Taygetus Mountains

I'm going to divert slightly from places we actually stopped at on our trip and talk about the route we took. Because this route really needs to be seen to be believed!

The road from Pylos to Sparta is an unusual one. The first bit was normal enough. Lots of hills and the road twisted a fair amount but generally ok. But once you get to Kalamata that all changes. After that point you are in the Taygetus Mountains. Look to the bottom left of the picture. That little squiggly thing is the road. The road has a ridiculous number of hairpin turns throughout the drive. And of course, there's only one way through. I didn't even get a picture of the most nerve-racking cliffs. You're about five feet from the edge at times and just a slight skid on the gravel and you'd be off the edge. The very large number of shrines on the side of the road doesn't help increase confidence either. There have been enough people killed on this pass to fill a decent sized town. I should also mention that these mountains were where the Spartans threw their defective children and elderly.

Pylos

COMING SOON

 

Pylos is a beautiful place. The area just looks quintessentially Greek. The bay itself has a beautiful beach, the surrounding area is filled with history, and the main roads are little more than paved dirt paths. Nestor's Palace is located on one of the hills just over the umbrellas on the left.

Seven Sisters

COMING SOON

Edington

Edington is the site where Alfred the Great decisively beat the Viking army under Guthrum and recovered his lost kingdom. The Vikings had driven him out of Wessex and his realm now consisted of basically a swamp and the fortress of Athelnay inside it. For him to come back from that was incredible. For him to go on from that to drive the Vikings out of his kingdom for good and to begin claiming all England as his kingdom was just draw-dropping. The man had balls. And none of it would have happened without this battle. So basically this is the most important place in England. If this is really where it happened of course.

Loch Achray

This was a nice little church on the Loch.We couldn't get in but it was a wonderful location. Loch Achray was a nice loch about half an hour from Stirling in an area known as the Trossachs. We went there hunting down Monty Python filming locations. There's one in an abandoned Victorian quarry about three miles from this spot.

The Dead Sea

COMING SOON

Qumran

COMING SOON

The King's Highway

There's not much to say about the King's Highway except 'Wow.' It goes through one of the most beautiful stretches of country I've ever seen. I understand that the portion north of Al-Karak is even more impressive since it has the Dead Sea. At any rate there is nothing along this road except for fantastic desert scenery and the occasional small town or farm. Until you get further south you don't run across any junctions or roads going East to hook up with the main highway. You just have this one little road winding through nowhere.

This stretch of road goes back for centuries. Back before cars when flat terrain was valued less than a supply of fresh water this was the main trade route through Jordan. It was certainly around at the time of the Crusades since Kerak was located where it was in order to control the trade. The Bedouin still travel this route with their sheep and caravans, although they avoid the road. We saw several groups of them as we rode through. One group even waved at us. Speaking of Bedouin I'm told by one of my taxi drivers that they're terrible with cars. Apparently they think that driving a car is like riding a camel and can never get used to the speed. Florida has its little old ladies, California has its teenagers, and Jordan has its Bedouin.