Heipei

We left Kalamata heading east, on the road to Sparti. Just outside of the city, the road started climbing and winding through the hills and we were soon well up in the mountains. This is one of the occasions were I didn’t take many photos as I had to drive, which was a real shame since the road was so unique. If you search the Internet for “road kalamata to sparti” you get an idea of what it looks like. This was, without a doubt, the most beautiful and diverse stretch of landscape we saw in our time in Greece, and it rivalled even the stunning mountain roads of Canadian national parks.

A little before we reached the city of Sparti we left the main road to drive up a really tiny and even steeper mountain road. Our destination was the ancient town of Mystras. When we arrived at the upper parking lot the sun was already punishing us, but this wasn’t to keep us from seeing the ruins.

Mystras is located in the Taygetos mountain range. It was built there for tactical reasons, and we soon discovered just how steep the climb up the mountain to the ancient fortress really was. There were some ruins which had since been consumed by nature while others (like churches and cathedrals) were still very much intact. From the highest point, the fortress, we could see all of Mystras and lot of the surrounding countryside.

On our way back we noticed that there was a second parking lot (the lower entrance) to the ancient town, so we stopped here as well to see some of the additional buildings. The highlight of the lower part was definitely the Metropolis (Cathedral), with its beautiful courtyard and dark church interior. The rest of the day was spent driving towards out final destination for this holiday: Nafplio.

The day was far from over when we left the wonderful Polilimnio Waterfalls. We drove straight west until we reached the coast and the town of Pilos. In Pilos we parked our car at the pier and walked around the central square to finally get a coffee and some ice cream. With its central square and the small restaurants surrounding it, Pilos is the kind of town I think of whenever I remember our vacations in Greece when I was a child.

After Pilos we drove to Methoni, a sleepy tiny town with a formidable citadel. We parked the car somewhere near the entrance of the citadel and started strolling around its huge defensive walls. After a few hundred meters we were almost ready to turn around and go back when we came upon the most serene beach we had seen in Greece. Although we had done plenty of swimming already that day it only took us a few minutes to get back to the car and get changed again. The beach was wide and very shallow, so one could just walk for hundreds of meters while still being able to reach the ground.

The last stop that day was the tiny town of Koroni. It might not have been much smaller than Methoni, but the street to the harbor was a lot more narrow and went straight through the central square in Koroni. There is really not much more to say on Koroni or the other places. We drove back to Kalamata for our last night before leaving for Nafplio.

On our second day in Kalamata we went on a daylong road-trip around the western tip of the Messenian Gulf. The main reason we drove straight west was a tip from the receptionist in Katakolo. He had prepared a small annotated map of his favourite spots on the Peloponnese. One thing he repeatedly told us what the absolute had to visit Polilimnio Waterfalls, the highlight and an absolute must-see on our trip. Although he had warned us that getting there would take a fair amount of hiking, the photos and the remoteness of the waterfalls meant we had already made our decision.

To get to Polilimnio we had to drive through two small villages and follow local signs. The latter part of the road was rough gravel, but there was enough traffic that we were confident to be heading the right way. We had to park the car eventually and make our way downhill by foot.

The Polilimnio Waterfalls are a series of small lagoons fed by a mountain creek. The valley is just a few meters wide in some spots, quite steep in other places and in general densely vegetated. When we came upon the trail we decided to hike downhill first, not knowing where we’d find the bigger lagoons. After about half an hour of hiking and climbing down slippery rocks and iron rungs we had arrived at the lowest lagoon. With just a few square meters of even surface, we stripped down to our swimming suits and jumped into the lagoon. The water was ice cold and completely pure, shimmering turquoise intensely.

After the lowest lagoon we had to hike back up, happy that the whole path was covered in shade. We passed a number of lagoons on our way up, stopping at a smaller one to swim and have some lunch. By now we had figured out that the biggest lagoon was still ahead, so we continued uphill. In this narrow valley we weren’t alone at any point in time, there were Greek and other tourists of all sorts and ages. Having climbed some particular rough terrain, we finally arrived at the biggest lagoon, called “Kadi Lake”. It wasn’t only the biggest lake but also the one with the most spectacular waterfall, good rocks to dive off of and enough space for a few people to enjoy it at the same time. Used to the cold water by now, we immediately stripped down and dove into the water. It was even possible to swim below the waterfall and feel the force of the water coming straight down. When we were done swimming and taking in the breathtaking view, we headed back to the parking lot, which took us quite a while. For the rest of day we had planned to visit some small cities along the coast.

Our next stop after Katakolo was Kalamata, the second most populous city of the Peloponnese. We hadn’t been able to find a hotel quite as nice as in the other cities, but at least it was right at the long waterfront promenade.

We noticed that Kalamata is probably not a prime destination for international tourists right when we arrived. We parked our car in front of the hotel. The building next to it was unfinished concrete, like one is used to seeing in certain parts of Greece. The hotel itself was OK, but a little dated. At the least we had a grand view from our balcony, see the photo below.

On day one, we walked into the center of Kalamata by way of a small footpath along a park which had been created in place of the old rail lines. The park, like the hotel, was OK, but neglected, and that was a feeling we had repeatedly in the small streets of Kalamata. Again, this is only the tourist in me speaking as I’m sure that Kalamata is a happening place to be for Greeks, not just because of the nightlife and beaches.

Near the center of Kalamata, we went up to Kalamata Castle, located on a steep hill and overlooking both city and bay in all directions. The view was nice, but we had the strange feeling of being the only tourists in the whole city on that day. I took a lot of photos of derelict buildings which looked like they had seen better times. We also found a sublime place to eat on that first night, dining at a small Greek restaurant without a written menu in one of the roads branching of from the beach promenade. There is not terribly much else to say about Kalamata, so I’ll leave it at that. The next day we went on a tour which was pretty much the highlight of our whole vacation, which is why I’m dedicating a separate post to that.