Pilgrimage from Chaidefto to Dafni 18/05/08

So...is there a bridge or is there not a bridge???

That is the question on our minds as we wake this morning. Our map has the border of two regions marked along a river about 7kms in front of us. Unfortunately, because of the border marking, we can't see whether the roads on either side of the river join or not. I know from experience that you can't take these things for granted and also that people can be slightly unreliable with their information. We have asked a few times so far and everyone agrees that we can cross...I'm still not convinced ;)

Sure enough, asking at the first little town we come too, the locals there tell us the bridge doesn't exist...

"No, definitely no bridge, you have to cross up here" Pointing at a spot on our map 32kms up stream.

Bridge - 3
No Bridge - 1

And Thirty-two kilometers!!! What a fucker!!! Now we are really praying that the bridge exists. Since we are only 5kms away there isn't much of a choice, we will have to go check it out. Maybe we can swim across :)

Having a break in a field a woman pulls up who looks like she knows the area well. And yep, it is confirmed, no bridge! We can either walk 10kms upstream and try to find the spot where you can pull yourself across on a little raft, or the path she recommends is to head 6kms down to the river mouth and hitch a ride with someone fishing...that is, IF there is someone fishing...

We take her advice and head south. The good news is that this route takes us straight in to the Nestos Delta. Now, we are not quite sure what this is but it must be some sort of wildlife sanctuary or National Park. And by the looks of all the benches around possibly somewhere famous for bird watching.

It is a beautiful walk with the chatter of birds following us continuously. The only other animals to be seen are the occasional tortoise and snake. We walk for, what seems to us as, far too long before finally spotting some beach huts...

I'm fiddling with my video camera when out of the corner of my eye I catch a slight movement. I jump back! It jumps back...coiled ready to strike if I invade it's space again, before quickly slithering off into the bushes...

This certainly got my adrenaline pumping! We have seen many snakes at close range recently but I was only a step away from landing on this one. And Sabine must have walked within a meter of it as well, she was already on the other side!

Greeted with a perfect beach we are glad we made the decision to come south. The only problem now is getting across the river. It isn't so wide, but deep enough that we will have to swim. At least it should be possible...

There is one dingy floating 100m off shore so I yell out and give them a wave...

They wave back and keep floating...

I yell and wave again...

They wave back and keep floating...

Hmmmm, looks like we are out of luck with that one. But the good news is that we have spotted an empty dingy on our side of the river which we can probably "borrow" and swim back afterwards.

As we are discussing our options Sabine notices a sandbar stretching in an arc around the mouth of the river. I hold my breath as she wades out to check if it goes all the way...success! She manages to get across without the water coming past her waist. We won't have to steal a dingy after all :)

Feeling pretty happy with ourselves we collapse on the other side. The water isn't half as cold as I was expecting, and I'm a complete wuss when it comes to cold water, so we go back in for our first swim of the summer.

The thing is, now there aren't any roads for us to take so the only option is to walk along the beach. It makes for a hard slog, incredibly beautiful, but hard! Five kilometers later we come to a line of caravans parked on the beach. Some of them are occupied, so before long a group invites us in for a quick snack. Having eaten the only food we had with us for breakfast, we are extremely grateful.

They point us in the direction of the nearest town, but on arrival we discover they don't even have a restaurant! Just a cafe selling junk food. So two packets of chips, half a chocolate bar and 1/2 a liter of cherry juice later I'm feeling like I might be able to make a move.

But as we are packing up a table comes out and people start arriving with plates of food. We go to pay our bill and the owner invites us to stay. It turns out it's a birthday party for two, two year old twins...we are in luck :)

After a bit more sustenance we head off. The heat is killing us and Sabine shortly points out that the backs of my legs are glowing red! Probably the first time they have seen sun in seven or eight months!

We want to make Avdira before dark to see if we can get a hotel, but it is looking less and less likely. After a wonderful dinner in Mangana we only make it another 5kms down the road before finding an old stable and setting camp.