The WRONG side of the Moon

We hopped over the painted rock that faintly alluded to the town of Hora being somewhere beyond and we made our way up and down and over and around a trail marked out by a seriously mischievous band of goats. Some five and a half hours later, lacking water, and dead exhausted from keeping my focus on staying upright on a mountain covered in scree, I limped my purple toenails and dehydrated muscles into the capital where we sat down and ate and drank and drank some more. And then we sighed a long sigh about our beautiful walk that turned into an epic scramble and a long term memory about the mysteries of Samothraki.

Moon Mountain

Mt Fegari shoots 1600m out of the Aegean sea straight into the skies of Eastern Thrace. Homer mentions Poseidon sitting atop this peak to watch the the Trojan war. Spurred on by this we made our way up to the top to see Poseidon's mount, and, although I couldn't see Troy, I definitely felt closer to the gods. The wandering goats, seemingly enchanted forest, fields of wild oregano, and endless rocks for scrambling over made the ascent seem almost simple.

We couldn't see Troy, but we could see Hora, the Island's capital. Nestled into the folds of the mountain, the walk seemed a bit long and unpredictable, but it was such a pleasant walk up, surely the walk to the capital would be equally as beautiful. Heck, I could even make out an arrow and some marks that might represent the letters for Hora faintly painted onto a rock near our picnic stop. It seemed like the logical thing for two people who had just cycled for six days through the backroads of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace to do on their rest day...

Seeing Samothraki

Home to the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, it is easy to see why such an impressive cult would found itself in Samothraki. The religion was brought to Samothraki by the Thracians in 1000BC and died out in the 4th century AD.

Appearing on the horizon, Samothraki is mostly mountain. The dramatic peak that dominates the island is Mt Fegari and holds the position of highest peak in the Aegean at 1611m. There are no big resorts in Samothraki. People go mainly to hike, soak in thermal springs, visit her many beautiful waterfalls, and relax in an extremely low key environment. We had the good fortune of visiting the Sanctuary of the Great Gods during a full moon. Watching the moon rise over Mt Fegari and spill out over the ruins was pure magic. Only the presence of the island's legendary "Winged Victory of Samothrace" could have made the event more beautiful.