Day 25: Around Mount Profitis Ilias

We got up at the early hours of the morning (9:15). I half expected the sun not to be up at that time. We hustled to grab breakfast and headed to Sifnos Laundry to grab our clean clothes. Per our translated instructions, they were just out of the washer but insisted on folding them and sealing them in a plastic bag before giving them to us. While I appreciate well folded laundry as much as Sheldon might; I did not see the point of folding cloths that will be hung to dry 15 minutes later.

Laundry handled, we headed to the trailhead, conveniently located across the street from the village’s public parking. We went for the highly rated trail 6. While the name is practical it doesn’t describe how wonderful it is.

Trail 6 goes around mount Profitis Ilias (Prophet Elias). The highest of the island at 600 meters elevation. A good portion of the trail being at around 400 meters elevation, we got stunning views of the island. The trail seemed to have been built to go from one religious building (church, monastery, chapel) to the next. It could be intentional or just happenstance as there are a large number of those buildings throughout the island and one would be hard pressed to navigate Sifnos and avoid running into a number of them.

Understanding that one cannot navigate by doing straight lines from one bell tower to the next, Sifnos invested in the best blazes we’ve ever seen on a trail. So much so that in all the fifteen kilometres of the trail, we had to refer to our map twice and, mostly, so we didn’t have to read the sign posts to figure out if we’re going left or right.

We hardly saw anybody on our hike, and if we didn't have to make reservations for dinner at the restaurants in town, we would believe the island to be empty. While we’re far from the crowds of August it's not the case. We did our post hike recovery at Isalos, wine glass in hand looking at the sunset.

Diner was at Kafenes, almost next door to Isalos. A good restaurant in the Hotel Boulis. They serve a lot of local product from local farms and it was all delicious. We liked it so much that we tried and book our last diner on Sifnos there but couldn't, they were fully booked already. Our reminder that while we may feel like the only visitors on the island we are not.

Places

Kafenes · Ξενοδοχείο Μπουλής, Kamares 840 03, Greece

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Isalos · Epar.Od. Limani Kamaron-Artemonas, Ag. Marina 840 03, Greece

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

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