Wednesday 4^th August – Messolonghi (More cycling)

38:21.668N 21:25.004E

This morning we took the bikes out for a ride before the intense heat of the day kicked in.  Fortunately all tyres were still fully inflated when we saddled up so no punctures to repair before we started.  This time we took the main road out to the west of Messolonghi along the side of the salt flats, looking for a path down onto them.

The first opportunity we found was at a salt works well out of town as there was a sealed road out beyond it onto the flats so we thought we would see if we could take a short-cut.  Sadly, as we ventured into the entrance we were stopped and politely told we couldn’t use that road – it was understandable as this salt works was in production, complete with plant works bulldozing large piles of salt (in fact there was almost enough for a Gary Rhodes dish).

So we rode on and found a track taking us out into the salt wetlands; the track was quite rough and stony.  The lagoon beside it though was abundant with birds and the water clear and shallow.  Unfortunately this track took us the wrong side of the channel for getting back to the marina with no way across, so we cycled back and took the next track along, down the other side of the channel and through the small village of fishermen’s shacks we had reached by dinghy the other day.  All in all we had cycled quite a long way before we found the back way through to the marina.

Late this afternoon, once the temperature eased a bit, we took the dinghy down to Tourlida to spend the rest of the day on the beach.  It got quite busy there in the evening.

Messolonghi:  Salt wetlands

© Pyxis 2010