The Feet Done Good!

Despite my worries, the poor feet did well, surviving a whole week of trekking, with only occasional pain killers. Phew!


The weather was a bit iffy. We had 2 days of walking in constant, torrential rain, and overall had very little sunshine (unlike the folks back home: grrrr...) but it was ok really: overcast is so much better for keeping cool while trekking up and down steep hills.


The scenery was dramatic: one day we'd be in lush, sweeping valleys, winding between the peaks, the next picking our way along a sheer-sided gorge, the limestone below sculpted into womblike shapes by a thundering river.


That wonderfully mournful clang of goat bells often drifted to us between the trees, but we rarely saw any other people until we arrived at our destination.

The villages were timeless: generally tiny hamlets nestled in high mountain valleys, twisted through with narrow, cobbled streets, with huddles of old men standing around, watching the world go by.


We walked for 5 - 6 hours each day, staying at a new village every other night, doing round walks on alternate days, to make things less hectic.

We were mostly pretty early to bed, after the tramping round all day, but our favourite early evening pastime was finding the local watering hole, and having a beer while watching the men playing cards. It seemed to be the locals' favourite pastime too: