We went to Koroni and was going to stay on the port area, however it was very smelly with waste in the water.
So we decided to go off and explore some of the pathways looking for somewhere to camp for the night. We found a lovely little cove, and decided to set up camp there. It was fairly tight and the access wasnt for all. A man called Christos came down to visit us on his farm trike and give us a big jar of his olives. Our greek not being that good he ended up with a glass of chilled water. He told us that there had been terrible wind there last year and part of the beach disappeared.
we had a a very quiet night there and was disturbed by a man trying to get their boat in the water at about 3am, I think they could have been local fishermen, they were whispering and very thoughtful.
Next morning we end up moving on pretty fast has two austrian motorhomers turned up and wanted our space, we were moving on anyway.
We moved on just down the road to Methoni a beautiful place with a lovely castle and walls. We were going to stay at the port found ourselves a nice plot.
We bumped into another english couple who we have crossed paths with a couple of times. On chatting to them we decided to get our kayak out and had a few hours of fun with it. They were staying at the local municipal Methoni campsite and talked us into staying there. It was a bit of a dump really, probably the worse facilites we have stayed on, but it was right on the beach. We had another refreshing dip in the sea and Neil and Derek kayaked to the castle/fortress walls of Methoni.
We then all went out for dinner in Methoni at a lovely restarant on the beach and under the lights of the castle. It was very magical, unfortunately we misplaced our camera that day and it wasnt found till the next day, so we have no great pictures.
We are now at Gailova, we drove past Pylos the views were spectacular. There was no where to wild camp although it was made for it. There is a great Lagoon down the road that we are going to explore tomorrow. It looks really interesting and its great for birdwatching in the winter when all the birds migrate here.
We motorcycled to Pylos, but most of it was closed for lunch. We will pop back tomorrow.
The site we are at is called Erodios which his excellent, toilet facilities, laundry, food prep area all pristine. There also is beach access and they have sunloungers and parasols there and a roped of safe swimming area.
23 euros per night our dearest site, 10% discount for 3 nights or more. Great for families too. Wifi is 5 euros per 24 hours, or 2 euros for 1 hour.
We are now back from Greece, and guess what its hot here, must be following us around.
We had such a great time in Greece, it is really made for touring with the motorhome and wild camping.
We really enjoyed our stay at Gialova, it would be a good destination to stay a week or two, but we were running out of time.
We had to do Olympia and decided to stay at a campsite there called Alphios the owner was a real character, at first I thought a little mad, but we had the opportunity to get to know each other and yes, she was definately mad! (but a great mad). Olympia was very interesting and well worth a visit. We did a musuem before lunch, then booked into the above site and a snooze for a hour or so, then went back and did the main site at 6pm-8pm when it was a little cooler and not so busy.
We were only going to stay one night as we wanted to go up to the mountain villages on the motorcycle and had highlighted a great 200km route to do.
But that wasnt to be as Neil decided he needed to see a doctor, so our mad site owner sorted that out for us and we went to the local clinic by taxi. It was a sit and wait job, but only took 20min, however Neil needed Antibiotics and to see a doctor at Hospital.
So we decided to check out of the site and go to Prygos Hospital with the motorhome etc, we ended parking on a bit of waste ground outside the hospital, not parked very well. Anyhow in the hospital it was total disorganisation and busy, no one seemed to want to acknowledge us, and after about 20 min of waiting we had to be a bit more ascertative. We managed to find a nurse who found us a doctor who could speak english and from there he looked after us. We saw a couple of doctors who thought the best course of action was intravenous antibiotics followed by an hospital stay and maybe in a few days a minor operation,
Well I was panicking at this point thinking were would I go with the motorhome with the bike on the trailer on the back, facing the wrong was on a very busy road. Neil kept saying he wasnt that bad and didnt need to stay in hospital. We another consultant came down, let just say we call him Mr Butcher with a knife, decided to have a quick look at Neil and with no preparation at all promptly did the proceedure on neil, no local anesithetic either.
Well I heard Neil scream a few times I can tell you, when I went back around the curtain there was blood and iodine splattered everywhere up the walls on the floors etc.
They then wanted an x ray of his chest, which was nothing to do with why we were there, so we went round to xray department with drip, and blood all over Neils top and trousers. Not very hygenic to say the least. When we returned to department 1 hours later the bed where Neil had been seen to was still messy and another person in it.
We asked why he had to have an xray and was it okay, and the doctor just said because he wanted one. Apparently everyone has a chest xray, even the girl after us who had a sprained ankle.
Well they still try to hospitalise Neil, even though the main consultant said we could go and come back tomorrow. So after a little heavy discussion and the junior doctor throwing a wobbly we left.
We decided to go back to Olympia as the site was nice and shady and the owner had been helpful, just in case we had to go back in the night. Went back the next day and neils infection was on the mend. They wanted us to come back again for the next couple of days.
But we were on a deadline to meet some Dutch friends at Killini, so I ended up nursing Neils wound. We could have stayed for a few more weeks as Neils was not really up to doing the long drive home.
At Killini we stayed at the beach, the sea was lovely and the wind was up so there were some great waves to swim through. Our Dutch friends cooked us a three course meal and we had a very pleasureable few days with them. These are the Dutch people we me on the way out and had spent the first night with in Greece 5 weeks ago.
Our new sat nav died and we had to leave to Patras for the ferry home, and Ronald decided that he would lead the way and take us to the ferry, even though he was not going that way. I am sure we could have managed but he was insistent.
It never ceases to amaze us both, on meeting really great people on our travels.
Glad you are back safe and sound and survived your encounters with the Greek health system, hope its not always like that.
You don't mention what satnav you had, if it was a tomtom, how did you get on with the Greece maps?
Some great photo's on your website.
Efharisto!
Pete
Hi Pete
The Hospital wasnt too bad, its just the communication wasnt there, and some of they hygeine wasnt as good as it could be. The hospital was fairly new though. They had a lot of staff there but not that organised.
Our sat nav was Garmin, and the Greek maps to street level which was better than we expected.
Garmin are replacing the unit.
We really loved Greece and would be back there tomorrow if we could.
Just been top and tailing all my paperwork and stuff. I thought I would share some of my costings with you.
We spent £1900
the ferry cost £562 for Greece
the tunnel was free via Eurotunnel Tesco deal would have been £300
extra top up holiday insurance £35
So in all we spend £2500 or thereabout including fuel, tolls, and sites, and all food, entry costs etc..
we had 38 nights away and spent
26 nights free or minimal cost camping
12 nights on sites
total spend for sites came to 235 euros
we used about 32 litres of gas
our mileage was exactly 3,000 miles door to door and using the motorhome in Greece.
Motorbiking about 400 miles.
The only working out I havent got is the amount of money the fuel cost or the MPG, as didnt keep accurate enough records. Also paying cash for fuel you dont always keep a receipt, although I do keep written records, I was a bit slap dash towards the end. (could do better)
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