The Olympus Extravaganza – how it started

For fifteen months i lived in Skopje, Macedonia. Before having moved there my friends promised to come and visit me as it is not so far away: they can take a bus, a train, a car or even a plane, just hop in-on-off, and be there (in some hours;) – lots of them did visit me! and it was good fun!

Three ex-colleagues of mine who have also become good friends arrived for a long and crazy weekend in September 2006. i was already back from holidays and stress was there again, so timing was just perfect - i always appreciate good company and i did not know that many people in Skopje at that time. While they were there, the idea emerged – so as to keep us in good shape for the coming summer – to conquer the famous mountain of Gods, the Olympus!

We explored Skopje and the neighbourhood in September and was planning for our next summer trip to the Olympus. In the meantime I made some new friends in Skopje, as well my old-time German friend had also decided to spend her 2-week holidays in Macedonia and as the dates collided with our planned climb, she joined us, the gang!

So there we were seven women TO CONQUER it!

The Hungarian team of three though changed a bit in composition – as one friend had to stay behind as she had become pregnant in the meantime – arrived to Skopje on a busy Thursday night, on 7 June. I was lucky as K had already arrived on Tuesday, so someone was home to open the door and receive the tired travellers. Bloody hell I still had work to finish off.

When I arrived home, we decided that the Hungarians should refresh themselves whereas the international part (K, M - a Dutch woman who lived around the corner – and me) of the team should go shopping, so we went and did grocery shopping for 2 days that was to be carried up the hill! I was dead tired as I had a turbulent week behind, but happily all gave a hand when it was needed. It was only H missing from the team – she also had to finish her notorious report! We ate a lovely Macedonian dinner at my favourite around the corner restaurant, where I was on good terms with the cook and owner, and loved hanging out there as it was simple and friendly, and then we still needed to make the sandwiches. J and K made us delicious ones, although sent E and me to bed at midnight so as to be able to drive the following day. Somehow my design flat did not seem too big this time at all :)

Wake-up was set at 6am, so as to leave by 7am – and we DID! M and H showed up, we packed up the team in two cars and left. The drive was entertaining as K did not know M and H, and we were all different nationalities! The first shock to the Macedonian border system happened upon our arrival: four different EU passports (2 diplomatic ones) from a normal registered HU number plated car, three of us bearing a Macedonian ID too – we felt pity for the trainee at the crossing point! And enjoyed some Hungarian CDs received from the other car – best was like trying to translate Hungarian songs by Jazz+Az, a formation whose text, lira is based on rhymes in common language – I am not sure that was my most successful translation ever, my only solace was that some part of the biological terms and slangs of vocabulary was not only incomplete on my side ;)

And there we were at the foot of the Olympus at 1100m. Heavy clouds were hanging above the mountains that managed to scare Ió off the climb. J was not to climb from the first moments, she just loves Greece. So we were five to go. After packing and taking all the necessary equipment and food and water, we started around at 12:30.

First day we planned to achieve the Tourist Huts at 2100m and stay there overnight. The path has soon become steep and rocky, and the weather stays humid enough to make us slacken the pace. I was so happy to finally be there – all organised and moving! It seemed that everyone knows her place and pace, K and M were climbing first to give the rhythm, H could not make up her mind in the middle, E and i were the last ones, so we could exchange news and talk about things that happened at home. We stopped at regular times to get some breath and enjoy the landscape, put on or take off cloth, share stories and drink some water. Few know that water is scarce at the Olympus – there is only one spring running but we left that at the foot, so one has to CARRY all the water needed for the whole hike. It can be 4 litres in sunny and arid weather! As we were at the beginning of the season, we “only” calculated 3 litres per person. Plus all the clothes needed for the 2 days – regarding the weather conditions it meant shorts and T-shirts at the starting point (around 30 Celsius) and winter-coat, polars, and hats and gloves on the top (around 5 Celsius). As one gets wet on the way up, dry T-shirts and panties were needed, plus our make-up remover ;)

(to be cont.)