Vafeika to Komotini – August 17th
Distance: 39.7 km – Elevation +200 m -190 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 28 degrees
There were no early buses so I caught a taxi to Vafeika where I finished walking yesterday. The cafe in the centre of the village was just opening and I was able to enjoy a tasty cup of coffee and croissant before commencing my walk.
It was a delightful first 10 kilometres along a tree-lined track by the Kosynthos River with the verdant green of the river valley with a backdrop of the Rhodope Mountains on one side and the rich pasture with a variety of crops on the other. A passing car stopped and out came four buoyant young men who greeted me with smiles and wanting to know why I was walking.
Later after I crossed the river I saw numerous workers harvesting leaves from a specific plant and binding them together in bundles using a specially designed machine. I stopped and spoke with one of the workers and I learnt it was tobacco. I had no idea that Greece was a major producer of tobacco.
After passing through the village of Koptero I arrived in Ilasmos where I had read that recent road repairs had exposed sections of the original Via Egnatia. I stopped in a cafe and asked a few local teenagers if they knew where the excavations were and they pointed directly ahead and when I asked how far they said one kilometre. I followed the main road and came to recent road repairs with new haunching which may have been where the now infilled excavations had exposed the ancient Roman road.
About 7 kilometres from Ilasmos I came to the kompsatos river which rises in the Rhodope Mountains. The road bridge had collapsed which required a small diversion to cross the river via a downstream bridge. A little further downstream there is an ancient Byzantine arched stone bridge. A little later I passed through the village of Poliantho where I saw the tobacco leave bundles being dried beneath polythene tunnels and where I stopped in a roadside cafe for a refreshing glass of beer.
My aim for today was Komotini and after walking close to 40 kilometres I came to the Achillio Hotel about 4 kilometres from Komotini, I was tired and decided to stop. It was a very good hotel complete with a swimming pool and after a relaxing shower, I enjoyed an evening meal served at an outside table and reflected on my day’s walk. Fourty kilometres is about my limit, not by choice but because there was no accommodation between Xanthi and Komotini but nonetheless a very informative and enjoyable day.
