A small taxi bus took us from Vatopediou to Karyes, where we changed busses. A big bus took us to the harbour town of Dafni. We had to wait for the boat that would take us to Kavsokalivia. After a spanakopita and a frappè in the local bar we roamed around Dafni. I knew that just after the bridge, a bit off the road towards Simonpetras, there is a nice waterfall. We decided to have a look.

A flowering Judas tree, Cercis siliquastrum, with the slated roofs of harbour houses. The name of the tree derives from the tree Judas hanged himself, as the myth goes.

In the Bulgarian Holy Prophet Iliya Monastery in the town Strupets (also known as Tarzhishte i.e. Marketplace) you will find an 16^th century fresco, where we can see him hanging. (Unpoetically he is  not hanging from the tree that bears his name but from a palm tree.)

We found the waterfall behind a public toilet. It delivered an abundant amount of spring water. There was still snow on the slopes of the Holy Mountain.

Some common pond skates (Gerris lacustris) walked on the quiet pond behind the noisy waterfall. We know that was done before. But we admired their skill for quite a while. It was the exact spot where we saw that miracle, the ice cross, in the winter of 2014-2015.

The boathouse on the second harbour of Dafni. Apart from the harbour where the ferries leave, there is a much smaller, intimate, harbour. Timber is being transported from this harbour. A large timber workshop is close by.

It was time to get on the ferry to Kavsokalivia, for our afternoon walk to Prodromou, the Romanian Skete.

Bas Kamps