FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: The Path Of The Gods & Positano

A little hazy but all the way down the end is Capri

It was time to do the iconic hike of the Amalfi. As I knew we would have a guide, I was guilty of not really researching too much before hand. For those interested in DIY, lonely planet gives a great description as well as information for logisitcs, and one the photos of the view is of our agriturismo

!We started earlier today to beat the sun, Vincenzo timed it so that we had enough shade for a good chunk of the 6-7km hike. There was a path right from the agriturismo to the start of trail head near the village of Agerola. It was described as 30 minutes of pure cardio with steps all the up. Um...pass. I happily paid my 5 euros to be shuttled up by a bus. These older legs could only do so much!

We started hiking at around 8:15am and I was pleasantly surprised by how much shade we had. It would definitely be horrible when the sun was high in the sky. We chose the higher path when there was a split. Thankfully the path was not as difficult as I feared, and nowhere near as treacherous as some of the ones I did with my then 70 year old mother in Cinque Terre. Vincenzo said that he had to make it sound harder so people were prepared. Fair enough. Better to be pleasantly surprised then unpleasantly surprised! Certain sections towards the end have been upgraded with proper steps cut in and railings erected which probably helped. A few important notes to others contemplating the hike. There are no springs to refill water bottles along the path, nor are there any toilets.

The views along the hike were nothing short of spectacular. It truly was breathtaking. It felt like we reached Nocelle in no time! We were greeted by the Kiosk of the Path of the Gods right at the "official" end of the path where we stopped for a lemon granita and a toilet break. Here the group split into those taking the public bus down to Positano and those who wanted to complete the trip on foot. Nocelle was a village only connected by road not too long ago and residents used to have to lug everything here on foot from Montepertuso, the next town we walked to. Yes we chose to go on foot...

The start of our hike

Goats!

Working mules

And off we go. As you see, still pretty shaded

That blip of an umbrella tree about 1/3 of the way down the left slope is our agriturismo! The photo on the lonely planet link above is a better photo...

Glimpses of the view that would stay with us for most of the path

Our destination

Apparently an instagram point people would come here complete with suitcases filled with clothes to change ito and camera people to take photos

An indication of how vertical it was

She only said yes to be in the photo because someone else offered to take the photo

These steps and railings are a recent-ish upgrade

Right at the end of the trail. Looks ordinary on the outside...

But on the inside...

Check out this view!

And we keep going!

At Montepertuso, we stopped a lovely quiet church square overlooking the cliffside and ate the picnic lunch that the agriturismo had packed for us. The next "step" would be the 1500 odd steps straight down to Positano. If possible, the crowds at Positano was worse than Amalfi. Because of the narrow streets and funnel shape of the town, it felt so packed and was downright unpleasant. As pretty as Positano was, it was hard to appreciate. We were fortunate enough to have visited before and so we simply sat down in any shade that we could find, enjoyed our gelato and waited for our group meet up time to ferry back to Amalfi. From there it was a bus ride back to the agriturismo for a much needed shower and rest time for the legs!

The family who owns the agristurismo gave a super sweet cooking demonstration with their 11 year old son, Luigi, doing the translating and practicing his English (which was already very good). He had been to New York recently with his sister as part of an organised English course and reported that he didn't like the food because it was only every chicken nuggets and chips. Bless the child. Tell it like it is!