The Three Fingers of Halkidiki

Leaving Thessaloniki, we took the road into the peninsula area of Halkidiki, or as a lot of people refer to them - The Three Fingers.  For some reason the western finger isn’t visited by motorhomes and so we headed for the middle finger (Sithonia Peninsula) where they say some of the best beaches can be found.  We wound our way around the coastal road to a little village called Toroni – there is only one road around it!  Last year on Greece we wild camped all the time, using Peejays Greece Stopovers and were hoping to do so this year.  We found a lovely spot for the night at the end of the village (N39.97729 E23.90428) and parked up next to a Dutch Motorhome. A lovely couple but they spoke very little English, which is very surprising as most Dutch motorhomers we have met do and our Dutch is zilch!

 Sonny's (the motorhome) wild camping spot for a couple of nights, on the beach overlooking an old Byzantine Fort

In the summer months I imagine it is buzzing with tourists but this time of year everything is shut up and only one bar/restaurant remains open and we only saw a handful of people walking up and down.  There isn’t even a shop to buy fresh provisions, so good job we stocked up at the Lidl in Thessaloniki before setting off.

Enjoying a cold beer in the only bar open in Toroni overlooking the beautiful bay

A quick paddle in the sea to cool off

There are plenty of people who like to come and fish in these parts and looking at the car registrations it would appear most are from Bulgaria.  It is only a couple of hundred kilometres if they live next to the border.  Watching them, it seems that they are catching Sea Bream and plenty of them.

Watching the fisherman

Just across from where we parked up for the night is Likithos Castle.  It juts out of the peninsula and lies in ruins.  It was once a Byzantine fort, destroyed in the 15^th century, now the only reminder of a 5,000 year history are some stone wall ruins. There is a sign that says it is being restored and a gate that once blocked access is now all broken down and the area overgrown.  So, I am guessing after the crisis hit the country work stopped – like everything else in Greece.  The country now has to rely so much on tourism to keep it propped up.

Walking around the ruins of Likithos Castle

Panoramic view from Likithos castle

Remains of ruins from the ancient Toroni harbour can be found around here just below the fishing boats and is a popular area for divers/snorkellers.

Watching the sun go down over the castle from the front door of our motorhome

The next morning it was a mix of sunshine and rain.  So, wearing our raincoats and armed with an umbrella we set off on a 2.5km hiking route to see the ruins of an old military German camp at the northern end of Toroni, at Porto Koufo. The path is good and well signed and lined with Olive Trees, pine trees and various aromatic plants.

You can just make out the bunker at the top and middle of the hill

A military squad of 120 Germans occupied this area during German invasion in WW2 and was used as a submarine base.  Their buildings included a hospital and 3 blockhouses at strategic points around the mountain to look out over the North Aegean Sea.  The cannon that once stood on top of the tower now lies sunk 3 metres below. As you walk around the bay you can see large building stones that have fallen into the water – part of ancient Toroni.

Mel looking to see what he can see below in the clear waters

It's a tight fit in those old German bunkers!

View from the top

It was so peaceful at Toroni and we had a lovely quiet nights sleep. However, by mid-afternoon the next day we decided to move further round the island (still on the middle finger) to Sarti, to explore more of the beaches.

Little roads lead down to beach alcoves

Bee Hives along the road – honey is big business in Greece

We parked up in Sarti, again by the sea (N40.09362 E23.97943).  A place we had found on ‘Park4Night’.  It is the first one we have stayed on using this APP.  It is bigger than Toroni but was like a ghost town.  With the tourists gone (apart from a few German’s that we heard) everything is closed down, apart from one or 2 bars and a supermarket.

The main street in Sarti, with its brightly painted bar

Looking over to Mount Athos from the top of Sarti – to the left in the distance covered in cloud.

Leaving Sarti we ended up at Vourvourou (N40.193901 E23.806101), a great view point across Mount Athos - on the third finger where women are banned from visiting.

Stunning view towards Mount Athos

Although it was a nice spot to look across to Mount Athos, it is a place I will never get to visit as it is banned to all women and female animals – apart from female cats that is, as they are good at catching the mice.  Women have been banned for over 1,000 years and in fact they are not allowed within 500m of the coastline.  It was apparently the simplest way to ensure celibacy!  Come on guys, time has moved on now we are in the 21^st century - let us women on there!

There are 20 monasteries on Mount Athos (335 sq km) with approximately 200 monks.  They are governed by themselves and has a border that seals it off from civilisation. First step is to submit a copy of your passport to the Mount Athos Pilgrims’ Bureau, in order to obtain a written permit to visit.  Apparently, there is a waiting list of between 3-6 months. Each day 100 Orthodox (Greeks and Orthodox) and 10 non-Orthodox (foreigners) male pilgrims are allowed admitted for a 3-night stay on one of the 20 monasteries and are transported by ferry.  It must be lovely to visit a place that is unspoilt and not overrun with tourists.  Behind where we were wild camping, there is a campsite that is closed and unfortunately has been left to go to 'rack and ruin' - there are so many that are now closed down in Greece.

The campsite is closed and is deteriorating but the olive trees on the site still flourish!

We had a walk around the island and it was so hot Mel couldn't resist stripping off ‘skinny dipping’.

Such is the beautiful setting here, wedding couples come and have their photos taken.

We were only joined by one small campervan (Bulgarian), who pitched a tent in the trees.  Wild dogs are a problem in Greece and there were 5 in this area, but they were so timid and we didn't hear a bark out of them all day and night.

There are many little coves around this area, and we only had to move on another 7kms from Vourvourou to another lovely setting right on the beach, Ormos Panagias (N40.25199 E2372281). A Bulgarian family in a motorhome were leaving as we pulled up and no others joined us.  We had the place to ourselves apart from a couple of daytime fishermen.

Sunrise view from our bedroom window across Mount Athos

The little harbour village of Ormos Panagias is about a 2km walk from where we parked, and we enjoyed a lovely meal of Octopus, Saganaki, meat balls and potatoes, washed down by a few glasses of wine - of course!

When we got back to the motorhome, Mel sat and watched some young lads fish for octopus.  While I had a little sleep - it's hard work this beach life!

Leaving Ormos Panagias we headed back to Thessaloniki.  We had bought a Greek Sim card for our Mi-Fi (10 euros for 5GB) when we were there 5 days ago, and it had stopped working for some reason, so we needed to go back to the Vodafone shop to get it sorted.  Heading towards Thessaloniki we saw a lot of banners announcing 'Macedonia is Greece' and 'Hands Off, Macedonia is ours'.

The Greece are passionate about keeping Macedonia theirs - signs all over the roads in these parts

Sally x