride away. I hope it wasn’t a robbery attempt. Why would someone hide in the bushes and wait for me to walk away from the bike?

Zakynthos

On my way towards the Zakynthos port I conclude the island itself is not very interesting. Only when I reach the coast, where you get a good view of the sea, the surroundings become more picturesque. The center of the island mostly consists of hills covered with bushes and orchards, not very inviting to be explored, or to do photo sessions of the landscape.

As I get back on the ferry, I secure my bike with lines again, to keep it safe, and climb to the top deck to get a good view of everything around me. It’s time to leave Zakynthos. However, the beach with the wrecked ship was worth coming here.