The outdoor bath is surrounded by aluminium sheeting, fed by a scolding hot pipe from the hillside, and must rate as the highlight of our trip so far.
After settling up and “chatting” to some of the locals, we were told to carry on up the valley to the village of Kattani, which was meant to have beautiful views across the mountains. They told us that it was a dirt track for half the way but that we wouldn’t have any trouble in the Land Rover, which was all the encouragement we needed. At Medousa, the tarmac disappears and we really felt like we were off the beaten track, with the smallholdings and goat pens dotted across the bottom of the valley gradually petering out as the sides got steeper.
5km of track brought us to Kattani, nestling in a forested valley,
after which there is only a footpath onwards, with Bulgaria on the other side of the ridgeline.
Halfway up a steep cobbled street I thought caution was the better part of valour and made a slow retreat to park on the edge of the village.
We explored on foot and said hello to the only people we saw, a grandmother bundling together some dried crops, the grandfather sitting on the steps overseeing the work, and their small grandchild playing.
After returning to the Land Rover I pulled over at the brow of the hill, next to the world’s remotest taverna, to take a photo back up the valley to Kattani when we were greeted by the taverna owner who insisted we come in for a coffee (www.kottani.gr).
We couldn’t refuse, so over a Greek coffee on the terrace overlooking Kattani we were treated to some nibbles prepared by his wife (a potato and cheese omelette and a flat maize based dish, both of which were delicious).
They had spent five years renovating what used to be his grandfather’s house and have been open for a year, and were rightly proud of what they had achieved. The track we had driven was due to be tarmaced next year, allowing easier access, and, as well as promising to return one day, we said we would tell others of our “discovery”. They refused payment as we left.
Back down to Xanthi and onto the motorway to Alexandroupoli, the last major town before Turkey. SPOT At the campsite in Alexandroupoli we encountered a large number camper vans as it’s the stopping off point for most cross border travellers. There was a group of about ten French vans parked together, four or five making up the German contingent, and a smattering of Swiss, Belgium and a couple of Dutch vans. We found a nice hard standing near the facilities, which also happened to be behind two UK registered vans, although their owners were elsewhere. We thought we had better do some hand washing as we weren’t sure what was waiting for us over the border, and it’s always wise to have a full complement of clean pants if possible.
The two UK vans were actually being occupied by a Kiwi couple, Mark and Briar (BLOG), and the other by Kane (also from New Zealand) and his girlfriend Fi (from Australia). They had been bumping into each other all through Europe and had decided to team up for Turkey - safety in numbers! They kindly invited us to join them for dinner as they had the BBQ out, and we supplied the red wine and parmesan.
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