Italia Day 17 - getting lost on the Amalfi

After relishing the slower pace the day before, I woke up this morning itching to do something. I think I must function better when I'm busy and have a purpose. I decided to tackle a short hike that Rosalba in the tourist office had recommended. It was a steep climb above Praiano to Bomerano, then back down the other side town - about 2hrs. I hadn't counted on the almost complete lack of signage and incomplete maps, but more about that later.

The start of the walk was just near my hotel & this sign at the bottom of the hill was reassuring - I was climbing the right steps.

And boy what a climb. I was really glad I had done all that walking in Australia before I left - it prepared me well.

I started the walk as early as possible after breakfast, but by 9.15 the sun was already blazing. Just before I reached this terrace I had my first mishap involving the lack of signage. I had missed the track turning off to the side because it was so overgrown & accidentally walked up the steps and onto someone's front porch. Oops!

Pretty soon the track flattened out and I came across the evidence of the bushfires I had been speaking to Luigi about the night before. He said that they are almost exclusively started by people in Italy, rather than through natural causes. The smoky smell was still very strong and I was a little hesitant to keep walking at first. Then I realised that there was already some green regrowth, so the fire must have been a little while ago.

Despite having climbed so high already, there were still imposing mountains to look up to.

Some bits of the burnt out path were eerie.

And others were downright scary. I walked very carefully around this edge - it was loose dirt & I wasn't convinced of it's stability.

I made it through the bushfire area safely and came to some steps leading down. My old fear of walking downhill came back.

I was walking through some pretty dense forest when I started to hear bells. Cows, I thought? Nope... sheep. I had been walking underneath a terraced farm - complete with lemon trees, olive trees & a small herd of (surely very hot) sheep.

At this stage I started to wonder why the track was leading away from Praiano, as I was supposed to come out on the other side of town for the descent.

Still, the views were very nice, so I held faith that the track would loop back around.

But then I just kept getting further...

And further away.

After this shot I got lost again. The path was hidden by overgrown grass and so I started walking up the steps in front of me. There were a number of sets and I felt like I was inside someone's farm. I was - soon I came to a locked gate. I beat a hasty retreat back down all the stairs before the angry farmer came out with his shotgun (or maybe that only happens in Australia).

I seriously considered turning around at this point, but I was determined to get to Bomerano & the track seemed to be climbing again, despite it being pretty much hidden by this grass.

Check out this old farmhouse (complete with outbuildings just ripe for conversion into holiday accommodation!). I am so writing to Kevin McCloud & asking Grand Designs to sponsor a 'naive Australian girl tries to renovate an Italian farmhouse on her own' show.

Eventually I reached a small town & looked all the way back to Praiano. I found a church - San Elia, which I eventually located on my map - about 10km away from Bomerano!

It had taken me about 1hr 40min to get to the town, and it was really really hot. I had no idea if there were local buses in the area & the town appeared to be deserted, so I just headed back the way I came. I was in such a hurry to get back to a cold shower I did it in just under 1hr. My legs are covered in scratches from the overgrown grass & shrubs that I couldn't be bothered climbing over on the way back.

The angry farmer emerged about halfway back - shots started ringing out across the valley. I think it was just an air-rifle - probably to just scare birds away.

I even got lost a couple of times - and I did find a sign to Bomerano which I had missed, but only because the track I had climbed up on (through the bushfire area), was completely different to the one I walked back on - there was only one shown on my map so I had no idea. I backtracked a couple of times, trying to find the way back down, but gave up in the end and ended up back near San Luca somewhere. I was just relieved to know where I was, even if I had overshot my goal by about 25min.

Ah well, all part of the adventure :-)