We left the coast near Astros to explore the Parnon mountains, where we wanted to go on a hike at Polydroso.
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Harvest time |
Already the drive through this mountain range was fascinating. The navigation had led us on minor roads, taking us through empty valleys and past little villages surrounded by incredible mountains. We had reached 1,400 metres above sea level on our route until we finally were at about 1,100 metres at Polydroso. We parked our camper at a little bay at the road surrounding the village next to a nice hotel.
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Church of Polydroso |
From the church of Polydroso a well-marked hike starts which takes you over the hills to a monastery following the blue squares. The way back along the river is marked with blue triangles.
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Leaving the village |
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Polydroso … |
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… beautiful stone buildings around the church |
The path reached an area where the forest was destroyed by a fire in 2007. The vegetation was recovering, but all the big trees were gone.
Soon we walked through forest again before we reached a plateau where the villagers once had their cornfields, as it was the only flat area in the region.
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Crossing a plateau |
We finally descended into the valley, passing a monastery and reaching the river, which accompanied our path until we came back to the village after about 3 hours.
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Crossing the river many times |
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Flowers greet us at the village |
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Cool down at the local tavern |
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“Bad boy” as he was called, walked us back to our camper |
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Last glimpse down at Polydroso |
We left Polydroso to find a parking for the night, traversing the mountains until we reached Geráki – more on our next post.
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Flower of the Day
autumn crocus |
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Evening twilight |