Inland Greece

It’s great when you briefly google to find a campsite knowing you should probably put more time into the research, have little idea what it is going to be like but it turns out to be just what we wanted.  The review that took us there described it as a ‘secret mountain oasis’.  Via Natura was definitely this place.  Situated in a quiet and pretty village in Tzoumerka, our satnav took us to a riverside field by the famous Plaka's Bridge (built in 1866) the biggest arched bridge in the Balkans.  I read that the incomparable technique of mixing hard stones and 20,000 egg whites were used to reinforce the joints which kept the bridge in tact even when the nazis  attempted to explode it. But sadly in 2015 these egg whites had had their day and it collapsed like a cold soufflé.  Two other campers, an architect from Athens and a stonemason greeted us (plus their dogs) and they were both working on rebuilding the bridge.  Soon after Nikos, the charismatic and energetic owner arrives with all his canoes and also greets us warmly. He reminds us of a Greek version of Paolo from the Philippines.  Nothing is a problem.  Then another Nikos arrives and the music goes on.  It is a happy scene, which is just what we needed.

We stayed here for three days:  

Day one we decided to have a day of rest.  We sat in the camp most of the day until walking down an unused path to the bridge to see how the building was going.  This is what it will look like again once it has finished:

Day two was a day of rain.  According to Nikos who owns our campsite https://www.vianatura.gr/and a local hotel, this is rare in June.  It is also rare that he isn’t very busy at this time of year.  We were chatting to him about his business.  The government has brought in new laws that you can’t now own and run a campsite, which has less than 10,000 sq metres of land due to tax regulations so sadly it sounds like he will have to close.  It just doesn’t make sense when campers love his place and there are no other places nearby.  We are the only visitors in his campsite apart from the two guys who are there long term working on the Bridge and their three dogs.  For some reason after a day I feel we are all a big family although of course I hardly know them.  It must be that this charming and friendly campsite is home for all of us.

Nikos has planned a route for us around the local mountain villages so we prepare our raincoats and off we go to the first recommendation on his map.  The Cave Anemortrypa.  A cave of exceptional beauty, the only cave in Greece intersected by river, forming explicit shapes.  An eldery geologist runs the tours and the café.  After serving a local with some Ouzo, offering some cherry liqueur to us and making  an omelette he shows us this incredible find.  We are lucky to be the only visitors today.

Next we wind up the mountain through the clouds all feeling slightly queasy to a very deserted but unbelievably pretty village perched on the top Kalarites, in the pouring rain.  It is completely deserted, no-one around and all the cafes are closed.  It looks like a movie set and we could envisage how even more amazing it would look in the sun.  Then surprisingly two typically black dressed Greek women appear smiling walking up towards us on one of the cobbled winding paths.  They think we are Israeli as apparently 10,000 tourists come from there to this region every year.  We gesticulate about the weather (I think) and smile a lot and then move on to go and find the famous Kipinas monastery.  

An Israeli couple that we encounter on our way down tell us about how to access it, that we have to go to the first house on the left.  It feels like a treasure hunt.  We knock on the door and a rather solemn looking man trusts us with an ancient looking key which we have to return in half an hour.   The monastery is extraordinary, harmoniously tied to a rock.  It was built inside a cave of a vertical rock and dates back to 1349 or maybe even earlier.  The nave inside is decorated with a rich collection of Icons of the 18th century.   We are amazed that we have been entrusted to visit here on our own.  

Winding down the steep curves back to our campsite we count the people we encountered today.  11 in total over 9 hours and 4 of those were tourists.  It is so quiet in this part of Greece but maybe the Summer changes all of that.  I hope so for them but we don't mind!  Nikos serves us a delicious warming supper in his themed hotel.  His love of culture and history inspired him to decorate each room about traditional occupations largely now lost:  weavers, carpenters and woodsmen and their tools lovingly displayed.