Day 11 - Konitsa to Kalabaki

Saturday 7th July 2018

Wow what a day! We plan to ride across the Pindos mountain range from the north west to the south east. It is an off-roaders’ paradise with loads of twisty little gravel roads traversing the peaks, the highest of which rises to over 2,600m.

But being gravel averse we manage to avoid most of them. 
Kings of the Tarmac are we so we stick to what we know. And quite superb it is. Mile after mile of white asphalt, mostly unblemished, carry us up hill and down dale on roads almost completely free of traffic. We see more cattle and goats on the road than we see cars. It is an empty and stunningly beautiful landscape.

But first we have the Old Bridge of Konitsa to visit. It’s actually not all that old, compared, say, to the Bridge over the Drina in Bosnia that was a highlight of last year’s Montenegro Bimble. However it is very pretty.

The Old Bridge of Konitsa


Mick conquers the Bridge


And then so do I


 The new A2 motorway traverses our route, but after a short stretch we choose to turn off back into the mountain twisties.
This is the Pindos range climbing up over 2000m. The road surfaces are very good, there is hardly any other traffic, I think we see just two other touring bikers all day. Highly recommended especially for off-road chappies , there looks like loads of gravel roads though we avoid most of them. 

(Note: I have lots of GoPro video and stills of this route but their inclusion in the blog will have to wait until I can edit them back home on the laptop)

The A2 motorway project down below our balcony road


 The A2/E92 motorway runs east-west right across northern Greece from Igoumenitsa in the west to Thessaloniki in the east and the main routes into Bulgaria and Turkey. I rode it’s length with Charly and Karl-Heinz on the Turkey Bimble back in 2014.
 It is a great achievement for the road builders, lots of fast sweeping corners and innumerable tunnels. Our route today criss-crosses over it two or three times.

As we ride down out of the mountains there is rain in the air. We stop for coffee at a small cafe where there is evidence of a big downpour but luckily we missed it.

Coffee stop after the rain

We ride over one final range of hills and down into the town of Kalabaka.this is the staging post for visitors to the staggering Meteora monasteries and the town is full of hotels. We try first at the Arsensis Guesthouse where I have stayed before but sadly they are fully booked. Booking.com comes in handy here and I find the Hotel Alexou on the Main Street of Kalabaka. It is ideal for our needs.

At 5pm the latest match for England’s World Cup team is due to kick off. There is a big TV in the lobby and we secure perfect seats in time for the start. 

Waiting for the England match to start


 It is the quarter final game against Sweden. England win easily 2-0 and progress through to the semis. Well happy we roam into the town for dinner in a nearby restaurant, where again there is a big screen showing the Russia-Croatia game.

The hotel has no parking but the friendly staff move a few pavement tables and chairs and we park up on path in front of the hotel.

Streets thronged with crowds cheering for England after the match


 From our room balcony we can see one of the Meteora monasteries on the skyline above the hotel across the street. But that is for tomorrow. Tonight we enjoy air conditioned sleeping while the temperature sign outside reads 25C at 11pm.

One of the Meteora monasteries viewed from our hotel balcony

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