Stavros to Amphipoli to Ofrinio – August 10th
Distance: 35.2 km – Elevation +170 m -160 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 29 degrees
This is not the time of year to visit Stavros, it is a holiday resort and coupled with a weekend the town was full. I had managed to pre-book accommodation and slept well after a good supper. I left at 7.00 am following the Via Egnatia Foundation tracks which when looking ahead I noticed, hugged the shoreline for most of the way to Amphipolis. It was early on a Saturday morning, and I encountered just a few early morning runners and one lone fisherman on the shoreline as I passed by closed beach bars and deserted beaches; most of the town’s population was still sleeping. The first 5 miles were one continuous stretch of sandy beaches with beach bars, and hotels.
Even this early in the day I could sense it was going to be a scorcher, as the sun began to make its presence felt, and with a clear blue sky, not a touch of a breeze and little or no shade for long stretches I needed to stop to cool down not long after starting, and that was the story of the day, numerous long cooling down stops.
The Via Egnatia path took me onto the beach for long stretches, a mistake because the sand is soft and not easy to walk on, so I found an alternative back road. After those first 5 miles, the scene changed, much quieter with deserted pebbled beaches intermingled with small stretches of sand. It was slow going and by mid-morning I was already looking for accommodation. I stopped for refreshment and rest in the shade of a tree on a deserted pebble beach and soon after I came to a busy roadside cafe in Logkari providing food to visitors on a nearby beach, here I was able to eat, drink and cool down again. I called into a campsite on the coast near Kerdyllia hoping to find a place to sleep, only to be told it was a summer camp for children!
Somehow the miles ticked slowly by and by 6.00 pm I had 14 miles under my belt when I came to a fish Taverna in Sikia. I stopped for a good supper with a view that at least I would be well fed if I was to sleep on the beach. I asked the cafe owner about accommodation and he thought I would find somewhere in the next village 6 kilometres ahead. When I arrived in that village a shopkeeper told me there was no accommodation and said the next hotel was in Ofrinio, 10 kilometres ahead! So head down I kept going. On the way I passed the magnificent ” Lion of Amphipolis” and crossed the river Struma.
It was 9 pm when I started to see the lights of Ofrynio, another holiday resort. It was dark now ( I knew the head torch I had packed would be useful one day !). Like Stavros, Ofrynio was packed with people, I tried 3 hotels without success before seeing a sign “Rooms to Let” where I found possibly the only available bed in town due to a late cancellation. A long and exhausting 14 hour day had finally ended and I just collapsed on the bed and slept.
