The struggle to find Piso Thermi

I fell in love with Kos in 2004,when i stayed with my then girlfriend in Kefalos in a lovely little Hotel called Zeus. We've got Married since and Since 2009 we have been going every year together with the wife's parents and her younger brothers and sisters.Its more fun as a group and since 2009 we always stay in Tingaki,to be precise in Zorbas Beach Hotel,we love it there.Kos is a beautiful little island and its got everything,the finest beaches awesome scenery,fantastic views especially if you go up to Zia a little village up in the mountain.It has Natural Hot Springs known as Thermes because of its Volcanic neighbour Nissiros which you can go and visit on boat trip.There is a bus link to most places. I'm an explorer by nature where ever i go i am always exploring i just cant help it,this idea about finding Piso Thermes or Piso Thermi (the Greek name) came about after we went to the Embros Thermi (Hot Springs) which are situated not too far from Kos Town.I had bought a map so we could decide each day where we was going to go.I pointed out to the others that there is another beach with hot springs and that according to the map it was just up from where we was sat! Little did i know at the time how difficult it was going to be to get to there!

In 2009 i asked locals and some restaurant staff about these Thermes because i thought it was odd that the location is marked on every map but there doesn't seem to be much information about the place.When we went back in 2010 me and my Father-in-Law Tony decided to hire some Buggy's out so we can see if we can find a way over or round Mt. Dikeos. We did find one route down that side which got us close but not close enough.Same again 2011.The locals couldn't help us much either or we wasn't asking the right questions...2012 we went to Rhodes for a change,that turned out to be a disappointment,so 2013 we went back to Kos. But whilst at home i did some research and it turns out there is an old Church located next to the Piso Thermes called Agia Irini right on the beach and attached to this church is a house or unused Taverna which makes it all a little more interesting.This time we planned to walk from the Embros Thermes near Kos Town.In 2013 we booked 2 weeks in the middle of June so it was red hot! temperatures nearly touching 40oC every day.We bought some drinks with us i bought 4 bottles of water to take with me,we parked the Car on the Car park at the Embros Thermes, then walked,we started out at around 1100 it was so hot....

We carried on walking,and despite the heat we made a lot of progress.The walk was a mix of stony beaches to large pebbled beaches and every so often we had to climb over large boulders to progress.But the heat was too much the drinks we took with us wasn't drinkable anymore because they was literately boiling and we had to give up as much as it pained me but although i would have carried on a little longer Tony couldn't carry on and Arron my Brother-in-law who was only 14 was knackered too and i had to think of them it was a joint effort and we either do it together or not at all.So we walked back beaten by the elements but determined to find another way.

                                                       Aaron and Tony

Unfortunately we ran out of time in 2013 we had to leave it for another year.Whilst at home i scoured the internet for information.Tony checked Google Earth again where he said he thinks he has seen a path leading in that direction.Only one problem,there is a giant all inclusive Hotel in our way.On the 11th May 2014 we arrived back in Kos.

Map:The red line is the road Tony identified on Google Earth before we arrived on Kos. In the top right hand corner is Piso Thermi. The arrow in the middle is where we actually had to build up the road to proceed with our Buggy's ,identified with the second arrow.The large built up area below the road is a large Hotel Complex.

May 2014 and this time we was determined to finally get to Piso Thermi,Aaron had to stay in the UK because he had his exams coming up...although i can't see how that is more important than finding the Piso Thermi!So this year its as always Me and my Father-in-law Tony and this time with us is Odin (Tony's son) and Stephen (Tony's daughters Boyfriend) We agreed that we would go and check out the road Tony had identified on the map.So we hired out some Buggy's and traveled to Kardamena and straight up on to this dirt track which runs round the back of the Hotel up into the mountain after a little while we had to stop because there was large gap in the road which looks like it was washed away after torrential rain.We was going to park up and walk the rest but we thought we would make more progress if we built up the road so we can proceed with the Buggy's

Tony , Odin and Me building up the road so we could proceed with the Buggy's

Stephen Odin and Tony working on the road.

Finally finished.

Repairing the road turned out to be a waste of time because we literally only got round the corner, where we had to park up after all because there was a steep hill with massive gaps in the road and the Buggy's wouldn't have made it.So we walked for about an hour until we got to a dead end.We knew in advance that the road ended somewhere in the mountain but we was hoping that there would be a little trail leading down hill towards the Therm's.But it wasn't to be so i suggested we go back to where we was last year and try again from there.We have already wasted loads of time here it starts getting dark around 7pm ,we had to get a move on.

We left Kardamena and headed towards Zia. The place doesn't seem to have a name. I know there is a Chapel known as Profitis Zaharias along this road,i remember it well there is long road leading down to the beach there is a shower on this dark volcanic ash beach and i also know local fishermen launch their boats from here straight in to the sea because last year there was a couple of Jeeps parked up with empty boat trailers attached to the Vehicles.More importantly this location isn't to far from Piso Thermi we actually walked past this place last year.

Photo:We waited here for a while because we Lost Tony and Stephen,but after 10 minutes we drove down to the beach as identified by the red arrow , and waited for them there.

Photo:This Photo shows the road (dirt track)leading to the beach from where we walked along the coast towards Piso Thermi.
Me and Odin got to the top of this road and waited because on the way we seemed to have lost Tony and Stephen after about 10 minutes we drove down to the beach. Odin was getting a little worried but i told him not to worry because i knew that Tony knows where we are because me and Tony had been around here plenty of times in the past. We parked up and started walking along the beach when they turned up.We all started walking Stephen started to complain that his shoes are dropping to bits so Odin stuck with Stephen.They started to slow down but me and Tony carried on regardless because in my mind and i'm pretty sure Tony thought the same that,what we are looking for is not far away now.But it was a little further away than i thought.It started to get difficult we had to climb over large boulders leap over ravines.Tony said he needs to stop his knees and legs was hurting him.I said ok but ill carry on for a bit.I didn't want to stop now after getting so far.But i needed to pick up pace now because it was getting dark soon the time was around 17:45 (5:45pm).

                                            Tony stopped there.He couldn't walk any further.

                                            The trail was getting a little narrow along the way...

                                       The scenery is fantastic along here everything looks so untouched.

                                                           You could smell the Sulphur

                                       You could smell the Sulphur it was really strong here.
The only advantage of me carrying on on my own was that i didn't have to wait for the others so i could pick up pace.I kept thinking if we hadn't tried to get round from Kardamena and tried this way the first time round it wouldn't be so late and we wouldn't have to rush so much.But all this didn't matter now because i had made it! i was so relieved.

 This is what i saw when i finally made it..I was so happy to finally get here.It was getting dark so now i was here i thought best get some photos quick then head back to the others.The Following Photos are of what i found here,The inside of the Chapel was beautiful like everywhere in Greece the Chapels are always well maintained even though you find them in some of the most remote places.The other photos are of the route back because on the way here i didn't take too many photos because i wanted to get here quick.It shows how difficult it actually is.I would not recommend walking here if you are not fit.

Photo: Old building.It looks like this used to be really well looked after.

Photo:Entrance to the old Church Agia Irini 

Photo:Seating area 

Photo: Agia Irini

Photo: inside Agia Irini

Photo: inside Agia Irini

Photo: inside Agia Irini

Photo: inside Agia Irini

Photo: outside Agia Irini

Photo: Agia Irini

Photo: Looking along the shore where i came from

Photo: Looking towards Kardamena

Photo: Looking along the shore where i came from

Photo: Me looking very exhausted!

Photo: Exit from Agia Irini

Photo: A well on the beach

Photo: A well on the beach,you can see Agia Irini in the background

Photo: The way back...

Photo: The way back...

Photo: The way back...

Photo: The way back...

Photo: The way back...

Photo: The way back...
I took the photos then headed back as quick as i could,i feared it might get dark and i was wondering if the other was still waiting for me when i got back to my Buggy i realised the others had left,I tried to picture in my head what that might have looked like because the Buggy's are two seater so it meant that Odin must have been hanging on to the side...oh dear!I jumped in my Buggy and headed back.The long steep dirt track back to the top is a lot longer than i thought its got to be about 5 miles easy! on top of that my Buggy had some kind of electrical fault and kept cutting out,it stopped 5 times on the way back up from the beach...it couldn't have happened at a worst time.When i finally got back to Tingaki i caught up with the others they was still outside the Buggy hire place.The first thing we did was head to the nearest Taverna and get a Pint of ice cold Mythos and then talk about the day.....
I was determined to find a local fisherman to take us all back to Piso Thermi because i want Tony to see this with his own eyes...that was our next mission...to find a man with a boat!