Day 13 – Monday, August 18, 2025
I paid €35 for my room – some people would have paid ten times that amount. No, not for the somewhat outdated installments and decoration, but for the amazing view. I was on the third floor and had gotten up early – and from my balcony, the view was breathtaking. I enjoyed it just before sunrise, at sunrise, after sunrise – you get the point. It is not easy to put the feeling into words, the sights were so wonderful.
Before sunrise...
...at sunrise...
...after sunrise...
Around 8 am, I checked out of my hotel, but asked for my bags to be kept – similar to the National Park at Durmitor, it was a circle that one could make, though here it is just about 15 kilometers or so. I figured for all the climbing to the monasteries, it would be simpler traveling “naked.” The receptionist lady was very friendly, she had no issue with me doing this. She was genuinely pleased with me liking what I had seen of the surroundings last night and that morning from the balcony of my room.
I bought some supplies and had a quick breakfast at a fancy supermarket. At that time of the day, the tourists were either sleeping or enjoying their morning coffee. My goal was to beat them, i.e. the touristic crowds, and I started riding uphill. I could go on and on about the monasteries at Meteora, but it should suffice that back when they were built, there were 24 of them. Today, six still remain and can be visited, with a nicely paved road constructed, suitable for cars and – alas – buses.
The ride was really astonishing, nature had created a masterpiece paralleled (and not surpassed) by only a few other spots – and man used his ingenuity to build upon the beauty of nature. There were incredible blocks of rock shooting out from the ground – and these were topped by monasteries – the architects of which were nothing but geniuses.
The road was indeed very good, well marked as well – and I succeeded in beating the crowds (I initially wrote “crows”; then there were no cows either – what a difference a letter or two makes). Honestly, it would not have mattered had I started later – there was enough space for me with my bike both on the road, in the parking, and then as a visitor.
I am having a hard time picking which photos to show you, my shutter kept clicking (is there a shutter in cellphones? I doubt that). It was a truly unique experience. Once I even got goosebumps, triggered by the sight.
No monastery, but one of my favorite pictures
Imagine having to build this, with the tools of the time
This is a monastery built for nuns – they had a shorter uphill than the other places
The biggest monastery
..."melted" onto the rock wall
Varlaam was the name of the monastery I visited, featuring a huge wine barrel and a museum – where I saw a movie showing how in the past transportation to the hilltops took place – the monks were placed in a large nets and then hauled up by a long rope driven by four other monks. Quite incredible, which of course begs the question how those four got to the top – and how the construction took place. An enigma.
A huge barrel to store wine
This was the "elevator" used to haul the monks up to the monasteries
A "proof" of how hundreds of years ago the monks were "transported"
My intention was to visit all six monasteries, but after my visit to Varlaam, I changed my mind. While the nature in the area and the architecture of the monasteries really impressed me, I was a bit underwhelmed by the interior – it was too modern, made way too easy for all tourists to visit. Long gone was the medieval atmosphere.
So I finished the ring, which was just 15 kilometers long, stopping at the outside of the other monasteries. At the end of the ring, I visited a Lidl to get some groceries and got back to my hotel around noon – and felt a bit empty. After such a highlight, what does one do? Where do I go from there? I was in the middle of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea being just as far as the Aegean Sea (both about 200 km away). South was where I was headed, but I did not see any major highlights in that direction. I pondered for a while, spoke to some rather clueless ladies at a local travel agent’s office – then just started riding, without really knowing where I was headed.
It gets really rural south of Meteora, at least on the roads I was riding on. The one highlight that I saw was huge solar panel parks – and these panels were remotely rotatable.
The highlight near the small villages
Stone me all you want, but I picked a small village for its name, it was called Fiki, and I rode there. There was a small grocery store where I bought some cold water and some cookies. I sat down at a table outside the shop – and was in for a very pleasant surprise. The lady running the shop, who spoke both English and a bit of German, suddenly appeared with a plate of watermelon – how nice, efharisto!
A plate of watermelon suddenly appeared on the table, amazing Greek hospitality
Outside Fiki was yet another unplanned mini-adventure. From Fiki, I noticed on the online map there was a small road, including a bridge, over to Pigi (can you say this with all seriousness, “I was riding from Fiki to Pigi”?). The pavement was gone, but I still pushed on, Google navigating me. It got more and more deserted, there was a field of rubbish near the river (what river?), when I reached the bridge (what bridge?). Well, there was neither a river – it had dried out – and as such, the bridge was not needed either, it was MIA (missing in action). Anyway, I crossed the riverbed to the other side. Now I was near a major highway with the designation “Hwy 30.” The issue was that it was cordoned off on both sides by a tall fence. So while I made it there – and could even cross to the other side using a stinky tunnel – I could not get on the highway itself. I thought of tearing down the wall (homage to Pink Floyd, i.e. the fence), but that would not have been so nice of me. I was quite frustrated, but as far as I could see, the barrier ran forever, probably protecting the cars from dogs and other wild animals (and wild cyclists). Moreover, there was vegetation with lots of thorns; my sandals, socks, and legs were full of them. Not the most pleasant place to be.
I hate backtracking and noticed there was a dirt road heading towards the southeast. Honestly, had I made it over to Highway 30, my entire trip would have taken a different course - as Providence had something else in mind for me.
Well, now I was riding on the dirt road. A dog with a limp tried to catch up with me – he did not quite manage, with me even riding at just at a regular pace. He barked like crazy and this probably alerted its buddies, who by no means had a limp and were apparently in quite good shape. What started out of this was quite a chase. Luckily, one of the dogs must have thought it was the preparation for an Olympic event (with Olympia itself not all too far from there). It decided to overtake me; perhaps it wanted to attack me from the front. Anyhow, after a while they gave up.
I stopped at a small refreshment shop when I reached another road – so ended my mini-adventure. There I had a sandwich to regain my strength lost to thorns and chasing dogs, doing my best to clean my feet, legs, and thighs. I started riding on this smaller road heading more or less southwards, through small villages, and saw nothing but mountains ahead. As I later learned, it was the Pindos mountain range that I was seeing. It is a range that runs north to south along much of mainland Greece. It is also known colloquially as “the spine of Greece.” The mountain range stretches from near the Greek-Albanian border down to the Peloponnese peninsula, it being an extension of the Dinaric Alps.
I do not really recall when I realized I was now entering a steady and major climb. The next larger town was, as I recall, 250 kilometers away. I recited my now-famous motto – "hey, no ascent continues forever" – so I just went for “it,” whatever “it” meant. I was ascending surely, but slowly (emphasis on the latter). The views were quite nice, traffic hardly noticeable. I was making a mental calculation: in this area, even if I covered just 50 km a day, I would make it to the next larger town in about 5 days or so – so nothing really to worry about. I had enough to eat, thanks to Lidl, and drinking was not a problem, provided by the number of fountains on the side of the road.
Picture of the view, taken late in the afternoon. Notice a river in the valley and a road on the opposite side of the mountain
Yet again, impressive forces of nature – the forces that bent these rocks
My mini-adventure with the thorns and dogs ended around 3:30 pm, this ride was just part of the regular adventure. It was quite a challenging ride, with many, many switchbacks, especially as the daylight stated fading. I am now in the middle of nowhere, so I thought and it felt very much like that. How many more switcbacks are ahead? Where am I going to sleep?
At around dusk, which was around 8:30 pm, the road levelled out a bit and I spotted a small church/chapel on the side, with a couple of younger ladies sitting in the courtyard. At first, I did not want to disturb them – interestingly, it was more them trying to contact me, so I stopped. They were on an outing, spoke good English, and knew the area - and were wondering what the heck was I doing there. They explained that the church is considered public property, so I was more than welcome to stay in its courtyard to crash for the night. Nice! Even nices was that a few hundred meters away was a tavern. Providence was providing for me!
Alas, the ladies left, I pitched my tent, and then went to the tavern, being the only guest at that time of the day (night). I got special service from the owners, who were a happy couple in a good mood. I had a great Greek salad, tzatziki, and bifteki – it was truly delicious. I paid less than €25 for all this food.
Honestly, I had no idea what the name of this village was, but as I connected with the lady owner on Facebook, I asked her for details as I am writing this story. It is called Platania, 430 60, Greece (mind you, there are a number of places in Greece with the same name, this one, being quite remote, is the last to be offered by the map app). The name of the restaurant is Παραδοσιακή ταβέρνα καφέ τα 5ΦΦΦΦΦ Πλατάνια Οξυάς Καρδίτσας 5Φ, Yes, five of these: ΦΦΦΦΦ, or phi, phi, phi, phi phi. You can also click on this link to locate it.
Quite unexpectedly, I found a taverna in the middle of nowhere
The author very happy after having this delicious dinner
Here you can see the road I took, the church and the tavern
I returned to the chapel, dogs that I had fed (probably not enough) barking and chasing me – hey, guys, how can you be like this, after me giving food to you? Anyhow, they gave up soon, after the owners whistled them back. I slept really well.
The day entailed 73 kilometers of riding and 1,414 meters of ascending, lot of these in the latter part of the day.