Tim Rossiter: Olympia

I arrived into Olympia ready for some relaxation after an early morning bus ride from Athens. It hadn’t been the easiest morning. As anyone who has travelled on intercity buses from Athens will tell you, it’s not the most user-friendly set up. There are two intercity terminals departing for different destinations in Greece and as they are not served directly by the subway a city bus was required to reach the bus terminal 7km from my hostel in the old town. Compounding this it seems impossible to reserve bus tickets in Greece. They operate on a first come, first served basis so early morning trips to the station are mandatory and long waits to secure a seat (or even a place to stand) are not unusual

It was still dark outside when I gathered my belongings together in our dorm room, and hauled my backpack onto my shoulders, much to the consternation of some of the other bunk sleepers nearby. Following careful directions I trekked through the streets of Athens as the sun was rising, got on and off the subway a few minutes later and made it to what looked like the right bus stop, but was it going the right direction? Without being able to read a word of Greek who would know?

Luckily a friendly gentleman from the subcontinent who was waiting there, confirmed it was the right stop. As we got on I gestured to him ‘I get my ticket on the bus?’ ‘Yes yes no problem’ he said. After about ten minutes chatting I realised something was amiss. He must have misunderstood. Where was the conductor? When I asked my friend about the ticket again, he said ‘Oh you don’t have a ticket… Oh dear’.

My heart was beating faster at the thought of the thirty Euro fine I would get if the driver stopped me but the Bangladeshi man grinned and said 'they don’t always check'.

Fortunately we arrived sometime later and I avoided what would have been a very costly bus ride had I been caught.

After being ushered from the information desk at the terminal I was able to catch a bus almost straight away and was soon on my way to ancient Olympia some 300 km away.

The landscape around Olympia was noticeably fertile and green with lots of pine trees and farms. This is quite different what I had previously seen of Greece with which was largely very dry and rocky terrain.

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Countryside around Olympia

The modern Olympia village is around a kilometre from the ancient ruins.
Arriving mid afternoon I was delighted to discover I was the only guest at the Olympia youth hostel. It’s run by an elderly couple who speak very little English and are a bit prickly until you get to know them at least. They were both very offended when I asked (or rather gestured) about a locker key or key for my room. Quite standard questions I thought… But my requests were apparently quite a shock to these two . They had had no problems in 55 years they said, incredulous. 'Very good people stay here, very good', they went on.

Well fifty five years seemed like a fine record and as there didn’t seem to be any other guests around I was happy to go with it.

I had two full days to explore Olympia and my first thoughts were that that was going to be too long. It’s a tiny, out of the way little town with not much going on except busloads of tours arriving in the morning to walk around the ruins and leaving later in the day. So I thought I would ration my time, take it easy the first day and do the sightseeing the second. After a rest in the heat of the afternoon I decided to go for a jog around the town in the evening and see if I could go near some Olympic sites. I set off about 7pm as the sun was beginning to go down but it was still hotter than I expected.

After a series of false starts…running into dead end streets, narrow roads or a chorus of barking dogs who may or may not have been roaming free, I ended up running on some deserted gravel roads outside the town. There was beautiful farmland all around with lots of fruit trees and crops adjacent to where the ruins were. After a while my imagination started running free thinking about all the athletic feats and competitions in ancient times I could almost imagine the spirit of Olympians running in the distance or cheers from the crowds.

I think the heat was starting to go to my head and after about twenty minutes running into the countryside I thought I should turn around and head back to town. However I could see the road in the distance appeared to wind around back towards Olympia. So I thought I would take a gamble and continue on. After another ten minutes or so I thought I had rejoined my original path but the track seemed to go on and on without too many landmarks I recognised.

Eventually I realised roughly where I was. But the gods must have played a trick on me because instead of re-entering the village after a loop around the country roads it appeared I was now climbing above the village and plodding higher and higher up a steep hill!

I ploughed on and after five minutes of the steamy ascent I reached the top. It seemed I was rewarded for my toil as I was then presented with a descent directly to the centre of the village below. Not before time as I was getting a bit dizzy and was nearly out on my feet!

I certainly slept well that night and the next day I got up early in an effort to explore the ruins before it got too hot.

Ancient Olympia itself is an extensive array of ruined temples, gymnasiums, bathing halls and of course stadia set in a verdant valley.

The highlight is the stadium area which was said to hold 45000 on its grassy banks and the temple of Hera immediately outside it.

The temple is one of the more impressive buildings on the site with many of it's giant marble pillars still standing. The altar in front of the temple is where the Olympic flame ceremony is held every two years; for the summer and winter Olympics. Young Greek 'maidens' dressed in classical robes perform the rites. Using rays from the midday sun they light a flame on the alter and re-enact the ancient tradition. Sadly they were not around this time.

Between the altar and the stadium are the remains of a series of Bronze statues of Zeus that line the entrance to the stadium. Little more than stone bases now, they were built by the proceeds of fines paid by athletes who were proven as cheats. Their names were engraved in stone consigning them to endless infamy. This must have served as a great warning to competitors as they made their way to compete.

Inside the stadium the running track has been unearthed complete with the original marble starting and finish blocks standing 190 meters apart and judges seating to the side.

Even though it must have been at least 35 degrees that day I decided I couldn’t come all this way and not run the course. It took me about 25 seconds which I thought not so bad. I was feeling pretty good until I looked down and realised I had lost a decent percentage of the skin of my toes and balls of my feet to the unforgiving dirt track. Cleaning myself up as best I could I spent the rest of the day hobbling around the rest of the ruins and later the museum. I won't tell you how hard it was later to find antiseptic and the next few days were difficult Anyway there's a great lesson in there somewhere about wearing appropriate footwear. But still it makes for a good story and one I'm unlikely to forget.

A selection of photos from Olympia follow:

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Just outside the temple of Hera (if it still had an inside). This is where they light the flame, directly behind me.

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Temple devoted to Macedonia by Alexander's Dad, Phillip.

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Entrance to Stadium

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My nemesis the (painful) track; not kind on the feet.

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Another view of the track with judges seating

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Statues of Zeus paved the way to the stadium. Only the bases remain. The statues were paid for by the fines imposed on athletes who cheated! Their names inscribed for eternity on the base of statues as a deterrant to other would be cheats.

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Lotsa helmets.

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The philosopher watches on as one king or another is overthrown - scene from temple statues...Great detail in the worried face.

Stay tuned for Delphi, a visit to the oracle

Tim Rossiter has been working abroad for nearly five years. Leaving New Zealand initially for Japan before rejoining many of his young counterparts in London. Despite the long hours of commuting and grey skies he enjoys it as it allows him the chance to indulge his passion for travel. He shares some of his experiences with Scoop readers.

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