Day 5 - West to East Coast - the climbing begins


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June 15th 2010
Published: June 15th 2010
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I wake early and the first thing I notice on getting out of bed is the pain in my right leg as I walk to the bathroom. Typical the climbing starts today. Oh well no pain no gain was my training motto so it will have to apply to the walk; I will not be taking a lift unless forced to by the weather. As I leave Paramonas at 8am the climbing begins, the village is on the slopes of Mt Ag Mattheos and I have to skirt it but go over the coastal ridge. The footpath is steep in places and also narrow but there is no feeling in the foot as I ascend and before I know it I have reached the ridge. There is a great view back to the West coast and also forward along it towards Glyffada and Myritossia. I stop to take it in, have some water and my breakfast loaf; the bread is a bit hard having been in my fridge overnight so I share it with the birds (quite a number of Jays up here in the tree tops). I start my descent which again is steep and in places the path is difficult but the views across to the East coast ridge wgere I am heading offer inspiration. The sky is clear, the sun is rising, another lovely day ahead. I pass through the village of Ano Pavliana where like most villages building are smothered in geraniums, roses, wispera etc briefly stopping for some more water. The descent continues through woods and a stream bed; this part of the trail was the worst for local litter (there are plastic bags, bottles and also cans everywhere.......the locals should be ashamed and clean the place up; surely they don't like what they see when they walk the well worn path). Shortly I arrive in Kato Pavliana a smaller village and pass on through heading into the olive groves and some shade as I continue to a large village of Vouniatades seeing a couple of donkeys and well as some goats along the way. I also met a snake who kindly obliged a photo rather than shooting off into the grass verge.

Here we cut very quickly through the alleyways down into olive groves and a main track which we follow for a little way until we reach a shrine on a concrete bridge. It is getting hot today and the sweat is dripping off my baseball cap; I decide to have the orange I was given in my breakfast pack; now I dislike fresh oranges due to the smell when peeling them but I must say that the juice from this one was very refreshing and particularly sweet. A short climb and we leave the olive groves and are now on flat heathland covered in shrub and gorse. There are plently of small birds here as well as gun cartridges............I must say if I picked up every cartridge I saw on my walk I'd have a pile of well over 5,000. However judging buy the amount of small birds around they are not good shots; don't expect any Corfiot to win a shooting medal in The 2012 Olympics!! Walking through the open heath is very hot and eventually we re-enter olive groves which soon turn into smallholdings with chickens and the usual chained up dogs who bark at my passing. Small vinyards and some grazing goats. I then arrive at the village of Strongoli where I stop at Spiros Taverna for a beer. I was going to eat but wasn't realy hungry. Spiros' grandaughter was wanting to play with Shrek while we chatted; an English couple arrive walking but from another direction. As his first guests of the day Spiros gives us all an ouzo shot and we all toast good walking and holidays. The couple tuck into baclava (a filo pastry with chopped almonds, cinnamon, ground cloves, butter, sugar, honey, lemon, vanilla inside and drizzled in honey) which is very sweet while I have another beer. Just about 2 hours walking left now. I leave the village and follow my directions but soon I cannot find my path; it does warn the locals remove the waymarks. I certainly passed the abandoned monastry and the path by a gate but then it just faded away from me; a CT sign pointed right but someone had cut the grasses under the olive trees and no path was evident. I walked over the grasses hoping to find a path ahead but the paths twist and turn and I never did find it so I retraced my steps. Some local getting into a car pointed me down the track he was about to drive which I knew was the wrong way but I had little choice if I couldn't find the path. Another scout around proved fruitless and time was ticking, not that I had an end time to meet. I decided I'd follow the main track rather than get lost in the groves. I was out on a road and knew I had to be climbing and this road was long, hot and continual uphill. I pass through a village and looking at my map see I'm on the road below the road on top of the ridge where I should be; all I could do was continue and search for any possible paths in the woods on the uphill side of the road that may take me up there. Nothing was evident and it was a long hot walk, certainly taking me a bit further than the Trail would have done.

Eventually I reach a junction and see Trail signs, but this looks like tomorrows route so I now go the reverse way; there was also a sign to Komianata which was where I should have been. I obviously wont get there without a long walk, and then have to turn around and come back again but I know from reading of the trail that there is a view to die for there so I brace myself and my now aching leg for the extra milage. After only half a mile the trees to my left opened up and there was the very view I had been anticipating. It stops you dead for a while, then you slowly take it all in. Directly ahead Mount Pantokrator rose up and spread out below was Corfu Town and its suburbs. This view has changed over the years only buy the growth of Corfu Town suburbs and the airport and I call it Lear's view. I'm certain this is the very view Edward Lear described in 'Corfu Years' when near Stavros (which was just around the corner) he said "no lovlier view can be seen, so much so that I rank it first of all the distant Corfu views, as regards the seeing all and everything". The same can still be said today even with an airport in the foreground. I highly recommend a visit to Komianata or the Stavros area to take in this view if you have a hire car when on your holidays.

Now from here I was to descend to Benitses for my overnight stay and the route was via the old waterworks; built by the British to supply water to Corfu Town. To go that way means continuing along the road until I find the right place to start my descent. This I decided not to do but to follow the first signs I saw to Benitses. There are several trails and walks around Benitses that are waymarked in blue and I found one near a sign to Benitses so decide to follow that. It was very steep and a difficult cobbold path which jarred my now largely swollen foot. It came out on a steep track with rain moved rubbish (tree branches, pine cones and a dead cat!) on it. Then it passes through the grounds of a Church and then down into Benitses itself; luckily for me only some 600 yards from the Benitses Arches Hotel where I was staying. On the descent there were also some nice views over Benitses. I book in and it is now 2:40 pm.

Benitses was once the Kavos of Corfu but it has been re-inventing itself to tourists, with local walks and more for the independant traveller. Very popular still with the Italians in August. I go for a stroll; its a ghost town there are just no people about. Stop at Taverna on beach, one young couple in there; three older locals on the beach and about 8 local teenagers on the jetty. That was it. Have a couple beers and a village sausage with salad. Then I go for a swim; well actually a float in the sea to cool down and also to hopefully help reduce the swelling in my foot as tomorrow is the ascent of Mt Agii Deka. Sign over shop says 28C. Beach itself is stones rather than sand but was good for swimming. I return to hotel to change, do notes and prepare for tomorrow. Out later in evening and it is still very quiet; see a plane going in towards Corfu airport as I walked towards the harbour area. This is being renovated and looks like it will be very pleasing on the eye once complete. Nice harbour and about 20 people get of a boat returning from Paxos. There are some shops opposite and several tavernas so I have a look. I see a sign pointing to Roman Baths, but all I see ahead is an alley to houses and outside a hosepipe hanging from a tap; did the Romans have hosepipes? Stop at Benitses Taverna for dinner; Royal Ionion beer which is lovely. My meal was Bourdeto; fish (any white fish such as cod, sea scorpion, grouper, blackfish) onions, garlic, tomatoes, hot pepper, paprika, lemon juice, olive oil and salt. The sauce is prepared and boiled for 20 mins before adding the fish for 30 mins and adding the lemon during that time. It was very tasty and the sauce mopped up with bread. There are locals and children about walking the front and the path through the trees that are between the shops/tavernas and the road but very few tourists. I stroll back to my hotel looking up at the summit of Mt Agii Deka hoping an early night will see my leg better tomorrow as this is my first big climb.


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4th August 2012
Vouniatades

This is Vouniatades, not Kato Pavliana!

Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 5; qc: 47; dbt: 0.053s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb