"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own" Sri Chinmoy
Tsambika Monsastery Hike - September 2023 - Rhodes
I found myself with a 2 hour gap while on Rhodes to get a climb in towards my "60 Climbs" target for the year. Still getting over the Black Mountains race and the attrition on my body from that, I had decided to stick to hiking and swimming rather than running while in Greece, so I headed out towards Archangelos (only 15 mins drive from Haraki where I was staying) and climb to Profitis Elias. That would mean full sun in the hottest part of the day so I was well covered and had a litre of drinks in my bag. The plan unravelled when I drove through Archangelos to what google maps told me would be the trailhead - the sealed road ran out way before I got there and I was facing the prospect of either a longer hike than I really had time for, or risking my hire car on gravel. I decided to change plans and try and find the trail up to Tsambika, having seen some great pictures of this monastery perched on a peak above the Aegean Sea.
To get to Tsambika beach only took me another 10 minutes, despite having to stop for goats a few times on the way down to the sea. When I got there I was confronted with a crowded beach, a full car park, lots of cafes and restaraunts and beach bars. I wasn't my kind of place, especially as Haraki had proven to be such a peaceful haven with its silent beach in the mornings and complete absence of loud music. Fortunately I managed to find an overflow car park and pull my hire car off the main drag into some soft sand. Then with an hour or so to get up and down the imposing peak (I really wasn't sure it was practical) I set off in the fierce heat of the day on to the mountainside. The trail was almost empty - I only saw four other hikers the entire time - probably because it was very hot, very steep and very stoney. I had to use my hands for support here and there to pull up some steep sections and routefinding did take a little time. There were signs here and there, red/white markings every so often, even some tiny cairns to show the way. Despite all that, the loose and stoney hillside was covered with alternate paths, winding and separating and rejoining, so getting the right line was not easy.
Sticking to my purposeful walking pace, I began to gain height and my HR was up around 150. It felt as if I was at high altitude, though of course I wasn't. I kept drinking, aware that sweat was pouring off me. The sun, though intense, was also brilliant and uplifting so the heat was tolerable. I came off the steepest part of the climb on to a gentler slope and found my way - at a slower pace now - on to the spur that led towards the steep-sided peak of the monastery. Here I found myself losing the path briefly and having to strike out over rocky wilderness until I was on a flat and easy path beneath the trees towards the winding road. The trail met the road where it ended and became instead a staircase of sorts with 300 steps up to the monastery and the peak. Some steps were 10 metres long, others only a few centimetres and someone had helpully painted numbers on every fifth one so you could see your progress. The first 20 were slow, then I was lost in the beauty of the forest and the intensity of the climbing and found myself at 180 before I knew it. The higher steps were shorter and faster. When I came out at the monastery I was soaked in sweat, heart thumping, light headed - my moments of prayer and meditation at the icons were not that focussed as a result. This was definitely one of those pilgrimages where the journey was much more important than the destination. I soaked my hat under the water tap outside the church and headed down after only a couple of minutes on the summit.
Going down was as hard as coming up - the steepness and the routefinding presenting all the same challenges. Eventually when I arrived back at the beach it had taken around an hour and five minutes to reach the peak and return. That was the 29th of my 60 climbs dedicated to Sri Chinmoy's 60th anniversary of arriving in the West that falls in April 2024. That puts me about on course to get all 60 done in 12 months. This climb at Tsambika was definitely not the longest. It probably won't be the highest or the hardest either. I have a suspicion it may turn out to be the hottest.
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