Last of the walking

Looking down from the Gods above the monastery

On the Sentiero degli Dei

The last of the walking has been superb! Praiano lies between Amalfi and Positano and has a tiny harbour - but a good restaurant. Positano and Amalfi are tourist traps and in each, the size of the meal decreases and its price increases the closer you approach the pebbly beach. However, the walking is AMAZING! 

Positano from below the Forestry

Walking up the zig-zags

Above Praiano and Positano, vertical limestone cliffs start at about 200 meters and rise to about 600 meters, with vertical gorges breaking the faces. Each of the gorges has a few houses at the bottom, but most of the houses lie further up the hills. Once you get to the top of the cliffs and break through to the northern side, the land declines more gently and there are small townships and villages just over the crest.

One of these is Bomerano, with a regular bus service up from the Naples side and enough haberdashery outlets to let me replace my lost cap with a dashing cotton golf cap. The temperatures have been in the mid to high 20's and with limited shade, some eye shading and forehead protection is welcome. If you come back on to the cliff face from Bomerano, about 600m above Praiano, then you can walk west, gradually down to Nocelle, about 400m above Positano, with stupendous cliffs above and below the old mule track, now renamed the Sentiero degli Dei or the Walk of the Gods. The old Americans we met on the trail had been bussed to Bomerano and were catching their shuttle from Nocelle and, in fact, that part of the walk was quite crowded.

We enjoyed the climb up to Bomerano from Praiano, across a section of the Gods and then down about 2000 steep steps back to the hotel. Next day was up to the same height past an abandoned monastery with stupendous views (see top picture) to pick up the trail and walk west across to Nocelle. Then a bus down to the hotel at Positano. Today we walked up to just below Nocelle and then traversed west between the cliffs on an under-used part of the walk to join some stairs that used to be the main land connection between Positano and the Naples side until roads were constructed. Then up to a forestry hut for lunch at about 800 m and again down zig-zags to just below Nocelle. Great views and good walking. We're sad to stop walking every day and will need to keep our fitness up! It's been great to tackle these ups and downs with confidence after our poor showing five weeks ago.

View from our terrace

However, the locals build their vine and olive terraces all over this landscape and although some of the more difficult spots have been abandoned,  the whole area is very productive. Great tomatoes and sweet zucchinis and aubergines. A regular diet of fish, olive oil and pasta, plus the exercise routine that we have experienced, has been given UNESCO recognition as the "Mediterranean Diet", guaranteed to make you live a long and healthy life until your joints begin to pack up.