Trips throughout Greece
Athens - Pireaus - Cape Sounion - Poros - Santorini - Zakynthos - Rhodes - Mikonos - Delos - Corinth - Theater of Epidauro - Nafplio - Mycenae - Delphi - Arahova - Ioannina - Vikos Gorges - Meteora - Messenia and Peloponnesus |
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 Dispensable |
Worthwhile |
Very recommendable |
Marvel |
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As I have told in the previous page we rented a cheap car to make an excursion to the north of Ioannina. The main dish would be the Vikos Gorges but during the journey we enjoyed other spots.
First we addressed towards the Perama's caves , very close from the town. They are 1 km. long and several water streams cross the interior. The different stances are full of stalactites and stalagmites in surprising shapes, broad spaces and lakes. There are original spiders living here, as they are blind (something expected, as there is no light inside) and they are able to jump. Don't imagine something similar to "Aracnofobia" as we only saw one or two. You go out through an exit different from the entrance. From the walk until the entrance to the caves we contemplated a lovely landscape of the basin and the lake. The caves are not too special if you have already visited other caves of this sort. |
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We went on driving into the country of the Zagoria (it means "the country at the back of the mountains") . It is a mountainous and colourful environment, as the autumn gave thousands of tonalities to the abundant forests. This is a region that I didn't expect in Greece because it is very similar to the mountainous regions of the rest of Europe. The villages keep the typical stone houses with wooden balconies, piled up on the slopes. |
In this wild spots the Greek troops detained the Italian offensive from Albania in 1940 and they suffered deeply the civil war that exploded after the II World War as they were nearby the communist block.
I highly recommend a book, as this is a real history that brings to nowadays how the things were then. The title is Eleni and the writer Nicholas Cage (Eleni's son). The book starts with his mother's execution. I won't tell you more. |
| Two villages in our way called Vitsa and Monodendri are authentic and the time seems to be quiet here. From Monodendri you have to walk until the Vikos Gorges . Firstly we reached the monastery of Agia Paraskevi , on the top of the gorges, from where the zigzag path that skirts the precipice leaves. Indeed this place has always been refuge for hermits or partisans |
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It is difficult to describe our impression, but I could start by explaining that the river Voidomatis flows at 1000 m. deep under us, that the rocky walls ascend totally vertical and that the views are astonishing and impressive. You feel insignificant in such a place. |
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We went up through this tremendous path until a sort of hole in the wall and we even went on a little further. We sat to contemplate this exceptional environment without realizing about the time. |
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The path has been excavated into the rock and it is really spectacular. |
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After a long while we returned to the village. We had written down some rural houses in these villages, but we finally didn't accommodate here because we didn't have too much time to stay in the region, but this is a magnificent and ideal spot to spend a weekend.
Afterwards we drove up to Oxia through a narrow road that crosses the forest along around 7 km. and that offers a great panorama of Monodendri.
This road is almost a path, and we were afraid of having a puncture (the car was very small and the tyres very thin) in the middle of nowhere and with no people to help us. |
| Miraculously we managed to reach the end of the road. We expected to find similar perspectives than those near Monodendri. |
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However they were even more superb , as you can divisate the whole gorges from here. There is also a path to walk near the cliffs but it is not situated in the same rock, but over it. |
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We carefully drove down towards Monodendri and we returned to Ioannina in a fabulous sunset in the Zagoria's country. I would recommend one full day to enjoy this excursion.
We didn't have the time to visit Dodona, where there are some nicely preserved and interesting ruins and a ancient Greek theatre. |
