Wednesday morning it was an early breakfast as a 4x4 was going to pick me up at 8:45am,
however, the mountain we were going to climb was in cloud first thing but I mozzied up and put suntan lotion on
the car arrived on time and we then had two more pickups to do, one of the couples were staying at the Alexander hotel and it turns out they were with Thomson, so meeting the rep down there
was no co incidence lol (One for Delboy to investigate later)
The car was quite a beast for the job a Sang Yong Rexton 2.8 litre
The last couple we picked up were in Thassos Town, after which we when right round the otherside of the island before going off on this dirt track road to meet up with the second car
We were first going to Kastro, a village high in the mountains in the centre of the island
The villagers of Kastro (which means castle) lived their lives 450m up in the mountains, mainly to protect themselves from mauraders, as the village couldn't be seen.
However, in later years the villagers were all tempted to go down to the coast for a better life after a mining company offered employment, I did ask what they were mining for and the
guide said, iron and minerals but gold was mentioned by the other guy as well.
sorry these next few shots are from the car, so may have blur
Now when the mining finished, the villagers were too committed with other things like growing olives at the coast, they couldn't go back
you can't see it from this picture but there is no rails to this road
here the edge is now in view, probably only 100 feet up lol
yes we are still driving up, we haven't stopped, still, one does get better pictures without the standard crash barriers
scenery was getting better
I think if you where a pirate and knew the village existed, you wouldn't bother to walk up here
and finally, we were there
what's this a crash barrier at the top lol
This is a strange ghost like village, where relatives of the original dwellers have returned and restored some of their houses using the same materials
These are the houses they have restored, some still in ruins in the foreground
The relatives use them as holiday homes and come up for two weeks of the year
some of the views
an old marble quarry, apparently abandon because the quality is not so good
peaceful up here, one guy in the party said, he would love to live up here
Having taken a few photographs we were invited into this little church
Nickos the guide told about some of the saints, this church, if i remember had a saints day in July. The church is mainly used for funerals and I was told you can't cremate anybody
in Thassos (and probably Greece) it's against the law. Relatives bury their dead for 5 or 6 years then dig them up, their bones are put in boxes. Unfortunately the insects etc
eat into the wood and then the boxes are placed in the bonehouse near the church. We were invited to look, some rejected the offer. When the boxes start to collapse,
the bones are placed in a big pile in the bonehouse. The theory is all the relatives are together for the end of time. I did witness this but felt it was not a thing to photograph.
This is the house from a distance
A humbling experience
There was a little cafe there and a toliet which was well used lol, not sure if the cafe survives just on these trips
we were then taken to a second church built 200 years ago on the ruins of previous churches. The guide obtained a key about a foot long and it unbolted a door after about
6 turns lol. Inside we were told that the men sit on the right and woman on the left, earlier times the women sat upstairs and not allowed downstairs. I was not allowed to take
photographs. They have had electicity put in the village in the last 10 years
apparently, this church's saint day is in January and a 1000 people attend the service, with speakers set up outside, also weddings take place
we were also shown a walnut tree (one of the crops on Thassos) , i haven't seen one before and the walnut has a soft outside which breaks open, revealing the crinkley shell that we normally see.
After getting into the cars, we had a short ride to see a waterfall, it involved walking down to the bottom of a valley, it was only a small waterfall and the general opinion was the
walk up hill in the heat afterwards, probably wasn't worth it
there were visible signs of hollow blacken pines that were burnt in the fire of 1985, fire breaks have been put in the hills since and a very large water tank was on top of the hill
for use incase of fires. Most of the pines in Golden Beach have recovered but there are still many places where they haven't
Then we were off and going higher to the picnic area and I was now in the front seat lol
at these points, you just have to say to yourself, these guys have done this run hundreds of times and they always come back lol
but finally we get to the picnic area but we still not have reached the top
but our first views of Golden Bay and Skala Potamia
The harbour of Skala Potamia in the corner
so many pictures to take but which bush shall I pop behind, when you got to go, you got to go lol
anyway it was picnic time and the guides were cooking food for us before we would make our final ascent
There was a 10 bedroom apartment up here, I assume to hire out to walking parties but it was locked up
we had salad, jacket potatoes and Greek sauces with as many kebabs as we liked, as you probaly noted earlier I was being careful with how much I ate, so just had two, then another
two but some of the slimmer guys had 8, so I was good only having 4. lol
Then it was back into the 4X4 to the top of the world, the car was parked and we had a 30 metre climb to the top and we were there:D
no they are not my legs lol
There is a stone at the top which holds a book of the names of the people that have made it, what's this, Sir Edmund Hillary, Sherpa Tenzing and now Delboy lol
Mainland Greece is in the distance
no idea what are the best shots, so a few of each
Here I am at the top of the world
I'd like to thank the other guys that made this climb with me, without them it would probably have been cancelled lol
found a better way to get the panoramic pictures on
Some leave stones in a pile, as a marker that they have been there
Last couple of shots before we boarded the car to see a mountain lake
Then it was back on the road, and going down
Here we were at the lake, doesn't look like Greece does it
The guide Nikos
who took us up river to see a waterfall
and a friendly crow, but apparently today he was sulking lol
We were returned to our apartments a 6pm, for me a very enjoyable trip
amazing to think we were able to be taken up there in a car
and zooming in you can just see that little white box lol