Friday 16th May 2008

We left Akrata Beach after saying goodbye to Manolis and Sandy and Pat who were busy painting the metal bases of the bar tables. Manolis is lucky to have two such willing volunteers and he is very aware of this despite the fact that he complained that I was distracting his staff!
Our journey was going to take us over the bridge that spans the Gulf of Corinth from Rio (on the Peloponese side) to Antirio (on the mainland side). The bridge was a considerable engineering feet and it looks very stylish. Our task was simple – drive along the Old National Road and then over the bridge. However, we had not allowed for the Greek knack of not completing a task properly. We saw the bridge but there were no signs to the bridge or to any destinations on the other side of the Gulf. We followed signs to Rio only to find ourselves under the bridge with no way to get up to it. We decided that we would have to get onto the New National Road to get to the bridge but as we approached that road we only had the option of 'Athens' or 'Patras' neither of which involved the bridge. After a considerable time of driving backwards and forwards and performing a U-turn in front of the toll booths of the New National Road (a manoeuvre that was not allowed but we followed four other Greek vehicles, including two lorries), we finally got to the bridge and very impressive it was too.
We were heading almost due North from Antirio, past Lake Trichonida and the thermal spa resort of Thermo on to a road that was shown as 'green' on our map. The route up to Thermo (a thermal spa resort) was quite attractive but it got even better after that. We were heading for Proussou Monastery and we got to one of those classic Greek signs that showed our destination in two different directions. Jane however could see that the one to the left went on a white road (not asphalted) and the road straight on was shown as asphalted on the map. We were a little concerned that our map showed about 12 km of non-asphalted road further on but the map was from 2000 and many roads have been improved since then. We continued to follow signs for Proussou (most comforting!) through spectacular mountain scenery but we did get to a section that was dirt track. We had agreed that we would turn back if it got too bad but, certainly to start with, it was in good condition. Well, we actually drove for 14 km along this road, though tiny deserted hamlets, past lovely chapels and bemused shepherds who obviously thought that we were mad. Generally the track was good but it often became narrow and sections had cliff on one side and a long drop into the valley below on the other side. Jane coped very well and was perfectly calm – fortunately the big drops were always on my side. We didn't pass another vehicle for the whole 14 km, for which I am very grateful. The thought of backing up on some of the sections really did not appeal! We reached a main road at a T-junction with absolutely no signs for Proussou and the map indicated that we should have been right on the edge of the village. Confusion followed and was only solved when I stopped to ask the way. We were over 10km from Proussou and could not have been on the road that we thought that we were. It was a real experience and wonderful scenery, but I would not recommend it to other motorhomers!
There were no campsites in the area and we knew that we would have to wild camp and we found an excellent position on a side road, close to the Proussou cemetery, above the village and monastery. I investigated a small chapel just below our site that had a lovely view down to the monastery and a wonderful bell tower – the bell was hanging in a tree next to the chapel!
Photos: The bridge from Rio to Antirio across the Gulf of Corinth; On the dirt track through one of the few small hamlets; A view from the dirt track down to the hamlet that we had just driven through; The view of Proussou and its monastery from near out wild camping spot.