SEGMENT 6

Time to head back to the west coast of the mainland! With a few hundred kilometers ahead of us, this was going to be the longest driving segment of this XXXpedition. The first 80 kilometers (55 miles) were on a freeway, one of the very few in Greece. Then the road started climbing up the mountains; first through gentle hills blanketed with golden grass which reminded us a lot of southern California; then through ever higher mountains covered with pine forests. Again, we enjoyed tremendous views. Closer to the western coast, we reached an area full of huge lakes (pic 01), some of which were created by man-made dams. Access to the lakes was quite limited but we found a rather washed out dirt track that took us right to the edge of the lake (pic 02), so we could dip into the nicely refreshing water. This area was truly spectacular!

Just before sunset, we reached Parga, a highly touristy village nestled into a beautiful cove (pic 03). An imposing fortress stands watch over this tiny town and offers great vistas of the bay and the next cove. After 2 weeks of relative solitude, it was quite a change to be surrounded by (mostly English) tourists, and even the waiters spoke fluent English! At least it made ordering our food easier….

We only had an hour's drive left to reach the port of Igoumenitsa, our departure point, but had the whole day left to chill out at yet another beautiful cove (pic 04). Due to many small caves in the cliffs, the water here was decidedly cooler than everywhere else we had bathed. It was a great way to wrap up our exploration of the Greece you didn't know.

As we boarded our ferry, the sun set, and we vowed to be back soon!

pic 01

pic 02

pic 03

pic 04


for more pics click here