Four impressions of the first stretch of the coastal path between Vatopedi and Esfigmenou.
Not too far from Vatopedi in a wooded bend an old drinking place for mules can be seen. The now dry well is a nice shaded resting place. We sat there for a while. The monopati continues to the right.
This picture shows how the wind has shaped the trees and how man disappears in this shaded tunnel of trees. This eastern site of the Holy Mountain gets most of the winds. King Xerxes I had already experienced the winds. After losing his fleet on these shores (300 ships and 20.000 man) he decided to build a canal where the peninsula is at its narrowest. That was a long time ago, in the 5th Century BC, but the winds still blows and it streamlines the trees.
The shaded path is covered with trees.
On the way back under the rock with the cross we saw a monk fishing with a hand line. The colour of his clothes differ from what you normally see.
Bas Kamps
