With an overnight stop in Larisa, we head into the mountains via Meteora. Larisa, a cycling town with a good 100,000 inhabitants, is a bit like Holland in Macedonia, central Greece.
Pedestrian zone with two-lane cycle path, cycle lane and many narrow one-way streets, sometimes with a separate cycle path, plus at least five bike shops.
There are nice shops, lots of cafés and restaurants. Today, on Friday evening, everyone is outside and looking forward to the weekend with friends or family.
The next day we travel through the beautiful Tembi Valley. The Pinios River cut through the Olympus and Ossa mountains in the Greek landscape of Thessaly and formed this valley, which is around eight kilometres long, a long time ago. At its narrowest point, it is only forty metres wide. We cycle on the side of the river, where there are also some stopping bays. On the opposite carriageway, it is just a case of keep going and hopefully the petrol will last. There is now a parallel motorway through the mountain, so the traffic is limited, as we experience throughout Greece. The roads seem oversized. We encounter little traffic everywhere.
We head for the Meteora National Park, one of Greece’s greatest sights. After ninety kilometres on the flat, we cycle up in the evening without our luggage and cycle through all the monasteries.
The Pindos Mountains lie before us. It stretches 150 kilometres from north to south. It goes up to 1630 MASL. The old pass road, closed to motorists, leads us up to the summit. First a ghost town, then an old ski resort that long ago has fallen victim to climate change. We meet a few motorbike riders and a handful of mountain bikers, with whom we share our joy during the ride.
We planned to spend the night at the top. However, the weather and our legs are glorious, so we decide to save the money for a room and cycle straight on to Ioannina. We know the campsite, which is beautifully situated on Lake Pamvotida, and have fond memories of it.
We take Gian Maria, a busy italian touring cyclist, with us before the last climb. The three of us crank up the 600 metres in altitude, enjoying the view of the mountains and the lake at our feet in the Epirus region. At the end of the day, we have 2300 metres in altitude and over 120 kilometres.
A great stage through the unique mountain world of northern Greece! Roads empty of people and vehicles. Pure nature. The tyres roll well. Where there is nobody, everything is clean.
We contact Vana in the morning. Vana and her family opened a campsite on their farm in southern Albania six years ago. We were their first guests at the time, came over the border from Ioannina near Leskovik, hungry and exhausted, and rolled up at their place. Nothing to eat, nothing to drink. Vana is delighted that we are coming again. Another tough Alpine stage lies ahead of us across the border and up 500 metres in altitude to Leskovik. We climb up with iron will. There is no point in stopping. It is very similar to six years ago.
We arrive at the top hungry and exhausted. There are now a few people running the place. There are huts and a restaurant, but it is actually still the same as it was six years ago. Vana cooks for us. We wish for the same as six years ago. In the mornings, she works as a teacher in Leskovik, nine kilometres away. The two boys also go to school there. In the mornings, there are homemade pancakes in the tent, fresh milk from the cow and pickled figs. Self-sufficient. In addition to flour, salt and sugar, they now buy a few vegetables when the garden is not enough.
After a really relaxing day under a white-blue sky at 1000 metres above sea level, we head north.
The mountains of southern Albania are just as beautiful and fascinating as the north of Greece.