Our first day in Greece, after the ferry dropped us off in Igoumenitsa at 5 a.m., had us climbing 1540m in 85km, but the smell of wild taragon, dill, and oregano kept us pedaling. The cow bells we heard didn’t belong to cycling fans but to cows and goats grazing where they pleased, although in our sleep-deprived state it was easy to mistake for the former.

A rain shower had us finding shelter in an abandoned gas station. As it got colder, jackets and then sleeping bags came out. Since the rain continued and we were already wrapped in sleeping bags, we took a little nap. The rain stopped and we continued sleeping. There’s a slippery slope between bike tourist and rural vagrant.

Our first rendezvous with ancient Greece came at Nekromanteio, discovered in 1958 underneath the ruins of an 18th century church. The ancients thought that the vault below was the entrance to Hades and conducted seances and sacrifices in order to communicate with the dead.

We arrived an hour after closing time. With some deliberation, we climbed the tree over the fence and contined into the maze-like labyrinth of ruins. We found the vault with no further barrier and descended. The room was big but pitch black. Not even the flash of the camera revealed anything. Next time I make a trip to the underworld I’ll be sure to bring a flashlight.

Traffic has been great with few exeptions. Many people wave as they drive by and groups of kids have ridden with us through a few towns. We found the perfect road south of Paleros—we literally didn’t want it to end. No cars or civilization of any kind, mostly flat, the sea lapping at the rocks a few feet away. We passed a roadsign marking the grade at “0%”, as if to say that even in this small paradise the climbs are non-existent. We ended the day when we reached the campground in the tiny town of Mistikas which means “mythical” in Greek.

Our only beef is with the trash. Greeks, as we’ve seen, treat their county as a giant landfill, and some kids found it strange when we walked to a trashcan rather than throw our bottles into the sea. It’s worse in some places, of course, but so many ravines are filled with matresses, appliances, and household trash.

We’ve just crossed into the Peloponese today, just east of Patra, and had a lighter day after yesterday’s 125km ride. We waited out another rainshower under an overpass and we were soon joined by a German cyclist and then a pair of French cyclists, the first bike tourists we’ve seen in Greece. The French couple had just covered the same ground we plan on exploring the next 10 days, so we learned all we could from them. The outlook is hilly (but that is obvious from the 2000m mountain range staring us in the face).

Today came to a close watching some World Cup games with the locals and playing foosball in the campground… a little relaxation before tomorrow’s climb into the mountains.