Greek Adventures- Walking in the Vikos Gorge

I shared our experiences of Corfu a week ago or so. I would like to move us onto the next leg of our journey- Mainland Greece!  This part of the journey was the main reason we had come to Greece.  CBC has been harping on about visiting and walking in the Vikos Gorge (Europe's Deepest Gorge) for years now so I mainly agreed to go to shut him up! (only kidding)

On the third morning, our host drove us to the port where we picked up the boat to Agoumenitsa, the port on the mainland.  It was very cheap and a very pleasant journey.  Unfortunately, reaching the port some two hours after our hire car was booked for, it seemed everyone was late for their cars at the Green Line Car hire place and we waited 2 hours as everyone had an argument with them about their car being given to someone else 'because they were late'.  If you ever hire a car from them, DO NOT TURN UP LATE or PHONE them if you are going to. Their customer service was terrible.  We finally got the front and ended up, luckily, not having to pay any extra and ending up with an Automatic car.  We drove and stopped in Ioannina for some lunch and then drove on to the mountainous region called Zagori.  We were due to stay in a wonderful village called Megalo Papigo which was utterly beautiful!  You did, however, have to drive up some pretty scary switchbacks to get there!  CBC did incredibly well driving an Automatic for the first time up them!

We checked into our home for the next three days, the Saxonis Rooms/Hotel which I heartily recommend if you ever wish to explore this beautiful part of Greece. It was a beautiful, quiet traditional hotel with wonderful hosts who provide information on walks tailored to abilities, great conversation and amazing walks.

On our second morning, our host, Vassilis gave us information on a route to take. CBC had already purchased what Vassilis described as 'The best map' so he was able to point it out for us.  We planned to walk from Papigo into the Vikos gorge and ending in the village of Vikos (will appear as Bikos on the maps in Greece as, contrary to popular belief, the second letter of the Greek alphabet is pronounced Veta not Beta!) 

Alas for us, it was rather late when we set off and extremely hot- 39 degrees celsius, to be precise!
The walls of the mountains and gorge were such an interesting set of colours.

The first part of the journey was relatively easy going downhill, although extremely hot.  The views were incredible.

I was immensely grateful for any shade that we could find to escape that interminable sun!

If you compare the size of CBC compared to the rocks which flanked us, you can see we felt very insignificant!

Seeing those very sloped stony looking paths in the distance filled me with dread. I do not like stony downhills.

Yes, that line in the middle was the path we were headed for.

Actually though, when you actually reach it, the path seems more safe and wider than at first appears.

We spotted the odd cairn about.  The vegetation was quite scrubby but was still welcome shade at times even if the difference in temperature was negligible.

The view across was where we were headed once we had descended down into the gorge.  We'd have to go back up at some point. I can't say my heart was filled with the most joy.  I think the phrase, "I'm so hot!" was uttered a myriad times.

At long last, we reached the bottom of the Gorge.  We had been told there should be a beautiful spring or river at the bottom but it was completely dried up- we were standing on a river bed.  I confess to feeling disappointed as I had brought swimming clothes.

Here I am- sweaty, hot, exhausted and hair all over the place. I covered up with this shirt as I didn't want to get too burnt.

CBC thought that we might have to walk a bit further on to find a Spring and decided to be intrepid and seek it.  He started to set off and I saw this little fellow.  We met some other people then. Some Israeli teenagers who also sought the Spring and were equally disappointed.  (This was the first of MANY Israeli tourists we met- it seems that Zagori is very popular with Israeli folks).  At this point,a French family came along also seeking the Spring.  I set off after CBC, going very slowly.  The French dad went ahead like CBC and myself and the rest of the French family trailed along, slightly in despair. I confess that I felt it was a futile endeavour...

Luckily, CBC and the French guy weren't so defeatist and came back to tell us that the Oasis was ahead!

There were plenty of explorers there.  We wondered why they weren't all in the water.  Then someone brave went in... and came straight out...

The water was wonderfully blue.

I took my shoes off and walked in....It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo cold it actually hurt. This water was direct from the mountains.  The odd person dived in.  It must have been a wonderful relief but no one stayed in for too long.  Our hosts had told us that the water is so clear and pure that you can drink it.  We collected some in our now mostly empty water bottles to supplement our meagre supplies for the ascent up to Bikos.

I chatted to an Israeli guy and his family before reluctantly donning my very sweaty walking socks and boots again.

The canopy of trees had been such a welcome respite.

Now we had to climb up again and the heat, if anything, seemed more pronounced.

Looking back over the Gorge was sensational. I wish I could capture the sheer scale of it. I felt very small.

We looked across  to where we had come from.  That's where we were towards the beginning of the walk.

The final leg of the journey was extremely tiring. I was dripping with sweat and we had drunk all our water and had to keep stopping very few minutes as the steep ascent was most arduous.  We seemed to be playing relays with other walkers. You would overtake someone and then they would find you sitting panting on a rock and then they would go ahead and then vica-versa.    

When we finally reached Bikos (my camera had died, alas!) we were so utterly grateful to have finished the 7mile trek in scorching heat.  There was a little wooden shelter at the end of the trail onto the main street and we sat there panting talking to a guy and filling our water bottles from the very welcome tap there.  I drank normal tap water all the time in Greece- I know they say you should drink bottled water but I was none-the-worse for drinking river water, tap water and spring water.

We ate a delicious Greek Salad and a portion of chips and bread in a Taverna and, thanks to Vassilis' tip, arranged for driver from the Taverna to take us back to Pagigo.  It was a long drive as there is no quick way between the two sides of the gorge. It was, definitely, the best 20 Euros I spent all week, not having to walk back!

It was an amazing walk, despite its difficulty, and I was glad we had done it,despite wanting to give up on many occasions!

Have you heard of the Vikos/Bikos Gorge and would you like to visit?

More anon...

xx