Elati

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We had a shorter day today to give our muscles time to recover from yesterday. Today while shorter, was pretty much uphill to Zygovisti, the highest village on the Menalon Trail. 

It wasn't long before  we could look down on Demitsana. It's a gorgeous little village. 

We were up on the shepherd tracks and the sheep weren't bothered in the least by us.

You had to keep your eyes peeled for the way markers, this one was on a tree in a beautiful almond orchard. The blossoms were so beautiful. 

We made it to Zyvgovisti for lunch. Luckily the little place we are staying at is more or less on the trail and doubles as a taverna. Lunch and then resting and a walk around the village. 

Zyvgosti is a tiny village. On our walk about we saw six people and probably as many cats. There is a spectacular marble monument commemorating the Greek Independence fighters from the area.  This area is famous for producing gunpowder that eventually helped overthrow the Ottoman Empire in the early 1800's. 

Another beautiful day in nature.

Αγνάντιο room's Zyvgoisti

 

Stemnista to Demitsana

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28 April 2026

We had a huge breakfast at our little Gartagani Guest House in Stemnista, little did I know how important that huge brekky was until later in the day. The sun was shining, we filled our water bottles up and bought some Spanakopita pastry to have on the trail for lunch.

We were walking with a lovely lady, Thalia, who is taking pretty much the same trail stages as us. Let's go!

The hike is down a steep, beautiful gorge and back up again. It has more than 3000 feet of climbing across the 12.5ks. We started at the top of the gorge and the path was lined with spring wild flowers, so pretty 

It was tough going on your knees on the way down but slowly does it and careful foot placement. 🏃 The first monastery we came to, pictured above, was closed but it had a fantastic view point to look up the gorge all the way to Demitsana village perched on a hilltop. It looked a very long way!

From here we could see our next stop, the Old Philosopher monastery carved into the cliff face. Zoom into the pic below and you can see it hugging the side of the gorge. 

The mind boggles at how they built these beautiful places in such a challenging environment. As we made our way down to the Monastery of Aghios Ioannis Prodomos we came across mules with neck bells , so I imagine the monks use the mules to pack in and out supplies. 

The Prodomus monastery is incredible. It is tucked right into the cliff face.

We were able to fill up our water bottles here and also go inside, no pictures allowed. The monks had fresh Greek coffee and Turkish delight they had made for visitors. One older monk all clad in black with a big silver beard gave me a blessing as I left. I thought of him about four hours later on the gruelling ascent up to Dimitsana. What a place, very spiritual, quiet and so isolated. 

We kept going down, down,down to the river at the bottom of the gorge. It was roaring with the spring snow melt. Very beautiful. 

A small section of the track was washed out by a landslide so you had to use ropes to pull yourself up. Yikes! 

The next stop was the final monastery of the day and it was beautiful, the monastery of the New Philosopher.

 We'd been climbing back up the gorge and our legs were getting tired so we were thankful of this haven of rest.

The monk made us Greek coffee that was so strong you could stand a duck on it, it was greatly appreciated 😄also a small sweet pudding that looked to be made of sago and cardamon. He then gave us some home made Turkish delight as we left. He lives alone there with his cat. 

The sign markers leaving here were terrible, we actually did a small circuit of the monastery to start again on the correct path. With already tired legs I was trying to think positive 😬.There was only one way to Dimitsana and that was just keep putting one foot in front of the other ..uphill. We crossed the river again and then up we went.

I have to say it was tough going. One part was through rushing spring melt streams with very slippery rocks so you really had to watch your footing.

A few hazards along the track just to keep you on your toes and add a spot of climbing challenge to the trail😁.

After a long day of walking the last stretch always feels tough and it seems to take forever.  We couldn't find the sign marker for the final 30 mins into the actual village of Demitsana so we walked the road. The road took us straight to our accommodation for the night and with tired legs it felt safer and not slippery 😁.

Shower and rest and then early dinner and bed. Amazing day, huge uphill effort, incredible scenery, beautiful wild butterflies and spring beauty everywhere  in this special part of the Peloponesse.

Ortansia Rooms -Demitsana

Let's Go: Menalon Trail

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Today we started out on our week long hike through the alpine villages of the Peloponesse, the Menalon Way.

The Menalon Trail is approximately 75km long and passes through little villages. It climbs down through the Lousios River gorge, traverses the western slopes of Mt Menalon and along the Gortynian mountain foothills. There are eight stages that follow ancient shepherd tracks and pathways that serve old monastery's carved into the hillside. 

After leaving our luggage in storage at the Tripoli bus station we took a little 20 seater bus  up into the mountains. There were three locals, us and one other hiker from the Netherlands. The little village bus also doubled as the newspaper delivery run.

The bus only went as far as the village of Demitsana (we walk there on the second day)

We had two options, take a taxi to Stemnista and be there in about 10mins or walk the road the taxi would take. We didn't want to walk the actual  trail path (5hrs) to Stemnista in reverse as we knew we'd be walking that tomorrow in the correctly trail-marked direction. So after coffee on the edge of the incredible Lousios river gorge we saddled up the backpacks and hit the road  to the village of Stemnista. 

Approx 2.5hrs walking in beautiful spring sunshine, quiet alpine road with stunning views. We heard the goat bells before we came across a roaming herd and we saw many houses carved into the steep cliff sides.

We had a great first day and enjoyed a late lunch in the Stemnista village square. 

Stemnista is as cute as a button. Sleepy quiet village square with lots of cats begging for a piece of your lunch. 

You guessed it Greek salad and lemon chicken which the kitty cats did get a little nibble of 😁.

After a relaxing lunch we had a final 12min walk, uphill😁 to our bed for the night. Great first day 👍🏃👌

Gartagani Guest House, Stemnista, Peloponesse 

Kalimera! Tripoli Peloponesse

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22 April 2026 Flight 02:00am Hanoi - Dohar, 3.5 hrs transit, Dohar - Athens.

We feel lucky to have flown through Dohar during the ceasefire. Doha airport was busy and flights were heading in all directions. Only one area, the outdoor garden area, was closed due to drone target risk. Stayed two nights in an apartment near Athens airport to shower and sleep and get through initial jet lag. 

24 April 2026

We left Athens by bus to Tripoli. We  will stay three nights in order to catch the local village bus, that only runs on a Monday, Thursday or Friday, to Stemnista to walk the Menalon Trail....more on that later.  Bus stations the world over are a keen study of mankind. All walks of life, many trying their luck begging/ trying to sell you crappy stuff, there are grotty toilets and in general everything is in need of a good pressure wash, especially around the waiting area seats. Only nice bus station I can recall was Vigo, Spain. One elderly gent waiting in the same area as us for his bus, had what looked like a post surgery  leg brace on and he was being pestered by a professional beggar for money. They wouldn't leave him be so we went and asked him if he was OK as he was very vulnerable - he couldn't run away from her that's for sure. We  saw the pest off. In the time we were waiting for our bus she must have done at least 50 circuits of the station but she steered clear of us after that. There was definitely a gang working the station and I felt sorry for her in a way. It  gets me that the gang masters send the woman out to do the work and sit back and count the takings. Rant over 😏 and I wasn't the least bit  tempted by the Sophia Loren big sunglasses circa 1970 😎

The bus took about  three hours and we passed over the Corinth Canel which was pretty cool.

Always wanted to see this so it was great it was enroute. The road kept gradually climbing up these steep passes, we could even see snow 😬on some of the ranges. Such a change in landscape from lush jungle foliage of Vietnam to dry, rocky mountains and olive trees and it's always lovely seeing the red poppy flowers in the fields.

Tripoli was established in the beginning of 14th century and until the end of 19th century it was called Tripolitsa.  Many different invaders such as Venetians and Turks left their marks on the city. 

One piece of history I read was during the Greek Independence uprising over 3000 Greek men were slaughtered outside the town gates by the Albanian mercenaries protecting the Ottoman occupation. 

The beautiful central park has a collenade of busts so those who helped secure Greek independence will never be forgotten.

The city now serves as the municipal function for the wider area with agriculture, industrial and horticulture service centers. Population about 44,000.

It is wonderful to see blue sky again and spring is in the air.

 After Vietnam,  the air was crisp and clear as we sat outside St Basil's cathedral, no more humidity and smog. 

The temps are a lot cooler at this altitude but perfect for our hike starting in a few days.

We love being back in Europe.  We wandered about last night in the squares and plaza where all the locals tend to hang out, chat, play soccer with their kids.... intergenerational and no stress or agro.  There are so many beautiful public spaces and  gardens and a lot of fabulous public sculpture.

The only downside for us is the locals tend to eat between 8.30 and 10pm ....which is hopeless for us. Not to be daunted were old dogs at this lark and we'll swing into having a main meal at lunch. Wandering off a side street from the main square we came across a gorgeous wee cafe, Senor....lunch was divine!

It's bread and water for dinner 😁. We tend to start walking early each day which means early to bed 😁.

Many of the really  old historic buildings are falling into ruin which is a shame. Too expensive to keep up and many young people leave here for the big smoke of Athens where work attracts better pay.  The churches seem to be well kept up 👍👌

Apartment :

Tripoli Apartment - Διαμέρισμα 65 τμ στην καρδιά της πόλης

Athens Demi's Apartment near the airport, Atremedia