Apologies for the amount of track and tunnel photos today..I’ll be counting sleepers to help me sleep tonight!
Woken up at random o’clock by the church bells – 4 times in an hour but not on the quarter. I’d only just gone to sleep and then it was 7am! Thick socks and boots on, we set off to catch the Kalávryta Express with the aim of going halfway up the gorge and walking back down along the tracks. Sounds suicidal, but it’s a known hiking trail and the drivers expect people to be walking on the line..apparently 😬Just three trains a day, but it’s still sensible to be aware of the timetable, so you’re not in a narrow place when it comes past. The drivers did all toot as they went past – in fact, by 3pm I reckon they were probably thinking ‘is that still that same couple hobbling back to Zakhlorou’.
The train journey itself, full of tunnels, bridges and sheer drops, was a little crowded, and I’m glad we got off when we did, as I couldn’t have coped with the strange laugh of the lady behind for much longer. It was a kind of cross between a hyena and a chain saw.
I was concerned about the walk back, but the first half was brilliant, then it all became a bit arduous in the heat. Whilst the tracks had sleepers, it was great, as they were just about spaced at my stride. Once we hit the cog parts, it was just trudging along on really rough ballast. It’s about killed us in the heat!
The last mile, I think we were both just throwing our feet forward and hoping for the best. When an unexpected train came tootling up the track, I knew we’d looked at the timetable wrongly, so good job we were nearly back.
Some amazing scenery today and only about nine miles in total but boy was it hard! 😂
