The Tibetan Cookbook of the Dead

I haven't posted about Delphi yet, and I should before it leaves my mind altogether. So, let me take a break from work and remember my adventures there. There are a couple of things I'd like to write about it and I'll keep them separate.

Delphi is one of my favorite places on this earth. It feels like home. Going there feels like going home. It's not just that I think it's beautiful, but I'm so relaxed there that I may as well be...well, home. So, I decided it would be a perfect place to go to end my trip and bought a ticket to Delphi from the little town below Meteora.

"Delphi," I told the counter-woman in Kalambaka.

"Ne," she said, and gave me a confusing series of tickets. I could make out the Greek writing to see that I'd have to change busses at Trikkala, but I couldn't really make out the second ticket so assumed it said Delphi.

Mistake One.

( Oh, it was no big deal, really... )

Meteora is an almost indescribably beautiful place, with high jutting rocks appearing out of nowhere on the plains of Thessaly, leading into the mountians. Years ago, a monk from Mt. Athos (where women are still not allowed--not even female animals, although they have broken down enough to admit that their hens must be girls, since they lay eggs), arrived here to build a monastery. And build he did. There are four monasteries and one nunnery hidden among or perched on top of these enormous, craggy cliffs. The poor monks who live there can't have a very peaceful, monastic life with the hoards of visitors, but they certainly rake in the dough.

I visited the Great Meteoran, the largest and oldest of the monasteries, a smaller one, and the nunnery. Climbed the winding stairs, looked politely at the ancient kitchens and chapels and gardens, and made a few discoveries.

The celebrated and gorgeously painted frescoes had interesting subjects.

After gaping for a while, I started noting down exactly what I was seeing in my journal:

1. Beheadings. Many, many, many beheadings.
2. People tied to a wheel and rotisseried through a flame.
3. People crushed between two enormous slabs.
4. A guy dragged behind a horse by the feet.
5. Burned at the stake.
6. Burned in a furnace.
7. Burned in a cage.
8. Boiled in a pot of water.
9. Stoned.
10. Tied prone to a woodpile.
11. Dismembered.
12. Pierced or stabbed with knives or swords.
13. Hung upside down (by the ankles).
14. Traditionally crucified.
15. Fed to lions.
16. Hung rightside up (by the neck).
17. Buried halfway in unidentified white things.

ETA: Oh, yes. Amongst all these where the guys with halos were coming out the worst, there was Daniel with lions licking his feet. I swear, all the martyrs were looking at him, going, "You bitch."

Also ETA: As a kid, I couldn't parse what halos were in my Children's Illustrated Bible, which was the only religious text I owned until I was 18 or so. I thought they all had plates on their heads and could NOT figure that out for the life of me.

It was like the little lederhose men in Germany, but these were all beautifully painted up in a church.

So, I'm not a churchgoing person, I admit, but I always thought church frescoes were, like, beautiful scenes. This was gorier than a slasher flick directed by a 16-year-old.

( And in case you were wondering what happened to all those heads cut free from the bodies... )

September 13 - 19 is posted earlier. I left off upon leaving Mt. Olympos for Thessaloniki.

Sept 20: Explored Thessaloniki.
Sept 21: Bus to Kavala, ferry to Thassos, bus to Limenas.
(Continued next post.)

( Thessaloniki, asslets and more. )

My feet are swollen half again their size, from both the abuse of the previous two weeks and sitting on three different airplanes for hours on end. Athens to Frankfurt to DC to Seattle. I've had almost no sleep for the past 30-something hours, so I'm going to bed now.

But back from this trip. I'm already coming up with ideas for my next one, but not now... Need to rest.

Spinning on the old dancing floor of Athena's Temple on Thassos.

I'm still alive. I'll do an actual update sometime when I'm not exhausted, but I just spent the last two days hiking Mt. Olympos. I summited twice, spent the night at a refuge on the mountain and sat, totally alone and above the treeline, watching the sun rise this morning. It was beautiful.

Killer hike, though.

I'm in Thessaloniki right now. Just arrived about an hour ago. Lively, modern city with unusual shops and open late. It may be more my thing than Athens. I'm going to look around for a bit tomorrow and then probably head to Thassos for more hiking and swimming.

Lots to write about. Later. I'm keeping notes in my personal journal.

I've been hiking for a while this season, just short, lowland hikes, but I thought I'd start this season's hiking log with my trek up Mt. Zeus (Zas) on Naxos.

Mt. Zeus, Friday March 28
Buttkicking rating (out of 5): 2.5
Coolness factor (out of 5): 5 Hey, it was in Greece, after all!

Using the vague, flowery descriptions found in Nicoleta's copy of Walking on Naxos, Katherine and I decided that the best hike would be up the highest peak on the island--perhaps the highest peak in the Cyclades. Unfortunately, although sunny, the skies were still pretty hazy and we weren't sure about the prospect of a view. Also unfortunately, we weren't sure how to get to the trailhead. Using the book, we pinpointed on the map the most likely area of the trailhead, and showed the map to the bus station attendent.

"We want to go here." Pointed at a branch in the road just above Filoti. "Can we be let off right here? What bus do we take to get there?"

Through language barriers and misunderstanding *why* we wanted to get off in the middle of nowhere, the man eventually directed us to a bus. We went through the same song and dance with the bus driver, and he eventually waved us away with a "Ne, ne." Good.
( Read more... )

Two weeks is not *nearly* enough time here. I added an extra day onto my Naxos portion of the trip in order to climb Mt. Zeus (or Zas, as the locals call it) with a girl I met from Canada. It was fun getting there...telling the bus driver to stop in the middle of nowhere near a branch in the road, on the assumption that it was fairly close to the trailhead. It was, and all was well. It is the highest peak on Naxos, and perhaps in the Cyclades. According to local legend, Zeus was raised in a cave on the mountain.

The lovely Nicoleta (of Hotel Grotta) fed me local citron liquer, local cheese, local yogurt and honey, and fresh baked bread for the last few mornings. At night, we stayed up talking politics, love, etc. I left my copy of Lord Valentine's Castle at the hotel, and took another sf book from the shelf.

I'm getting tan. I'm also off to Santorini in a few hours.

I don't want to go home. Just want to keep moving around for a few months.

I spent yesterday and last night at Cape Sounion, at the Temple of Poseidon. Ripping winds, sheer cliffs, wild ocean, a riot of wildflowers in bloom... The temple is incredibly awe-inspiring, and I took well over a hundred photos of the remaining pillars against the sky. The drive up the coast was incredible as well. I love this area, and wandering through the olive groves while heading north again was a real treat.

I'm now in Delfi, where it's the best weather I've had all trip. Sunny and warm, and so outstandingly, freakingly gorgeous. It's a real eagle's aerie, with the ruins on the face of a cliff overlooking the gulf of Corinth. And the water is hallucinatory--I kid you not. Maybe I'm just susceptible (or romantic) because other tourists and locals were imbibing from the spring water as well, and I didn't see anyone else get loopy, but I sure did. I'm bringing some home, if any of you want to try it.

I'm so lucky to go from Poseidon's Temple, which represents everything the sea is to me, to go to Apollo's Temple, which is everything the mountains are to me, in one day.

I want to keep going, but I'm afraid I need to return my car tomorrow. Then off to the islands. Time is going really fast.

In Athens, and am beginning to sway, I'm so tired. Spent the morning hiking around the Acropolis, and then on a hill opposite it which was even cooler--no one was there, and it was miles of neat cobbled trails leading to the summit of a huge hill. The view was incredible. Athens is a hopelessly confusing city--I still haven't found the hotel I want to stay at tonight. But I'm sure I'm within 500 meters or so. Ready for a nap, so I hope I find it soon.