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Published: April 27th 2006
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Mt Olympus 4
As close as I got before turning back. We were told breakfast was at 7.30, so we made sure we were ready to go. I didn't sleep that well, the bed was really hard. Breakfast consisted of a boiled egg, and bread with either jam or marmalade. While we were eating, the church bell tolled just outside our window, and we didn't think anything of it, but the lady said the reason was because a man had died during the night. Kind of eerie.
After breakfast I went for a walk to see if I could find some information on climbing Mt. Olympus. The lady at the hotel was being quite negative about the climb, and was insisting that we stay another night even though we had learned that it was to rain tomorrow.
The conditions were overcast, although you could see the summit of Mt. Olympus. I hiked up to the top of the town, but didn't find any information. Going back I got lost and came out below the town, and had to walk all the way back up. At the hotel the lady was waiting for payment and demanding cash, which I had, so Beck had to wait with her until I got back.
We packed
the bags and checked out, although she left the hotel key with Beck. We went and found what times the buses were leaving for Athens, and the only one that suited was three in the afternoon. With this knowledge I knew had to get cracking if I was going to get anywhere near the summit. It was unlikely, but I hadn't given up hope. Beck told me to be careful, and then I was off.
At the top of the town there was a flat footpath which winds it's way through the Enipea Canyon. This enabled me to jog at a decent pace, and I thought my chances had just got better. There were sheer cliffs on either side which made for amazing scenery, and of course the summit of Mt. Olympus which I focused on.
After ten minutes of jogging I came to a gate that was locked at the scene of a waterfall. My spirits dropped, but I managed to climb over the gate, although I left a bit of skin on the spikes on top. On the other side there was no recognisable path anywhere to be seen. I didn't quite completely give up there and then,
but I had to climb back over the gate.
After clambering over the gate, I retraced my steps to a path that headed up the gorge, and then that's what I did - I headed up.
I made pretty good progress, and although it was hard going, I took heart from the fact I was getting higher and higher. There was some amazing views of Mt. Olympus, the gorge, and Litohoro, although the smog/fog/cloud didn't do my photos of Litohoro any justice.
I got to a summit of the gorge which allowed me to step over to the other side of the gorge. I had been striving for this point, but on reaching it, it was apparent I wasn't going to get anywhere near the summit. The horizontal distance rather than vertical distance was the problem. There was still a lot of terrain to cover just to get to Mt. Olympus, while I had thought I was nearly on it's slopes.
I saw no point in continuing so I spent a couple of minutes taking in the view before I turned and stepped back over the gorge. What happened next gave me goosebumps, and sent a shiver up my spine
Crystal Clear Water
This is where the gate was that I jumped over, and then had to head back. - I couldn't see.
In that short space of time, while I had my back to it, the fog/cloud had rolled in, and visibility was down to nearly nothing. The path I was on was along a sheer cliff with a drop of I don't know how many hundreds of metres. I had been hot before, and now there was a cold wind blowing on my skin. It was very spooky.
I managed to get 30 metres down the path which was below the cloud/fog, and then I broke into a run to get down before it started raining. It was very rocky, and I jarred my bad knee a couple of times, but nothing too bad.
Near the bottom of the trail I left the path with the intention of finding the church perched on a hill above the town. I didn't find the church, but I saw a couple of workers below me on the path, so I tried to stay well hidden. I came out at a farm where they had a heap of dogs who came out barking at me. I texted Beck to say I was back and didn't realise she was near the two
workers, and that she had walked on the footpath the whole way to the locked gate.
Since Beck had the keys to the hotel I was able to go in and have a shower, although it was an absolutely freezing one. Then it was time for lunch, and we went to a fancy looking restaurant for spaghetti. In the remaining time left we walked around Litohoro, and grabbed a cup of tea before boarding the bus. From the town you could see that it was possible to drive closer to the slopes of Mt Olympus - oh well, too late.
The bus trip was uneventful. More reading, writing, and sleeping for those capable. However, when we got off this changed.
We got on another bus at Terminal B bound for Hotel Tempi, and it wasn't until the fourth stop that we realised we had left the moneybelt containing our passports, travellers's cheques, etc. on the bus. I ran with both packs as fast as I could all the way back to the Terminal on the road not caring about the chaotic Greek traffic. In my broken Greek I managed to locate the bus, which luckily was staying put for the
night, and the money belt was untouched. What a relief!
At Hotel Tempi we had only just scraped in to getting accommodation, and this meant we were stuck with a queen size single bed, and there was nothing we could do but accept it.
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