Ipeiros - Greece

Today we will travel in one of the most interesting and beautiful parts of Greece - well besides islands that most tourists love and visit. So we visit Ipeiros prefecture and especially mountain of Pindus (also Pindos) and Valia Kalda valley. Pindus range is located in northern Greece and southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 m (Mount Smolikas). Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epirus, the Pindus range is often called the "spine of Greece". The mountain range stretches from near the Greek-Albanian borders in Northern Epirus, entering the Epirus region and Macedonia region in northern Greece down to the north of the Peloponnese. Geologically it constitutes an extension of the Dinaric Alps, which dominate the western region of the Balkan Peninsula. This vast complex of mountains, peaks, plateaus, valleys and gorges traverses the Greek mainland from the Northwest to the Southeast. Its length reaches almost 230 kilometers and its largest width is 70 kilometers. (source: Wikipedia).

Valia Kalda is a of unique beauty place offering a wide variety of adventures for people who love mountains. Wild forests, rivers with cold water, rough terrains, small village of Vovousa with its lovable traditional stone arched bridge built in 1748. Vovousa is nestled at an altitude of 1000 m and is dominated by running waters. Even in summer nights were quite cold with a temperature falling down to 10-13 C. So you can escape from heat waves of Greek cities.

We really loved these virgin forests, in certain places plants were almost 1.5 high giving the impression you are somehow in Vietnam. Of course if you go out during the night you may be lucky to meet bears that are going to swim in the rivers.

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