Monasteries, Monks & Monkey Business in Meteora / Kalambaka, Greece
Hiking the Holy Lands of Meteora, getting to know our new travel companion, and a VERY unfortunate hostel experience…
November 23rd-24th, 2022
On our way to Kalambaka, Greece, to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site of Meteora, we first needed to transfer buses in Ioannina. We had a few hours to kill, so we decided to stash our bags in lockers and go explore the town a little bit. Made a pit stop to grab espressos and then headed to an eclectic restaurant for food and utilized their free Wifi to get some work done. During this time, we spent time getting to know Abby, our new travel companion who left from the same Airbnb in Gjirokastёr.
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the bus station and catch our bus to Meteora (€12.40 = $13.43). As we wound through the mountains towards our next destination, I struggled to keep my eyes open (buses rock me to sleep like a baby). I was fighting my sleepiness hard because we were quickly entering a picturesque scene of fall colors… Our first taste of fall in Europe!
We pulled into the little town of Kalambaka, safely encased by massive rock formations of Meteora towering around the city like enormous castle walls. Meteora earned its title as an UNESCO World Heritage site on account of not only its otherworldly geological features, but also its history of being home to monks since the 11th century and, subsequently, several remarkable monasteries that were painstakingly built in the 15th century.
Once we saddled up our bags, we waddled through the city center towards the Holy Rock Hostel and checked in. Caroline and I had reservations in a mixed dorm room (€13.63 = $14.06 per night), while Abby was in a different dorm upstairs.
It was only after we organized our belongings that we realized we never got Abby’s contact information. Hungry from our long day of travel, Caroline and I set out in search of some good Greek food. It seemed like the only appropriate option. After some wandering, we decided on Archontariki Restaurant. Of course, we had to get a Greek salad. We quickly discovered that, in Greece, it’s common to serve Greek salads with a solid block of feta. But hey, neither of us was complaining.
After dinner, we decided that we wanted *something sweet* so we went on a bakery-tasting spree. After we had our sugar fix, we headed back to the hostel to get a good night’s sleep before our big hike the next day. Little did we know, we were in for a bit of a rough night…
Unfortunately, both of us were abruptly woken up at about 1 am to the sound of two drunk travelers doing x-rated “adult things”. My earplugs didn’t stand a chance of drowning out the noise. It was hard, but I resisted the urge to throw my water bottle at their bed.
It was a classic case of the bystander effect. I’m sure everyone awake in that room was hoping someone else would take action to make it stop. Instead, we all suffered through what felt like an eternity, hoping that it would soon stop. Looking back, I wish I would have said something to them, but I’m not sure it would have made any difference.
In the morning, Caroline and I reconvened in the bathroom to air our grievances over the loss of sleep and the total absence of human decency displayed by our “roommates”. Luckily, it was at this point that we were conveniently reunited with our new friend, Abby. We invited her to join us on our trek up into the cliffs of Meteora to explore the Greek Orthodox monasteries perched perfectly overlooking Kalambaka and the surrounding valley.
Each of the six monasteries atop Meteora is only open to the public on certain days, and they have varying schedules. We were able to go into the Holy Monastery of St. Stephen and explore the chapel, courtyards, and educational displays. The entrance ticket cost €3 ($3.25).
We then traversed the top of the rock formation and made our way past the remaining monasteries. Stopping a couple of times for snack breaks and to soak up the incredible views, we decided that we wouldn’t have much time to explore the other open monasteries and were content with having only entered the Holy Monastery of St. Stephen.
As it happens, it was also Thanksgiving Day. So, during one of our snack breaks, Caroline and I (Abby is Canadian and the holiday is celebrated in October there) shared our gratitude and indulged in a good Thanksgiving apple and some corn nuts. Together, Caroline and I have shared many a holiday together in very untraditional settings– like our last Thanksgiving, which we spent on a beach in Hawaii.
As the late afternoon was setting in, we decided to start our descent. There is a recommended path and direction for this hike, and we chose to do it backward– starting with the steepest portion of the trail to help out our future selves in anticipation of tired legs. What we didn’t anticipate was not being able to find the other trailhead leading down.
After a bit of wandering around, we finally chose a path that seemed like it led downwards and took our chances. It was recommended that we check out the Cave of the Dragon, which can be found somewhere along this portion of the trail. Eventually, we found what we thought was the correct cave, but we didn’t have much to go off at the time. No dragons, but I did see a fox there.
Nine miles later, we made it back to the center of Kalambaka. We stopped at the train station to figure out when we could catch a train to our next stop, Thessaloniki. After finding out that we could leave later that night, we hustled back to the hostel to pack our bags. We were delighted to avoid another night of potential sleepless night of monkey business, so it wasn’t a hard decision to make.
Besides that disturbing night at the hostel, our time in Meteora/Kalambaka was incredible. We lucked out with nice, sunny weather for hiking. Kalambaka isn’t very large and the main attraction is seeing the Meteora Monasteries, so we were satisfied with having about a full day and night to experience everything. It was one of the most picturesque and surreal places I’ve been–an exquisite combination of natural and architectural beauty. It would make a great setting for a fairy tale movie. I would highly recommend Meteora to any traveler to Greece, whether you’re already passing through the region or not.