After our stay at the last refuge, we continued on our way down the mountain. The terrain was roughly the same on Day 3, but by this point an entirely different weather front had hit us. We woke up to dense fog and heavy rain, which at this season was very uncharacteristic of the area. Fortunately we had brought rain gear, so we threw that on quickly and began our way down the mountain.
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| Rain and fog outside the door to our room. |
The rain and fog was actually a nice break; the other days had been so hot, and the cool breeze was inviting and made the trek a bit easier. The trail and trees were beautiful in the fog too. Clouds collected over the tops of the trees and each branch was heavy with dew and fallen rain. Along the way we ran into a new friend who came out to enjoy the moisture.
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| “Andy what’s his name?” “Sam. Duh.” |
Along the way down the trail we ran into numerous wild strawberry bushes. Thomas was the first one to catch them. The wild strawberries were so small you could barely see them as you walked by. Once we noticed them, however, we spotted them all along the sides of the trail and picked a few as we went. They tasted amazing – much better than store bought (but not nearly as big)!
We continued along the trail, stopping for strawberries now and then and admiring the scenery. As we rounded a corner we heard loud bells clanging against each other and echoing throughout the forest. We all looked at each other, curious at the sound. We finally realized it was the donkeys! They were bringing up all the water, food, ingredients, and other supplies up to the refuges. They were awesome.
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| Got a little too excited. |
After getting down most of the mountain, we decided to stop for lunch at this adorable little restaurant, almost in the middle of nowhere, situated next to a parking lot based at the head of one of the trails. We were pretty hungry at this point and needed a break.
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| Friend we ran into at the restaurant. Andy said his name was Lenny. |
The menu was rather diverse, and since I was so hungry I was not really in the mood for anything exotic (i.e., mutton), so I ordered a “beef burger.” I was a little confused as to why it did not say “hamburger,” as “beef burger” seemed redundant, but my questions were quickly answered when I was served literally a beef burger. It was a seasoned beef patty…no bun, no tomatoes, lettuce, onions, etc. It made me giggle but it was incredibly tasty.
After lunch, we took a small trail off the main beaten path to what Thomas referred to as the “Cave Church.” We figured out that the “Cave Church” was the Cave of Dionysios, a small white washed structure beneath a rock overhang. It had a small inner room with candles, pictures of saints, offerings, and a small bench. It stood against a trickling stream running behind it; Thomas indicated this water was deemed to be holy, and you could drink from it. It was a beautiful and spiritual place; calm and relaxing, with just the sound of the water in the background.
We sat at the Cave of Dionysios for awhile, admiring the beauty of the humble Church and enjoying the tranquility. We eventually moved on, and made it through the last leg of the journey. By this point we were pretty exhausted and could barely make our way through the last big push towards the end. It was worth the last bursts of energy, however, as the hike ended at the Agios Dionysios Monestary, hidden in a large grove of trees, perched on a mountain. It was about 3 kilometers from Litochoro, and was currently undergoing renovation when we were there. The monestary had quite a history to it.
It was bombed by Germany in 1943, and had actually been moved to a location closer to Litochoro and was undergoing significant renovations when we visited. It was beautiful and magnificent, with large stone walls, an open courtyard, and a gorgeous inner prayer room.
As we encountered the monastery after the end of a long day of hiking, I was wearing shorts and a tank top. I had read in our guidebook that tours of monasteries required women to wear long skirts. Initially, I didn’t notice anyone around, and due to the fact that the monastery was being renovated, I assumed there weren’t large numbers of tourists or any monks around. I was quite wrong. As I entered the courtyard, a monk saw me, immediately noticed my bare legs, and rushed over to me holding what looked like a long apron; almost like an artist’s smock. He didn’t speak English and indicated that I needed to tie it around my waist. He was very polite and kind about it and I kicked myself later for not being more respectful. But it did afford an opportunity for a great picture of my new “skirt.”
After touring the monastery, we all climbed in a cab and made our way back to Litochoro. We said our goodbyes, gave Thomas a big hug, and walked down the main area of town back to our rental car. The rest of the day would bring us hours of driving on our way to Meteora!