A walk in the Pelion hills

We managed to catch the early bus and set off on our walk up into the Pelion hills to Milies. It's such a lovely walk at this time of day, cool fresh with the sun filtering through the olive groves. We were walking on a kalderimi or mule track and did pass three sets of donkeys carrying loads. With Milies visible in the distance their houses dotted along the tops of the hill, we walked through olive groves and later large chestnut trees. We had just crossed a small bridge and were walking up the path when this scene with the light on a distant olive tree came into view.

We were in the land of the centaurs ancient mythical beings with human heads and horse bodies. A sign to a cave was ignored as we wanted to continue our upward route and reach Milies for coffee. The library in Milies contains some fascinating items including books dating from 1490's and a large collection of historical documents and photos from 1823 when there was a nationalist revolution against the Ottoman Empire for an independent Greece.

We didn't see any centaurs but did see a nude male tourist walking along the railway track on our way back . This track is narrow with mountains to one side and magnificent views all around. It was very hot and sunny. Fortunately his wife (fully clad) saw us and her husband further ahead then put his shorts on. As we caught up with them and rounded a bend we met a local with two donkeys coming towards us. I think we saved the local a fair amount of embarrassment.

By the time we got off the railway track onto a small road we gave up any hope of finding the kalderimi and took the safe option back. A total of about 10 miles. A great walk but tiring by the end of the day.