Two Sore Backs

Mani western side of the Bay of Laconia

Where is Mani? A short geography lesson is helpful (for the geography buffs). We are travelling around the southern part of The Pelopponese. Looking at the map of The Peloponnese, there are three fingers (peninsulas) that are separated by two bodies of water.

West to East

• Messinia Peninsula
• Bay of Messinia
• Mani Peninsula
• Bay of Laconia
• Laconia Peninsula

We are travelling east to west. For reference, Monemvasia is on the eastern finger. Katafigi is on the middle finger. In other words, the middle finger is Mani.

Map of Mani-

Our route – yesterday we drove down the western side of the Mani Peninsula. Today we will drive down the eastern side of the Mani Peninsula. Tomorrow we will drive north along the Bay of Messinia to Kalamata. Over the three days we will see all of Mani.

_____________________________________________

Today we have fewer stops. This is a quieter part of Mani. The roads are very narrow and winding. This keeps tourist buses away. There are fewer towns. We do not cross paths with many people today.

We start off at a Loukadika. We are at the crest of a mountain. The views are terrific.

This is another quiet town. Permanent residents: around 30. Activities: olive farming and cattle ranching.

In the valley far below we see a ranch and can hear the cows.

Batta is a must stop. We fall in love with the beach and go for a swim.

Alypa is the other must see. The road narrows as we approach the water so we follow the public parking signs into a large car park. Two caravans are parked. This is a great free camping spot. It is a short walk to the beach .

Again it is almost eerily quiet except for about 10 people hanging out at the beach in small groups. The tiny town / harbour / beach are one and the same. In that respect it is unique. To be honest the beach is much rockier here (coming from Batha) and we just had a great swim. We thought of getting a bite to eat but no eateries are open. Still, it is a stunning village.

It is Sunday and two guys are working on a house 100 meters away from the beach.

It may be the intimacy and quiet of this place that intrigues Dimitris. Later when we chat with him about our day he seems disappointed that we did not swim at Alypa. Next time!

At Kokkala there is one taverna open for lunch. At Polymati the food is typical Greek style and very good. The taverna is family run and their meat comes from their farm. We are the only customers.

This town is another sleepy place. A beautiful horse is challenging any and all cars for space on Main Street.

That wraps our second day travelling around Mani.