Meteora in Pics

I arrived in the town of Kalambaka after 3pm. Because of that, the owner of the hostel I stayed at advised me to leave the mountains be for the next day.

I heard a rustling sound. When I looked for its source, I saw this cutie! It was adorable how it stopped midstride – hoping to blend in to the background I guess. hehe

These honeycomb looking caves used to house hermit monks

There are buses that go up every 2 hours (09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00). I took her advise and got on the 11:00 bus as that’d give me enough time for much needed sleep!

Before getting on the bus, I bought 2 gyros (€3.40 for both!) to eat when I get hungry for my long day ahead. Also in my bag are the 2 fruit given to me by an elderly man the afternoon before. And just for good measure, I decided to buy a bread from the bakery literally in front of the bus stop.

Bus fare is €1.80. I got off at Grand Meteora – it’s the first and largest monastery in the area. From there, I started my walk up in the mountains – following the road. Next up was the viewpoint for Varlaam. I didn’t go inside as I’ll have to go down and up the mountain – yes, I was getting lazy! Hehe

Varlaam in the background as seen from the Grand Monastery

All the monastery are open today, Monday. Entrance fee was €6. Everyone is to dress modestly. There are skirts for women to put on top of their jeans or bare legs. There are also shawls available to cover up the shoulders.

Inside the Monastery of Great Meteoron

When I was told that I have to follow the path up in the mountains, somehow what I hand in mind is a trail. But actually, it really is the (concrete) road that I have had to walk on. The weather was just right – sunny but cloudy, not overbearingly hot with breeze every now and then. Also, the view is more than enough to distract me from the actual act of walking. According to my host, it was just a total of 4kms really. But with my frequent stops, the seemingly long distance I’ve covered, it seemed longer (but very doable!)