We got up early (for us). 9:00 is really not a time that should exist while on vacation. We grabbed a shower, prepped our bag and headed out… in the rain. We still walked to breakfast and consulted the weather gods. It’s fitting as we’re heading to the path of the gods. The weather god forecasted low probability (30%) of rain for most of the day with a “moderate thunderstorm warning”. Looking at the weather radar the four hour window for our hike (11:00 to 15:00) seemed good enough for us to go for it.
By the time we had finished breakfast it was too late to catch the bus to start of the trail. We had hoped for a grab and go type of breakfast but since the pasticceria (bakery) we had in mind didn’t provide any indication of what would and would not kill me dead, we fell back on a sandwich shop. The sandwiches were delicious but too messy to eat in a bus. The next bus being at noon, we had to resort to a taxi ride.
Taxi wrangling was a simple affair with the most stoic cab driver we’ve ever seen. “Can you take us to 📍Bomerano” - head nod. “Do you take payment by card?” - head nod. The third question got us words: “How much for the trip?” - “110-120”. He opens the door to the minivan, we hop in and we’re on our way. Other than the perfunctory “where are you from” we did the rest of the ride in silence. Even payment was done with the minimum number of words necessary.
The ride itself was fast. So fast that we passed the bus we would have taken. The rain of the morning seemed to have cleared the road of the infamous Amalfi coast traffic. Also, paying fifty times the price of the bus ride did come with benefits.
We’re hiking the trail in the opposite direction from how we did it 3 years ago. We’re also going further. Instead of a loop going to the top of the ridge and coming back on the path of the gods from Nocelle, the village about midway up the cliff, we’re taking the full path into Positano to enjoy the city a little, then hop on a ferry back to Amalfi. Or so was the plan.
Bomerano - Positano via Path of Gods, Campania, Italy - 2,422 Reviews, Map | AllTrails
This route is an extension of the most famous hike of the Amalfi Coast - Il Sentiero degli Dei - starting from Bomerano up to Positano. The hike offers breathtaking views of coastal towns and the natural beauty of the Italian coast as hikers walk from the cliffs down to sea level. The starting point can be reached by local bus 5020 in the direction of Agerola / Bomerano departing from the main bus station near the Amalfi beach. This hike can also be done as a day trip from Naples using public transport. The itinerary is rocky and ends with many stairs up to Positano. Along the path it is possible to descend from the ridge towards the sea before Positano, following the directions from Nocelle to Arienzo. From here, one can easily reach Positano walking along the road or shorten the route by taking the bus back to Amalfi. For the complete list with all the variants of this path: https://www.alltrails.com/lists/sentiero-degli-dei-path-of-the-gods For the Complete list with all the alternative route: https://www.alltrails.com/it-it/lists/sentiero-degli-dei-percorsi-alternativi
www.alltrails.com
We started the path under gray skies that quickly cleared up. We weren’t done with our first kilometre (out of 9.3km) that we were already removing our rain gear and putting on sunscreen. It felt like a repeat of our day in Cinque Terre that started wet and ended under a clear blue skies. The trail offers magnificent views and, for most of it, there’s literally nothing between you and the cliff side. We could see all the way to the end of the peninsula. The trail from Bomerano to Nocelle is mostly rocky and at times uneven. It is less constantly maintained than what we’ve seen up north.
As we got into Nocelle (5.3km out of 9.3km) we moved into the paved via (alleyway) and gradino (staircases). It’s also where the skies turned back to cloudy and we received a few raindrops. Enough to put our raincoats on for less than a kilometre and remove them again as the rain stopped. By that point we started hearing thunder. Not seeing lightning we guessed it’s happening on the other side of the ridge, based on the cloud spilling over from the top of the ridge we’re on. We kept going, not that we had any choice by then, and hoped we would be spared.
Our hopes were dashed as we approached the descent into Positano, around the eighth kilometre, the rain started pouring down. We’re talking tropical rainforest getting drenched in seconds type of rain. We put on our rain gear and kept going down. Not long after that I had to put the rain cover on the backpack as the rain found another gear and poured on us even harder. As we kept heading down the water channels around the stairs got overwhelmed and we started walking down in the streams and avoiding them when we could. It got harder and harder as we kept heading down. Once in the town proper, the streams had turned into rivers with the water running above our ankles by the time we were near the roads. With less than 300 meters to hike, the water drains were overloaded and all the rainwater grates were geysering out water instead of taking it in. By that point, a water park had nothing on the town and you could have mistaken us for kids at said water park. It comes a point where you’re so drenched in water that you might as well laugh and enjoy yourself. Sulking will not make you any dryer. We laughed. A lot. It felt like a very misguided weather god trying to compensate for the swim we missed out on the day before.
As we were finishing the trail, the multiple comments we got on our choice of footwear on the trail came to mind. From our taxi driver to multiple people on the trail, people made comments on us using hiking sandals instead of running shoes or hiking boots. While there are multiple good reasons to use sandals to hike if you are experienced and know what you’re doing, it’s not something that you stop and explain to people. As we were wading through rivers however, we knew that one of the benefits of sandals would become unmistakably clear to these people as their socks and shoes got drenched and would take hours or days to properly dry. Our sandals and feet would dry in minutes as we wore them, assuming the rain ever stopped of course.
We made it into the port of Positano hoping to find somewhere to sit while we wait the next 45 minutes for our ferry. Since the whole town and all of its visitors are doing the same, there’s really nowhere we could go. In the end we found an overhang and waited for the rain to relent.
When the boat came the line to board got to new levels of feral humans. I was grabbed by a man trying to pull me back for trying to follow Karine in the line. While it did not come to blows it could have escalated pretty quickly. We made it onto the boat uninjured, found seats and waited the 20 minutes or so for the boat to get to Amalfi. By that time the rain had subsided but we were drenched and cold. A quick stop for some comfort food later, we were home for a hot shower and dry clothes. We waited there for the weather to improve and dinner time to arrive, then headed back to the same restaurant to have the same wonderful meal as last night. The only change we made is to go for the local rosato (rosé) instead of the local white wine. It made for a welcome moment of delight after our adventures.
Places
Bomerano · 80051 Pianillo, Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy
80051 Pianillo, Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy
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