Being Led up the Goat Path

On our second day in Loutra we decided to go on a trek to an old castle perched high up on the cliff tops. Unfortunately, we let Heather navigate. I have been lost in mountains a number of times thanks to Heathers navigating skills, so i should have seen the warning signs coming as she stepped foot on to the island for the second time in her life and said “ok, its this way” and marched off into the distance with the remaining crew of Vega and Calyxa following behind. After 45 mins there was a sign saying “Kastros” pointing left. I suggested this may be castle in Greek…I tried to call Heather who was disappearing over the next hill, but to no avail. We were in the middle of wild donkey territory and not wanting to split up the group,  we had no choice but to keep following. We finally caught Heather up and suggested that the castle was 30 mins behind us. “Can’t be, it’s this way.” she said…

At that moment a young greek fella on a motorbike came towards us. Heather waved him over. “Is the castle this way?” nothing in response.”Ruins” she said jabbing her finger over the next hill. The Greek fella looked confused. But nodded and waved goodbye. The group wasn’t convinced, but Heather was. After another 45 mins we were on a beach. In my experience, not many castles are built on beaches… we turned around and walked back towards the boat. It was hot and the kids tired.

By the time we got back to the “Kastros” sign the kids were done for and headed down to the port. Heather and I headed up the goat track towards the castle…this time we were on on target and after 30 mins an amazing medieval castle and monestry came into view. We climbed up to the top and enjoyed spectacular views across the Aegean and a wonderful hour exploring the ruins.

It was a great day, but poor Heather is getting a bit upset with all the stick she is getting 🙂