Before departing Athens Studios I needed to have a quick chat with Ed (one of the brothers managing the place) about travelling across countries in your own vehicle. Ed is looking at driving to India via Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. I gave him some preliminary points to consider to see if it is even possible these days (i.e. getting a visa to enter Iran, and/or Pakistan) before committing too much time and energy to it.
He said he will email me…….
I had bee parking the bike in a small park across from Athens Studios that was very tight getting in and out of because of the bollards and trees. Every time coming in and leaving it was bumping and scraping without too much of a problem, I had only almost pushed the balance over once before.......
I had loaded up my bike and was on my way out of the tight squeeze between the tree, the bollards and the rusty fence when the angle between the bollard and the tree was too tight. As I tried to go forward the bollard held firm and forced the bike over (by scraping against the pannier). It was impossible to hold the bike up against the solid bollard and still go forwards. I fell ever so slowly. I went over the fence and the bike ended up resting on the now broken rails of the fence.
I tried to compose myself and in the most relaxed manner possible go back to the fellas at reception and ask for a hand picking the bike up. They were rather concerned and rushed back to the bike almost ahead of me.
When we returned to the bike it was apparent that I was actually quite lucky not to be impailed on the rusty fence.
We picked up the bike and walked it through the gap now that I was past the tightest point. Not a good start to the departure.
It wasn't until later I noticed a small tear and loose thread on the leg of my pants and a nice round bruise on my hip.
As I left Athens Studios I was now overly hot and bothered and the conditions didn't get any better. I followed the GPS out of town through horrendous traffic in rather hot temperatures. The cars were doing what motorcyclists usually do by inventing additional lanes wherever they could and quickly filling them. Nobody was going anywhere.
I hadn't filled the CamelBak so I was looking forward to getting through the traffic jam to find some water.
Once through the traffic I was soon on the tollway so I kept going. I was heading for the Corinth Canal and it is a short distance from Athens.
I arrived at the Southern end of the canal and had to wait for the bridge to return, after being submerged to allow a ship to pass, before I could ride over. While I waited I went for a short ride to see what else might be nearby……..not a great deal. I made it back to the bridge in time to see it rise the final cm's to its top position and a few fish flip and flop their way back through the planks to the water, or steel, below.
I was a little anxious before I rolled my heavy, dry weather bike, onto the potentially slippery timber planks. I focussed on the end of the bridge and gently rode over to the other side. The grass was not greener over there. I found a couple of bottles of water and a coke and was soon back to the bridge to cross back over and head up to the Northern end.
Southern End - view out to the Saronic Gulf
Southern End - view back north along the canal.
Northern End - view out to the Gulf of Corinth
Northern End - view back south along the canal.
The Corinth Canal is so narrow that it essentially only used by cruise ships (that still fit) to add a little extra interest to their voyages. Major freight ships are unable to use it economically.
On my way to see what I could see along the canal
On the bridge over the canal - No Entry - Private Property
Looking South from on the Bridge
Looking North from on the Bridge
After getting a fairly good look at the Corinth Canal (although I didn't see the ancient relief carving in the rocks - a temple to…..?) I weighed up my options for what to achieve for the remainder of the day.
Option 1: Rush to Ancient Mycenae and rush around the ruins (if getting there in time to enter….)
Option 2: Quickly get to Kalavyrta to catch the train back down to the coast, in the hope of having a relaxing seaside dinner, before returning on the train to some comfortable mountain accommodation to spend the night.
I chose Option 2.
I headed along the coast and the roads were mostly fast toll roads. I made pretty good time and took the turn uphill to Kalavyrta.
I turned off the highway and was followed by a small white car who seemed keen to get moving quickly.....
I let him pass by slowing down and moving as far right as possible....
He sped past and continued on cutting the corners over the centre line as he went....
As started to round the bend I heard him first and saw him second - brakes locked-up sliding around the corner sideways with a large blue truck trailer very close and still approaching. He clipped the back corner of the truck trailer, bounced, then continued sliding to smash the front of his car into the roadside barrier.....he was not happy.
He motioned to the truck driver to leave and then he got back in and moved off. He stopped around the corner off the road and I stopped to ask if I could help or anything....he wasn't happy.....I left him to it.
I continued along the road passing wonderful views and scenery….
View back down the valley.
Another valley view.
Buildings perched high on the rocks above.
As I continued along the road towards Kalavyrta the crasher passed me and stopped again further up the road. Something seemed odd about the way he was behaving.....who knows if it was his car or not......?
It was a good road all the way up with sue wonderful stretches and bends along the way. The scenery is fabulous so I was taking it easy to enjoy both the road and the view as best I could.
I arrived in Kalavyrta around 4:30 ish…..... Anyway all trains had finished for the day and there was no point in staying to go down and back the next day without having been to Ancient Mycenae.
I decided I would head back to Corinth (or nearby) to stay, see Ancient Mycenae in the morning and if early try for the train again or head to Patras after the ruins at Mycenae.
After arriving in Corinth I was not too impressed by the possibility of accommodation.....I checked the GPS and based on the two offerings it wasn't that impressed either. Since the GPS had many more options in Loutraki, only 6kms away, I headed there.
I passed Christina Maris Hotel on the way in and only didn't stop straight away to satisfy my curiosity.
I went through Loutraki, out the other side, then returned to Christina Maris Hotel.
It was located opposite the water and seemed quite pleasant.
I was soon inside, unpacked, reclothed and ready for a swim.
The swim was brief and pleasant and very refreshing after a long day in the saddle.
It was soon dinner time so I headed out and up the street to the restaurants.
Outside was a wonderful sunset.
I don't know how many rolls of film I used but here are a couple of snaps…..
Perhaps I should delete a couple, but I couldn't choose one bad enough…..
After such a wonderful sunset I had a crepe dinner.
It was OK.
After almost 330km on the bike, including fast toll roads and twisty mountains, I was well and truly ready for bed.
Ancient Mycenae was sure to be open tomorrow.