Day 9: Elassona - Kalambaka

View Day 9: Elassona - Karambaka in a larger map

Distance - 91 kms
Total Distance - 610 kms
Altitude Gain - 1094 m

The motel was great. It was very friendly, clean, comfortable and inexpensive. I slept like a log and allowed myself the luxury of waking up at 6am. Before starting off, I had a quick look round Elassona, which I found to be a really pleasant little place. A few kilometres into the start of the ride a motorbike pulled alongside me and the guy shouted out that I was keeping a good pace and that I'd definitely get to Kalambaka today. I hadn't recognised him, but it was Nikos, the son of the owners of the hotel - he'd given me a lot of useful information the day before. He wished me well, and disappeared down a different road.
Nikos had told me I'd find this ride today easy. But the morning started with a nasty climb up to 750 m in altitude. It may not have been very hard compared to yesterday, but I wasn't expecting it to be as difficult as it turned out to be.

I passed loads of herds of goats on this road - but I didn't have the aggressive dog encounters as some other people have reported

The start of the road from Elassona to Karambaka. This part was downhill!

Actually, in all fairness the climb wasn't too hard in itself - it wasn't steep, with a gradient not often exceeding 4 to 6%. But it went on and on and on, and the wind got stronger and stronger. Every time I thought it'd stop, I'd see more of it snaking away into the distance. Once I'd finally got to the top, the going was still hard because of the wind and the numerous little ascents and descents. But riding at over 700 m in altitude did bring one big benefit: even in the middle of the day, it wasn't very hot.

Hardly a town for 100 kms in an arid land! This is no place to have a buckled wheel or broken spoke!

Just before I reached the small town of Deskarti, just about the only inhabited place on the road, I pulled in at a garage to get some water. The guy was very nice. He invited me to sit down in the shade and gave me a bottle of water without charge. We chatted for about half an hour, and he told me the story behind all those little shrines I keep seeing by the road. Apparently people buy them and put them in the spot where a loved one has had a road accident and died. Given the number of these shrines, that makes for an unthinkable number of road deaths. With this comforting thought, I set off for Deskarti.

The shrines mark the spot where someone has had an accident and died. I saw this one later in the tour, near Karditsa. Some are more over-the-top than others!

 In Deskarti I stopped for lunch in the first place I found. As soon as I passed through the door I regretted not being more choosy. It was clearly one of those "men only" bars I'd read about. I'm obviously not a woman, but I am the next worst thing - a stranger. I didn't walk out - I'm too obstinate for that - and I would have damn well stayed there if I was a woman. So I thought I'd ruffle some feathers a bit. I asked them what they had to eat. The guy reluctantly rooted around in the fridge and pulled out something that looked like a chicken. No I didn't fancy it. "How about kebab?" the man said. It looked fresher than the chicken so I accepted. He shoved the kebabs in the microwave and asked me to sit. So my lunch was two small kebabs with some bread. It wasn't much - but it was all I was prepared to order from this shabby hole. Besides, I had the distinct impression that they were laughing at my inability to speak Greek - but it was an experience all the same and, so long as I don't get food poisoning I can put it down to being an interesting one.
After "lunch" I continued my route. The guy in the petrol station had told me that it would be downhill from Descarti. The road climbed for about two kilometres and reached the highest point of the day - just over 800 metres in altitude. It was then indeed mostly downhill all the way to Kalambaka. And now I forgave the road for the morning. The scenary seemed now friendlier, less harsh than it did in the morning, the wind died down and, most importantly, it was downhill. Oh the joy! This was really a treat. From having to slowly peg away in granny gears, I was now flying! I even took a video and, for once, I'm quite pleased with it as it captures the spirit of this afternoon's ride quite well:

As I neared Kalambaka the countryside became much greener and friendlier.

My first view of Meteora

Soon I was nearing Meteora - but I felt I was going to get the "bonk" - which in cycling jargon isn't something pleasant at all, but a sudden loss of strength due to low blood-sugar. This was no doubt due to my ridiculous lunch - but no matter, I found a peanut nougat I'd stashed away for such an occasion and my strength soon came back. Then I saw it -Meteora - the sight I'd crossed the Olympus mountain range to see. And what a sight it was, even from the road. It's just mind boggling to think that people could have constructed monasteries on the top of such massive rock structures. Tomorrow morning I shall explore more.
Now I'm in a campsite right at the foot of Meteora. It really is one of the most scenic places I've camped in since I put up a tent in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. And the campsite is itself a place to see. It's full of character decorated with family photos and objects collected over generations. It's clean, cheap and friendly. Life doesn't get much better than this!

The view from my tent