Pompeii is a mere 30 minute train ride from my home base so a visit was a ‘must-do’. I decided a guided tour would be a more enriching experience, and it worked out well! I’m not going to give a big history lesson, you all know what happened at Pompeii!
What I DIDN’T KNOW was that the Pompeii was not covered in hot lava from nearby Mt Vesuvio but blasted with it’s ash, gas and small stones. It was like a protective seal that preserved bodies, buildings and artifacts at that very moment of the explosion. When discovered accidentally, by a farmer, and the excavations began, the pumice had preserved the Roman city. They are still working on various areas to this day.
So the Romans were very intelligent, inventing many of the scientific and household techniques that we enjoy today: in-floor heating, concrete mixing, cooking and reflective navigation tools (i.e. marble insets in roads to reflect light at night). They were also not very shy about their sex lives, with bordellos and sex houses clearly marked with phallic symbols above the doors. Frescos on the walls displayed step-by-step instructions for ‘multitudes (and variations)’ of pleasures. I’ll leave it at that! Our guide was great to share stories ……
I was there for fives hours and I barely scratched the surface of the sections mapped out in the handouts. I would highly recommend a visit if in the area.
Back to the coast, I booked an overnight stay in Agerola, a town up in the Apennines mountain range. I first wanted to stop off in Atrani, recently known for the filming location of the Netflix movie Ripley. A tunnel connects Atrani to neighbouring Amalfi town next to this charming little cafe called DejaVu where I had my breakfast that morning. Atrani is quite small, but has stunning scenery.
I was in Agerola to do a hike called the Path of the Gods or ‘Sul Sentiero Degli Dei’. I booked a night at The Rabbit B&B and was not disappointed. After doing several G Adventures group tours over the years, you get familiar with their style of accommodations and coincidentally this could easily be one of their choices. Family run, informal, full breakfast and friendly staff. With a beautiful scenic backdrop to boot.
I met my guide Enzo at a local cafe with the one other gentleman joining us. Times are tough in tourism as many Australians and Asians, frequent travellers, cancelled this year because of what is going on with wars and fuel prices. It’s sad. The hike is 4-5 hours in duration and since the day was warm and sunny, the trail was very busy. Enzo took us on one alternate, upper section that was less crowded.
The trail was a real mix of undulations, dirt, loose rock with some steep climbs. We took our time and stopped for breaks and pictures. Our guide is a member of the rescue team in the region and his father is a geologist there. Lots of interesting tidbits he shared.
The trail ends in the town of Nocelle which is still high above the coast, just north of Positano. You can see Positano in the photo below off in the distance.
We reach Nocelle, find the WC, and then we have to decide if we want to take the bus or ‘the 1800 steps +1km walk’ down to reach Positano. Knowing the buses would be crowded and busy, we decided to do the steps – which I soon regretted! By the time I reached Positano my calf muscles were seizing up and even today, a day later, they are quite tight. What a workout! The trail was amazing and I am so glad to have done it.
After a nice, cold brewsky, I wobbled over to the dock and grabbed an earlier ferry back to Salerno. Funny story. I met up with a guy and his mates from Windsor NS. I had worked with him on a project in my working days at NSP, so we had a great chat on the ferry. They had done the trail, (and the steps) as well so we could compare notes. All in all, a neat little adventure.
Feel free to leave a comment below. If you wish to contact me, my email is blaisemcneil@gmail.com. Thanks for visiting my site and I hope you’ll return soon for my next adventure…. Blaise