Adventurous expedition at Vlahozagoro area and Lake Aoos in Epirus.

As an authos of Alternatrips.gr i have been offered with a lot of emotions! Travel, hostels, landscapes, people, tastes ... but my last expedition I will remember for a long time ... Returning from our lovely stay at the Pyrreion Guesthouse at Ano Pedina, we decided to try a new way, ie to cross the so-called "Vlahozagoro", a beautiful Highland hidden in the shadow of the eternal peaks of Pindos, far, very far away from the hustle of the famous resorts of Epirus, whose final destination is the artificial lake of Aoos.

"Vlahozagoro" which got its name because in several of its remote mountain communities people used to speak both the Greek and Vlach language, and in Vovousa you can still experience recalling memories from the past, within a nature that imposes its own terms:a majestic and immersive landscape, rocks on the road landslides, streams and water, fallen trees, suddenly snow out of nowhere, adding extra doses of interest and suspense to our journey. Although we did not know what awaited us in the next turn we kept driving.

The eastern Zagori consists of a cluster of fifteen settlements located literally in the Pindos ridge. Among them Flabourari, Greveniti, Tristeno, Elatochori, Mekrino, Kastanona, Doliani and ofcourse the central village Vovousa. The settlements are not characterized by homogeneity and continuity, as the area experienced the complete destruction of the German occupation troops in 1943 and several other factors have prevented the uniformity in the restoration and reconstruction. Nevertheless unpretentious beauty of these settlements is something that will enchant you in a very strange way.

Somewhere at the end of our journey we reached at the lake source of Aoos, where in the mid-80s, at point "Five Alonia" a dam was elevated for energy production trapping Aoos sources of water within the perimeter of the homonymous artificial lake that suddenly appeared from nowhere. Its area is 11.5 square kilometers at an altitude of 1350 meters, which ranks as the most mountainous lake in Greece. The beauty literally takes your breath. The sudden rain gave us the most beautiful rainbow, equally beautiful with the sunset. The images speak for themselves, which is why i must now silense

Postscript: In the end we could not continue our march from the lake as Metsovo, and on an upcomming turn we got on a lot and untrodden snow and had to go back...