What a terrible sleep. There was a very spirited conversation going on near my door by the owners and it woke me at 12:30am. Half an hour later, I pleaded with them to be quieter – and was successful but the damage was done. I was wide awake for another hour and then tired when my alarm went off.
Breakfasted and caffeinated, I was gone at 8am for another big day. I was expecting more than 900m of climbing along with some forest and mountain views. Today, I’d finish in Dimitsana which is a tourist destination and when I got there, I could see why.
Leaving Tripoli was quite easy and my tiredness and accompanying mood disappeared as always by simply getting on my bike.
Today consisted of two hills – the first was the shorter of the two but was still strenuous. As I begin the first climb out of Tripoli, I started to notice more and more beehives placed beside the road. Next a car towing a trailer load of hives stopped beside the road, looking for a place to put them.
All of the good spots were taken and the next few kilometres would have hundreds of hive boxes by the road. I thought nothing of it until I had a hundred bees buzzing me as I slowly climbed the hill. It was unnerving and I was relieved to crest the hill and get going down the other side away from them.
After the downhill I turned onto a small unkempt road through unkempt farmland. Luckily, the only unfriendly dogs were behind fences. However, I was always hoping that the fences were well maintained. When two big German Shepherds looked like they wanted to eat me, I crossed fingers and toes that there wasn’t a hole in the old, rusted fence.
On this ten kilometre section, there was no traffic at all, then when I climbed out of the valley and rejoined the main road, there was scarcely any more. It was sunday morning and I assume that the locals are either in church or asleep.
I was then into the main climb. Again it was thankfully gentle.
I stopped in Chrysovitsi for a Nescafe in a taverna that was as beautiful as it was rustic. There were just a few locals there.Two of them were drinking red wine and the other two were engaged in a serious discussion. After Just a few sips, the two wine drinkers called out to a passing car that stopped. They quickly left their table and their wine and jumped in the car.
There was no food on offer, so I kept going.
There was more climbing to be done before things got easier but I was soon over the top and descending through pine forrests and green valleys. It struck me that I hadn’t seen this much green for many months, probably in Kyrgyzstan. The hard work was done and the route just seemed to become more beautiful.
I made my way through the picturesque village of Stemnitsa, and I thought, that if my destination was anything like this, I was in for a treat. Here the cafes were strangely quiet and full of people staring into space. It felt a little strange navigating the narrow street through town. It felt like everyone was looking at me.
Past the town, the valley views were breathtaking.
And then there was Dimitsana perched on the sides of a hill overlooking valleys on two sides. I found my B&B which used to be a school and checked in.
I later walked around the village and got my bearings on tomorrow’s route, ate at a small place in town and slept early.
